City Hall Digest: New Scandals Show Why SF Needs Reform
City Hall Digest is TogetherSF Action’s biweekly dispatch from San Francisco’s City Hall, broken into bite-sized pieces—because understanding local government is your fundamental right and duty.
Tax Dollars Paid For a Department Director’s Book Promo
The hits keep on coming for former Human Rights Commission Director Sheryl Davis and Mayor London Breed in the unfolding Dream Keeper Initiative scandal. Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle uncovered a new wild detail, where Davis used her position to get the city of San Francisco to purchase a bunch of copies of the children’s book she authored AND fund production of her own podcast. It’s hard out there for new authors in today’s media landscape, but using taxpayer dollars to promote a personal brand is a new level in grifting.
By now, the facts of the scandal surrounding the Dream Keeper Initiative are pretty clear. In 2020, Mayor Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton legislated the creation of the Dream Keeper Initiative, to be run by the Human Rights Commission, which was led by Breed’s friend Sheryl Davis.The Dream Keeper Initiative was one of Breed’s signature programs, meant to invest millions of dollars in San Francisco’s African American community. Davis, who was the director of the city’s Human Rights Commission at the time, apparently took her new position as a green light to start funneling cash to herself and her friends.
Davis launched an interview podcast, “Sunday Candy,” in late 2022. According to city emails and financial records, Davis approved $11,000 in payments from her department to produce the podcast, and told listeners that her show was sponsored by her department and the Dream Keeper Initiative. That’s all above board, although probably not the best use of taxpayer money.
But Davis ALSO used the podcast to direct listeners to her personal website, which heavily promoted “Free to Sing,” the children’s book she authored. Sheryl Davis used city funds to promote her own book in an effort to boost sales. That kind of self-dealing is illegal under state law, which prevents city officials from approving contracts that could benefit them. Davis has now retained a criminal defense attorney to defend her.
Curiously, the San Francisco Public Library also purchased 1,500 copies of “Free to Sing” last year as part of a summer reading program Davis founded. The library says that Davis had no influence on their decision, and that might be true. Still, the public library spending $14,000 to purchase one not-particularly-popular children’s book by an unknown author is a symptom of the chummy, back-scratching nature of San Francisco politics. Why spend money on a book kids might actually want to read when you can send tax money to an associate instead?
This whole episode reveals how unsustainable San Francisco’s current government structure is. Instead of directly funding government programs to help people, San Francisco created this extra layer of non-profit bureaucracy that takes tax money, spends a bunch of it on staff and overhead, then decides which San Franciscans are deserving of their largesse. It’s incredibly inefficient, and encourages bad actors like Sheryl Davis to take advantage for their own benefit. It’s not a system designed to support San Franciscans, it’s a system designed to support city contractors.
This election, San Franciscans have an opportunity to vote for real reform. Prop D cuts this bloated system down to a manageable level, combining redundant commissions and streamlining city government. There’s no reason this kind of blatant corruption needs to continue. November 5, vote yes on Prop D and no on Prop E.
More Chaos at SFUSD as School Superintendent Steps Down
Matt Wayne’s time as superintendent for San Francisco’s Unified School District appears to have come to an end. Last week, Wayne submitted his resignation to the school board, ending a tumultuous tenure that reinforced the need for practical, level-headed leadership on the Board of Education. Because right now, SFUSD is in crisis.
SFUSD finances have been in rough shape for years, exacerbated by fiscally irresponsible school boards, declining enrollment, and a bloated administration. The budget crisis forced the district to start the process to close underperforming and under-enrolled schools earlier this year, a disruptive but necessary step to stabilize SFUSD’s budget.
But Superintendent Wayne completely botched the announcement. The agreed-upon plan was for Wayne to release a list of schools under consideration for closure, then discuss the budget situation with each school’s community, and whether mergers with other campuses would better serve students. Instead, Wayne released a complete list of schools to be shuttered and consolidated, along with info about where affected students would end up at.
Superintendent Wayne’s rogue decision outraged parents, school advocates, and even Mayor London Breed, who added a “school stabilization committee” last month to basically look over Wayne’s shoulder and make sure he didn’t mess up again. With Wayne’s resignation, though, a chaotic new situation has unfolded that requires real leadership to pull the district out of this crisis. New Board of Education members will have to work with Maria Su, the new superintendent, to stabilize SFUSD’s finances, properly manage school closures, and reverse years of declining test scores and enrollment. While Su offers a message of hope and steady leadership, this situation demands more than promises. This November 5, vote for Parag Gupta, Jaime Huling, John Jersin, and Supryia Ray for the Board of Education. They’re committed to getting San Francisco’s schools back on track.