San Diego County supervisors put on hold Tuesday a vote on restricting gifts and personal recognition from organizations that receive grants through a $10 million fund that supervisors can essentially spend any way they wish, U-T San Diego reported.
The matter was sent back to county lawyers by the supervisors for refinement, the U-T reported.
The Neighborhood Reinvestment Program allows each supervisor to give away $2 million a year in causes he or she deems worthy. The causes have included nonprofits and the county itself, according to an analysis of grants by inewsource.
The changes to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program include cracking down on giving thanks to supervisors on social media. One proposed change would ban supervisors from presenting giant-sized checks that make for classic photo opportunities.
The proposed amendments would also update the ban on gifts to reflect changes in California’s Fair Political Practices Commission reporting requirements.
Supervisors won’t be allowed to travel with organizations that receive the county grants, which is already part of FPPC rules. They will also be required to report gifts using the tickets and ceremonial roles disclosure form.
The U-T reported that the supervisors seemed to be in support of the changes, but had questions about whether the organizations receiving the awards could credit individual supervisors in social media postings.
