Mayor’s Twin Wins Ruling on Disclosure of Finances

Mavourneen O’Connor may continue working out of a City Hall office as a volunteer in charge of protocol matters for her twin sister, San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, without having to disclose her financial holdings, the city attorney’s office ruled Tuesday.

Volunteers such as the mayor’s twin sister who lack “decision-making or influence-bearing authority” are not required to file annual economic interest forms, according to a seven-page opinion written by Chief Deputy City Atty. Jack Katz. Unpaid members of city boards and commissions, however, must fill out such disclosure statements, Katz wrote.

Since the beginning of this month, Mavourneen O’Connor has worked part-time out of an office on the 11th floor of City Hall, alongside the mayor and her staff.

The mayor’s twin, who served as a top political adviser to her sister during the mayoral race, will be responsible for a staff of volunteers who coordinate meetings between the mayor and visiting dignitaries and other groups, the opinion said.

Mavourneen O’Connor also will field requests from the community for meetings with the mayor, according to two of the mayor’s staff members--spokesman Paul Downey and aide Ben Dillingham.

The mayor’s office had no comment on Tuesday’s decision. Mayor O’Connor is in New York for an anti-drug conference.

Earlier this month, Dillingham said that Mavourneen O’Connor is free to advise her sister on policy matters on her own time.

City Atty. John Witt said Tuesday that it was his understanding that Mavourneen O’Connor would be in charge of arranging the mayor’s social calendar, and that her responsibilities would not include “political-type meetings.”

Should Mavourneen O’Connor’s duties include political matters, she may be required to disclose her financial interests, Witt said.

“To the extent she were given duties beyond those which we understand . . . and those duties fell into that area of discretionary decision-making, then the opinion might very well be different,” he said.

Witt acknowledged that his office would have difficulty monitoring the working relationship between the mayor and her twin.

“Obviously, we don’t have the staff or the resources to keep an eye on everybody who works for the city,” Witt said.