The Facts

Former Fire Marshal Kenneth Cofflin, who helped draft San Francisco’s 2022 sprinkler ordinance, is now marketing paid consulting to condo associations seeking approvals and exemptions under that same law, according to J.K. Dineen at The Chronicle.

The Context

The legislation itself phased in sprinkler requirements for older residential high-rises. The city’s ethics rules restrict former officials from certain communications with their old departments and from representing clients in matters they worked on personally and substantially.

The GrowSF Take

While it may not meet the legal definition of corruption, starting a consultancy to seek exemptions for the very law you created sure stinks. It's a reminder that every new rule opens a new avenue for influence peddling. San Francisco should stop layering mandates, exemptions, and consultants on top of each other, pause this law, and rewrite it around actual fire risk, real costs, and bright-line ethics rules.