SAN DIEGO – San Diego's Ethics Commission will be sending out letters notifying some city elected officials, department managers and former candidates that they may have to amend their financial disclosure filings.

CLIENTS The state Fair Political Practices Commission said San Diego City Councilman-elect Carl DeMaio should disclose clients of two companies he no longer owns. The companies and clients are: American Strategic Management Institute: Active Strategy Inc., Prophix Software, L.A. Care Health Plan, Dole Foods Inc., Morgan Franklin, nFocus Software, Synovate, Virchow Krause & Company LLP, Endwave, Freddie Mac, and Electronic Consulting Services Inc. The Performance Institute Actuate Corp., American Management Association, Bearing Point, Business Objectives, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cognos, Monster Government Solutions, Plexus Scientific, Raytheon Corp., Saba, Telework Consortium, Motorola Inc., and SuccessFactors Inc.

The amendments are necessary because of a new interpretation of law by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, said Stacey Fulhorst, executive director of the Ethics Commission.

She said the issue surfaced after a complaint was filed with the FPPC against City Councilman-elect Carl DeMaio, alleging that he violated campaign law by not disclosing the names of clients in two businesses he sold in September. DeMaio was elected June 3 to the council's District 5 seat.

Fulhorst had told him that he did not have to disclose the names of former clients under the city commission's interpretation of campaign law.

But she was told by the FPPC this week that attorneys for the state agency had met following the complaint and decided that the clients paying more than $10,000 for services provided to a candidate or high-ranking official should be disclosed – even though he no longer owns the businesses.

The rule applies to the 12 months preceding a candidate's filing for office or the initial filing of disclosure documents by a high-ranking official.

“They said they understood why we had a different conclusion,” said Fulhorst, adding that she will comply with the state commission's decision. “There's no reason for us to work against more disclosure.”

Candidates, elected officials and high-ranking government managers are required to disclose financial interests so the public can be aware of conflicts of interest.

DeMaio, who had received a warning letter from the FPPC threatening fines, amended his filing yesterday and sent a copy to the City Clerk's office.

“I did my due diligence and followed their advice to the letter,” DeMaio said. “I'm more than happy to provide this information.”

Fulhorst said she has not determined how many people will be affected.