Departments blow off Lurie again. Plus: DCCC gives out endorsements

<p>In a repeat of Mayor  Daniel Lurie ’s  first frustrating budget cycle  last year, a significant chunk of City Hall departments are once again failing to meet his reduction targets. Of the roughly 50 departments that have posted 2026-27 budgets, 18 haven’t tightened their belts enough, according to Power Play’s review of  submissions  to the mayor’s office. Last year at this time, 22 agencies did not meet the mark. The city’s budget remains dire , with a two-year deficit of $877 million, according to the  latest estimate . That’s a fair chunk of the roughly $16 billion in annual expenses. And that’s not tallying the total cost of actions by President  Donald Trump , who has threatened to  withhold SNAP benefits  and whose One, Big, Beautiful Bill aims to  curtail Medicare spending . In December, Lurie  ordered departments  to come up with $400 million in reductions, including eliminating discretionary programs, restructuring departments, reducing citywide work orders by 10%, centralizing duplicative expenses, and proposing near-term investments to save money in the long term. The mayor’s office gave each department a “reduction target.” While some departments have bowed to the mayor’s demands and hit their marks, others are refusing to go along and are articulating their reasons in writing.  In City Hall bureaucratese, they’re essentially telling Lurie to go kick rocks. Resistors include the San Francisco Fire Department, which argued in its budget submission that meeting the mayor’s mandates would harm emergency response time. The department is asking for $385.6 million — $11 million more than its target and $7 million more than it was allotted last year.  “Any reduction of that scale would have material impact to the front-line emergency services that the department is responsible for,” the department wrote.  The police are asking for $693.7 million — $11.3 million over the target — though SFPD staff noted that ongoing negotiations with the police union may change the financial landscape. The pushback on budget cuts by the fire and police departments is not necessarily surprising considering the mayor’s priority of funding public safety agencies. But they’re not alone.  Departments that haven’t fully hacked away at their budgets include the Agency for Human Rights, Ethics Commission, Human Services Agency, and War Memorial and Performing Arts Center. Mayor’s ofice spokesperson  Kate Poltrack  said federal budget cuts are driving the city’s deficit to historic levels. “Our office will work collaboratively” with departments and others, she said, “to deliver a responsible budget that prioritizes core service.” Turning in budgets that don’t do as the mayor asks is a common tactic by city departments, and last year such maneuvers bore fruit: The district attorney’s office and other public safety agencies  were spared cuts  after playing chicken with Lurie. Not every department saw success with the strategy, though: After departments like Homelessness and Supportive Housing refused his order,  Lurie seized control of their budgets  and slashed them anyway.  — J.F.R. and G.G. Got tips? Send to us at  powerplay@sfstandard.com . Programming note: Power Play will be off Sunday. PROTESTER VS. PRESSER:  A Wednesday press conference called by Lurie, Supervisor  Bilal Mahmood,  and the Building & Construction Trades Council’s  Rudy Gonzalez  saw 10 protesters chanting “Tax the rich” throughout. The half-hour briefing was supposed to celebrate  a proposal to spur development .  But the chant took a darker turn. During Gonzalez’s speech, a woman was heard yelling “Tax the Jews” and “Tax Israel,” a video obtained by Power Play shows. While the video does not show the protesters, the antisemitic shouts can be heard coming from a single person.  “Suggesting that Jews are wealthy is a tired trope, and targeting our community at an event focused on creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans is decidedly antisemitic,” Lurie said afterward. “I will never accept hate directed at the Jewish community or any community in our city. Those are not San Francisco values — we’re better than that.” San Francisco’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, whose members were part of the protest, said in a statement that the culprit was not affiliated with their group: “DSA members and other protesters asked her to stop, but she refused. We want to be clear that whatever hate she holds isn’t shared by DSA members, and we categorically reject antisemitism.” (DSA has been highly critical of the U.S. government’s support for Israel.)  Christin Evans , a small-business owner who attended the protest, told Power Play that the woman who made the remarks was a passerby.  — G.G. DCCC ENDORSEMENT:  San Francisco’s political establishment revealed its preferences Wednesday night for the June election, as the Democratic County Central Committee issued its coveted endorsements. On the June ballot: supervisor races in Districts 2 and 4, a school board seat, a judicial contest, and two ballot measures: an earthquake safety bond and one that would strengthen  term limits . Three incumbents — Supervisors  Stephen Sherrill  and  Alan Wong , along with school board President  Phil Kim  — secured the DCCC’s endorsement. Since 2024, the governing body of the local Democratic Party has shifted from a progressive majority to a more moderate and YIMBY-aligned body, and both Sherrill and Wong have been given the stamp of approval for supporting Lurie’s upzoning plan. Sherrill’s main challenger in District 2,  Lori Brooke , drew some support, including from former supervisor and DCCC member  Michela Alioto-Pier . In District 4, Wong’s opponents,  Natalie Gee  and  Albert Chow,  won backing from some members. But Wong’s incumbency, along with Lurie’s influence, had solidified his path to endorsement. In the judicial race, prosecutor  Phoebe Maffei  received the nod over public defender  Alexandra Pray .  Both of the ballot measures sailed through with “yes” endorsements, but the  controversial term-limit charter amendment  resulted in a closer vote.  — H.L. LOVE ME NOT:  Speaking of the west side’s electoral slugfest: Wong, Gee and Chow will duke it out Thursday at a District 4 candidate forum hosted by Sunset United Neighbors. Other candidates are getting the cold shoulder:  David Lee,  the San Francisco State University politics professor and theater performer  Jeremy Greco.   Greco is a newcomer, so that’s not a surprise. But Lee has run for both state Assembly and for supervisor of the Richmond. He has raised more than $31,000. While it’s not as much as Wong’s $72,000 or Gee’s $143,000, once he receives public financing, he will be on even footing.  So why exclude him?  Insiders note that moderate Democrats think of Lee as a spoiler, pulling attention, donations, and other resources away from his fellow moderate-aligned District 1 candidate  Marjan Philhour , and contributing to their collective loss in 2020 against Supervisor  Connie Chan . There’s speculation that moderate-aligned groups may be afraid Lee will play spoiler for Wong, with whom he’d naturally share votes. Selena Chu , a board member of SUN, told Power Play there’s a simple reason for excluding other candidates: The group polled its members on who they wanted to see at their forum, and Lee polled at 2%. While Chu declined to provide numbers for the other candidates, she said Wong, Gee, and Chow polled far higher. Ultimately, Chu said, the group wanted to ensure that working families aren’t stuck at a political event for hours. “How early do D4 people sleep? Quite early. We want to be respectful to our membership. We hope [Lee] understands,” she said.  — J.F.R.  DESIGN BATTLE:  The never-ending saga over the Great Highway is entering its final, farcical phase. Supporters of reopening the roadway to cars have filed paperwork seeking another ballot measure, launching a campaign called “Great Highway for everyone.” They’ve  rolled out a logo  featuring a family of four strolling along the beach at sunset, seemingly enjoying the coastline. Backers of Sunset Dunes say the imagery only helps their cause. “It appears that even Sunset Dunes opponents recognize that San Franciscans love our coastal park free of car pollution and danger,” said  Lucas Lux , president of Friends of Sunset Dunes. “Please give them our thanks for designing a campaign graphic for us.” But the trolling didn’t stop there. Lux and his supporters quickly unveiled a redesigned, AI-generated version of the logo — depicting a traffic-choked roadway lined with cars and exhaust fumes. “Here’s one they can use that shows what they’re actually advocating for,” Lux said. The text at the bottom of the AI-altered logo: “Are we seriously still talking about this?” Jamie Hughes , the campaign spokesperson, said Lux should get his eyes checked, noting that  the family in the original image is on the beach, not in the park. “As seen with the ‘Sunset Dunes project,’ clearly their only focus continues to be making a mockery of our beautiful coast.”  — H.L. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly included Public Works in a list of departments that did not meet its budget target from the mayor last year.</p>

CA Democrats know how to party. Plus: A $240 million fight at City Hall?

<p>Moscone Center was a political junkie’s dream this weekend as politicians gave fiery speeches and  wrote expletives on whiteboards  dissing President  Donald Trump . Meanwhile, aides let off steam with a few too many drinks at the event’s after-parties while protestors dressed as octopuses and snails, urging Democratic leaders to grow a spine against immigration raids and fascism. Just another day at the California Democratic Convention. By Sunday, the results were in on  endorsements . The most-watched contest — who the party would back  as the replacement for Gov.  Gavin Newsom   — ended without a consensus, as none of the candidates reached the 60% threshold to secure an endorsement.  Rep.  Eric Swalwell   came in first, with 24% of the vote, while former state Controller  Betty Yee  followed up with 17%. The figures show that with a little over three months left until the June primary, there is still no clear frontrunner in the crowded gubernatorial race. Some came away with gold medals, though. State  Sen.  Scott Wiener  received his party’s endorsement in the congressional race to succeed Speaker Emerita  Nancy Pelosi , a much-needed win after his opponent,  Supervisor  Connie Chan , secured endorsements in the last few days from former San Francisco mayors and labor unions.  But the real fun of the convention was, of course, the ragers that went down on Saturday night.  On the Marriott Marquis’ top floor, the coveted “Club Neon” hit capacity half an hour before it began at 10 p.m. (Dozens waited in the lobby until staff told them to leave if they didn’t have a room upstairs.) Inside, cheap sunglasses and small bites covered tables while delegates and volunteers gossiped about campaigns and affordable housing. Women sat on each other’s laps overlooking the skyline. One unidentified man brazenly plucked broccolini from the buffet with his bare hand before popping it into his mouth. On the dance floor,  Kevin Arias-Romero , a delegate from Mendota in the Central Valley, wore cargo shorts and a t-shirt while dancing to Bad Bunny’s “Monaco.” Active in local commissions for years, he’s now running for his local school board. On his first trip to San Francisco, he embraced every “side-quest.” “I’m having the time of my life,” he said, admitting he’d had a few drinks and endorsed Swalwell for governor. “We worked hard. Now we get to play hard.” Back at Moscone, the “Big Dem Energy” party hosted by the San Francisco Democratic Party reeked of vodka and vomit, while California YIMBY Action’s “Yes, In My Bar-kyard” bash carried notes of tequila and buffalo sauce. And don’t forget the California Billionaire Tax Reception, where  Barisha Spriggs , a Black Caucus member who works for Oakland Unified School District, once again led the dance floor — as she has at every convention since 2017. “Sometimes there’s a group, or sometimes I just start it,” she said, breathless as she left Moscone for the Powell Street BART station. “It’s my happy place.”  — G.G. and E.W. Got tips? Send to us at  powerplay@sfstandard.com . TRUMP OR AFFORDABILITY : Speaking of California Democrats, the Commonwealth Club hosted a fireside chat Friday with local party chair  Nancy Tung  that saw nine of the gubernatorial candidates give their elevator pitches.  In the 15 or so minutes each candidate had to make their case, a clear dichotomy emerged: Some are focused on fighting President  Donald Trump,  and some prioritize finding solutions to the state’s affordability crisis.  Those leaning on the lowering-costs message include former Rep.  Katie Porter , who, as a way to show her middle-class bona fides, was adamant that she buys the generic brand of milk over the name brand. She’s joined by  billionaire  Tom Steyer , who argues that taxing the rich is the best way to pay teachers and avoid more strikes. San Jose Mayor  Matt Mahan , former Assemblymember  Ian Calderon,  former state Controller  Betty Yee , and former L.A. Mayor  Antonio Villaraigosa  are also in this camp. Others are using Democrats’ revulsion of the man in the White House as their main ammunition. Rep.  Eric Swalwell  got a big round of applause after dunking on Trump over the Supreme Court’s strike-down of his tariffs. (“We just learned today that he’s been illegally taxing all of you for the last year,” Swalwell quipped.) He mentioned his role in the Russia investigation against the president, something that may play well in San Francisco but could create trouble with independents. Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services  Xavier Becerra  spoke on his lawsuits against the first Trump administration as attorney general of California. California Superintendent of Public Instruction  Tony Thurmond  is arguably taking the strongest path on both avenues, going hard on Trump by supporting the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but also issuing an ambitious (and maybe fantastical) plan to build 2 million homes by 2030. One of his ideas is to use school district land to build housing. If Thurmond is elected (he’s polling as a mega-longshot), Californians will be keeping a close eye on that goal.  — G.G. WHAT’S UP DOC ?: Mayor  Daniel Lurie  has had his hands full lately with labor battles, charter reform, the teachers strike, and the proposed CEO tax. Well, another fault line might soon emerge, as labor defends against proposed changes to San Francisco’s small-business healthcare ordinance, which tasks employers with paying for medical reimbursement accounts or other forms of insurance. The 2006 ordinance, the brainchild of former Supervisor  Tom Ammiano , initially provided universal healthcare for city residents. But after the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act, some businesses began passing the  crippling cost  of employee healthcare on to consumers, with many restaurants tacking on an “SF mandate” or “health fee” to bills. Businesses have been lobbying Lurie and Board of Supervisors President  Rafael Mandelman  to tweak the law or toss it. Those talks slowed down last year amid a dire budget season, but Ethics Commission filings show they’ve kicked back up. A lobbyist for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association met with  Aly Bonde , the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, three times in January over the healthcare cost, Power Play has learned. “We look forward to further talks. It’s been a long slog,” said  Laurie Thomas , executive director of the restaurant association, noting that discussions have continued since former Mayor  London Breed ’s administration. “We want our employees to have good benefits, but it needs to be reformed so it can be sustainable.” Eliminating the medical benefits outright is a red line for labor, we hear, especially after the Trump administration  took a hatchet to  Medicare spending. Private-sector union leadership may meet with Lurie’s team sometime over the next two months regarding the issue. It’ll have to be soon: Roughly $240 million in unspent funds from the healthcare reimbursement accounts will transfer to the city’s general fund in April. For context, that’s a quarter of the city’s budget deficit. Labor wants to see those funds spent on worker healthcare. If it’s not, well, did we mention a potential new fault line?  — J.F.R. GAMEDAY, NOT SCHOOLDAY:  Quiz time: What was San Francisco’s biggest priority the week of Feb. 2? If you answered “preventing the school strike that sent the families of 50,000 students scrambling for child care or education access,” we’re going to bet you’re not the mayor.  That’s because the same week negotiations between the school district and educators union fell apart, Lurie’s focus was almost entirely on hosting the Super Bowl. That's according to at least one measure — his calendar. Power Play requested Lurie’s calendar for that chunk of February, and the football-to-education tally isn’t even close. Our sports-loving mayor clocked 21 Super Bowl-related appearances, including chatting it up with  Joe Shasky, Joe Spadoni,  and  Dave Flemming  on 95.7 The Game and schmoozing  with the Budweiser  Clydesdales. When it came to brokering deals with the school district and union, Lurie had exactly five calendar entries, including attending a Feb. 5 town hall on Zoom and a virtual check-in on Microsoft Teams with his school negotiation team — which includes  Steve Kawa,  a former top staffer in past mayoral administrations — on the same day as a flurry of Super Bowl evening events. The San Francisco Unified School District’s negotiation timeline is illustrative: The morning the union gave the district its strike notice, Lurie was  making free throws  on  Pat McAfee ’s   show. On Feb. 6, the day after negotiations stalled, the do-or-die weekend to come together to prevent a strike, Lurie had his one and only meetings with the district and union, separately.  He later darted off to attend a Super Bowl reception hosted by SV Angel, the investment firm of billionaire tech godfather  Ron Conway , held at the 21st-floor Starlite bar, where you can order a cocktail called the “Porn Star Martini.” That was just one of half a dozen Super Bowl appearances for the mayor that day. As the district and union were deadlocked Feb. 7 in their final night of negotiations before the strike, Lurie spent the night wining and dining NFL team owners — first at a dinner hosted at City Hall, then at the after-party at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to catch a performance by  country singer   Chris Stapleton . The looming strike did seem to disrupt Lurie’s movement at one crucial time — on Feb. 8, instead of attending the game, as one might expect the host to do, he and his staff were burrowed in City Hall, working on a  Hail Mary pass  to avert the strike. Alas, it didn’t connect. San Francisco’s first educators strike in nearly 50 years hit the streets the next day. Lurie’s spokesperson  Charles Lutvak  defended the mayor’s efforts that week, saying, “Even as Mayor Lurie led the city through a safe and overwhelmingly successful Super Bowl week that generated hundreds of millions of dollars for local businesses and our city, he helped restart stalled negotiations between SFUSD and UESF — bringing in experts to move negotiations forward, providing space for the parties to work and talk, and stepping in directly to support however he could.”  — J.F.R.</p>

Planning commissioner fined for ethics violations after Standard investigation

<p>Planning Commissioner Kathrin Moore has been fined $12,000 after city officials determined that she engaged in “severe violations” of conflict-of-interest laws involving her previous employer. The fines come after   The Standard   reported  in July that Moore had voted to approve projects involving Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, or SOM, while simultaneously receiving $15,000 in yearly retirement payments from the internationally renowned architecture firm.  The Ethics Commission charged Moore with four counts of violating conflict-of-interest rules for votes she participated in between 2021 and 2025.  “Although there is no evidence to suggest that [Moore] deliberately intended to benefit her financial interest by participating in the votes, her failure to recuse herself from the matters constitute severe violations of the conflict-of-interest laws for which she must be held accountable,” charging papers from the Ethics Commission state. Moore, who retired as an associate partner at SOM in 1999, has been on the Planning Commission since 2006. The seven-person governing body is one of the most influential commissions in the city, overseeing the approval or rejection of major development projects. “I made an unintentional, honest mistake in forgetting to recuse myself from the SOM-related votes,” Moore said in a statement. “And while I take full responsibility for the oversight, in hindsight, it’s vital to note that each project was unanimously approved, I was never a swing vote, no harm was done, nor did I benefit monetarily.” The Ethics Commission found that Moore had violated ethics rules based on votes involving developments at 1750 Van Ness Ave., 98 Franklin St., and 530 Sansome St./447 Battery St. The buildings totaled nearly $900 million in project costs. “Given the large scale of these developments and their substantial impact on community space in the City, Respondent’s participation in these matters despite a conflict of interest risked public confidence in the integrity of City decision-making,” the Ethics Commission wrote. In two instances, Moore recused herself from projects involving her former architecture firm, though it is unclear why she did not step away from other votes. City officials and commissioners are prohibited from making decisions involving an entity in which they received $500 or more over the previous year. Commissioners regularly recuse themselves from votes, often to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. City attorneys had warned Moore that her votes on SOM could constitute a breach of local ethics laws, according to a 2012 memo. The memo cited Moore’s claim that she had been told by the city attorney that she did not have to include SOM’s retirement income in her required financial disclosure Form 700. “This office does not have any record of that advice,” an attorney wrote in response.  Moore has reported her SOM income since 2012. After The Standard’s reporting on the memo, Moore said she would no longer vote on SOM projects. The architecture firm is behind some of the world’s most famous buildings, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Sears Tower in Chicago. SOM also designed One Maritime Plaza and the trusses at San Francisco International Airport. Moore was appointed to the Planning Commission by former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, and then reappointed by former Supervisors David Chiu and Malia Cohen. She was most recently reappointed by Supervisor Shamann Walton. Her term will end in July.</p>

SF political group dropping nearly $2 million to support moderates

<p>GrowSF, a moderate-leaning Democratic political group allied with Mayor Daniel Lurie, will double its spending toward a centrist slate of candidates in 2026, The Standard has learned. The group has committed as much as $1.75 million from its PAC to keep, or expand, the moderate majority on the Board of Supervisors that has supported Lurie’s legislative agenda, from granting him emergency powers to combat fentanyl to reshaping the city’s zoning landscape. GrowSF spent  less than half that amount  on candidates in 2024, the last time supervisors ran in a competitive election. That level of spending puts GrowSF in the upper echelons of political groups supporting candidates and issues in San Francisco. In 2024, for example, Neighbors for a Better San Francisco was among the highest spenders: roughly $5 million, according to an Ethics Commission dashboard. The next major spender, a PAC formed by the San Francisco Labor Council, spent $1.1 million. “GrowSF backs leaders committed to safe and clean streets, housing affordability, and world-class public schools,” cofounder Sachin Agarwal said in a statement. “We’re not going back to the performative politics that have held San Francisco back. That’s why in 2026 we’re going all in to elect candidates who deliver results.” The group’s first priority is backing Supervisor Alan Wong, a Lurie appointee who replaced recalled Supervisor Joel Engardio. It’ll spend $250,000 to support Wong in his June special election. Wong has raised $17,000 for his own campaign, according to the latest filings. He faces a competitive race against progressive candidate Natalie Gee, who has raised $66,000, and neighborhood activist Albert Chow, who has raised $6,000.  “If there is one thing that Sunset residents are sick of, it’s outside groups telling us who to vote for,” Gee said in response to GrowSF’s announcement. “Our campaign is about uplifting working families in District 4 and fighting for a safer, more affordable, and more equitable city. If that makes us the target of attacks by ultra-wealthy, anti-worker special-interest groups, then it proves that our fight is righteous.” After emerging during the pandemic, GrowSF swiftly grew into one of the most strident anti-progressive pressure groups, most recently  targeting left-leaning supervisors  who voted against Lurie’s  Family Zoning Plan , which changed zoning across the city to foster denser housing construction. GrowSF shares advisers with Lurie, including Tyler Law and communications guru Max Szabo. In 2024, the group aggressively leveraged a war chest of roughly $300,000 to oust Supervisor Dean Preston, a democratic socialist,  with its “Dump Dean” campaign . Every even-numbered Board of Supervisors seat is up for election in 2026. The candidates most allied with GrowSF and Lurie are Wong and District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, who faces a serious challenge from neighborhood organizer Lori Brooke. GrowSF could also play a role in the heated contest for District 8 between Manny Yuketiel, a cafe owner, and Gary McCoy, an organizer who has been an aide to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, although it’s unclear which candidate the group will support. GrowSF has committed to spending at least $250,000 in each competitive race. For Wong in District 4 and Sherrill in District 2, the group may spend as much as $500,000, splitting its spending between the June special-election ballot and November’s general election. At least $12,000 of that support came in donations from Sherrill’s family to GrowSF, ethics filings reveal. Other donors to GrowSF’s efforts include the Building Owners and Managers Association PAC, which gave $49,000, and  Calvin French-Owen , a former OpenAI engineer, who gave $25,000.</p>

Former SF Human Rights chief faces 31 ethics charges over gifts, contracts scandal

<div class="content-grid article-content"><div class="Metadata_container__fxAzw"><div class="flex flex-row gap-x-md"></div><div class="Metadata_metadata__W_0LF"><span>By <a class="" href="https://sfstandard.com/author/gabriel-greschler/">Gabe Greschler</a></span><time datetime="2025-11-06T17:40:00.772Z">Published Nov. 06, 2025 • 9:40am</time></div></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Allegations of wrongdoing continue to mount against former city department leader Sheryl Davis, who was accused Thursday of multiple ethics violations.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Davis resigned as executive director of the Human Rights Commission last September following allegations of financial misconduct and conflicts of interest <a data-post-id="57e41fdf-7f71-4feb-ae57-71983fb45fa5" href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/17/london-breed-dream-keeper-initiative-sheryl-davis/">that developed into a major City Hall scandal</a>.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left"><a data-post-id="e00846f7-dc92-45dc-a8b6-a04c77c7d5d5" href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/12/san-francisco-dream-keeper-initiative-sheryl-davis-james-spingola-nonprofit/">Many of the accusations are linked to her relationship</a> with the nonprofit Collective Impact and its former leader, James Spingola. Davis signed off on several lucrative city contracts for Spingola’s nonprofit while the two shared a home and a car. Much of the money involved stemmed from the San Francisco Dream Keeper Initiative, a signature program of former Mayor London Breed, overseen by Davis, that injected tens of millions of dollars into the Black community.</p></div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The city Ethics Commission’s executive director, Patrick Ford, on Thursday published 31 counts against Davis, alleging she accepted prohibited gifts from nonprofits and other entities, failed to disclose them, violated her department’s policies, and breached laws on conflicts of interest by awarding contracts to those from whom she received gifts.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">While the nature of Davis’ alleged misconduct isn’t new — city investigations have detailed the claims against her for more than a year — Thursday’s announcement marks the first time monetary fines may loom over her since she left her post.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The Ethics Commission found that Davis in 2023 accepted a seven-night stay at a rental house in Martha’s Vineyard that was paid for by Collective Impact. Around the same time, Collective Impact was accepting grants from Davis’ department — making it a restricted source of gifts for her. Other gifts from the nonprofit included first-class flights and expenses associated with her personal podcast.</p></div><figure class="ImageBlock_ImageFigure__ZnquR inset-image mobile-grid-full mobile-grid-full" data-align="none"><div class="relative"><div><img alt="A smiling man in a black puffer jacket and jeans stands next to a smiling woman in a green coat in an ornately decorated room with arched doorways in the background." class="block lazyloaded" data-nimg="1" decoding="async" height="2334" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 1001px) 600px, (min-width: 768px) 700px, 100vw" src="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S3840x3840-FPNG" srcset="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S640x640-FPNG 640w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S750x750-FPNG 750w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S768x768-FPNG 768w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S828x828-FPNG 828w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S1024x1024-FPNG 1024w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S1080x1080-FPNG 1080w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S1200x1200-FPNG 1200w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S1920x1920-FPNG 1920w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S2048x2048-FPNG 2048w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_iv8cotaqm114130fomg4261p00/-S3840x3840-FPNG 3840w" style="color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 2334 2334'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=='/%3E%3C/svg%3E&quot;)" width="2334"/></div></div><figcaption class="basis-full mt-[10px] text-xs text-gray-550 font-inter leading-[18px]">James Spingola and Davis were at the center of a major City Hall scandal in 2024.<span class="image-caption-divider"> | </span><span class="image-credit"><span class="sr-only">Source: </span>Courtesy Photo</span></figcaption></figure><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">In another instance, Davis received a portrait of herself worth $5,000 in December 2023 from the nonprofit Urban Ed Academy, which sought a contract from the department earlier in the year. </p></div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The charges also name the University of San Francisco, which paid Davis an income in 2022 and 2023. Around the same time, she approved thousands of dollars in payments to the school from her department for housing, catering, and other expenses.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The counts were part of a probable-cause determination signed by Ford that spawns a public hearing before the Ethics Commission’s five-member board, which will determine whether Davis violated the law and faces financial penalties. </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Davis and her attorney did not respond to a request for comment.   </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">A similar case occurred in 2023, when a former city department leader was found to be accepting gifts from Recology while she was engaged in business with the trash company. Debbie Raphael, who ran the Department of the Environment, <a data-post-id="713972bd-9de3-4754-9db9-d2ea974bf7ac" href="https://sfstandard.com/2023/03/07/ex-sf-department-head-to-get-4k-fine-after-city-hall-scandal/">received a $4,000 fine</a>.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">City investigators are probing Davis’ conduct. The city attorney’s office <a data-post-id="c22227fb-633e-453b-b1ee-e000a0747ce7" href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/09/collective-impact-nonprofit-san-francisco-scandal-city-hall/">failed last month </a>in its effort to ban Collective Impact from receiving additional public funding after a hearing officer ruled against it. The city attorney’s office plans to appeal the decision. </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">In August, The Standard <a data-post-id="17e9ce56-6e1a-4b2c-ab4a-70d02ae1a664" href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/08/25/san-francisco-sheryl-davis-dream-keeper-initiative-criminal-investigation/">reported</a> that Davis was under criminal investigation by the district attorney. A month later, a joint investigation by the controller and city attorney’s office found that Davis <a data-post-id="7177bd1f-e970-4576-bc1c-db758df2f786" href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/booze-luxury-hotel-retreat-city-department-misspent-4-6-million/">had misspent $4.6 million of her department’s money</a> over nearly half a decade.</p></div></div>

Exclusive: Top official suspended after Standard investigation into alleged bid-rigging

<div class="content-grid article-content"><div class="Metadata_container__fxAzw"><div class="Metadata_metadata__W_0LF"><span>By <a class="" href="https://sfstandard.com/author/josh-koehn/">Josh Koehn</a></span><time datetime="2025-09-25T22:38:29.902Z">Published Sep. 25, 2025 • 3:38pm</time></div></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">A lucrative contract to help manage San Francisco’s $2.6 billion in business taxes has imploded and a top city manager has been suspended after The Standard launched an investigation into whistleblower allegations of conflicts of interest and bid-rigging at the tax collection agency.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Officials for the city attorney and controller’s offices confirmed they are initiating an independent review after San Francisco’s chief assistant treasurer, Tajel Shah, was placed on paid leave Thursday. The suspension came one day after Mechanical Orchard, a self-described “AI-native technology company,” walked away from a nearly $10 million contract to replace the business tax system used by the office of the treasurer and tax collector.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The fallout comes after The Standard requested interviews with Mechanical Orchard executives regarding whistleblower allegations about Shah’s personal relationships with company officials, as well as decisions she made in favor of Mechanical Orchard during two and a half years of discussions over contracts.</p></div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Treasurer José Cisneros, who had said Shah would not be suspended before city officials reversed course, acknowledged to The Standard in an interview Wednesday that the cancellation of the contract “is a setback for our office’s work to modernize our business tax system.” There is urgency in finding a new contractor, as the technology the city uses to process taxes for roughly 90,000 businesses could be inoperable in several years.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Regarding the potentially rigged bidding process, Cisneros said, “I intend to investigate and make sure we get to the bottom of how everything was done.”</p></div><figure class="ImageBlock_ImageFigure__ZnquR grid-wide inset-image mobile-grid-full mobile-grid-full" data-align="wide"><div class="relative"><div><img alt="A person in a suit waving from a convertible, with trees and high-rise buildings in the background." class="block lazyloaded" data-nimg="1" decoding="async" height="1707" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 1001px) 800px, (min-width: 768px) 100vw, 100vw" src="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S3840x2561-FPNG" srcset="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S640x427-FPNG 640w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S750x500-FPNG 750w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S768x512-FPNG 768w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S828x552-FPNG 828w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S1024x683-FPNG 1024w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S1080x720-FPNG 1080w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S1200x800-FPNG 1200w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S1920x1280-FPNG 1920w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S2048x1366-FPNG 2048w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_0a4o93ldll5pt3mj6tmhgffp18/-S3840x2561-FPNG 3840w" style="color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 2560 1707'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=='/%3E%3C/svg%3E&quot;)" width="2560"/></div></div><figcaption class="basis-full mt-[10px] text-xs text-gray-550 font-inter leading-[18px]">A whistleblower says Treasurer José Cisneros may have been asleep at the wheel on a contract to manage business taxes. | Eloise Kelsey</figcaption></figure><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Late last year, The Standard received a copy of a whistleblower complaint sent to the city’s Ethics Commission alleging that Shah failed to disclose her close friendship with Roque Versace, who at the time was Mechanical Orchard’s chief revenue officer. The complaint also alleged that Mechanical Orchard’s sister company, Ratio PBC, hired Shah’s niece just weeks before the city began accepting bids to replace its business tax system. </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The Standard subsequently filed a public records request for all communications involving the city and Mechanical Orchard, resulting in the production of more than 1,100 emails and internal documents. A review of these documents and additional internal records appears to show that Shah, who oversees contracts and negotiations for the treasurer’s office, took steps that helped Mechanical Orchard win the bid to replace the business tax system. </p></div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="article-body grid-wide"><figure class="pullquote-block"><blockquote><p>“Equally concerning is Treasurer Jose Cisneros’s role in this matter. If he was unaware of Ms. Shah’s actions, it reflects a serious failure of oversight. If he was aware, it suggests complicity.”</p><cite>Whistleblower complaint</cite></blockquote></figure></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">More than a year of discussions between Mechanical Orchard officials and the treasurer’s office culminated in an open bidding process in the spring of 2024, in which companies submitted proposals and were ranked based on experience and pricing. Only the top three scorers were supposed to move on to the final round. One company finished in first place, three tied for second, and Mechanical Orchard finished third — or technically fifth, as a rival bidder, Vynyl, noted in a November 2024 letter to the city protesting Mechanical Orchard winning the contract. (Vynyl came in second overall in the final bidding process.)</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">According to the whistleblower allegations, Shah’s efforts helped Mechanical Orchard advance out of the first round of the competition, and she also instructed staff to revise the bidding process in order to reduce the scores of all finalists except Mechanical Orchard. An internal cost-assessment report obtained by The Standard shows that last-minute changes to the price of cloud infrastructure and IT support added roughly $1.7 million to proposals from all finalists — except Mechanical Orchard.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">In an interview Tuesday, Shah said she was not aware that Ratio PBC had hired her niece, and only vaguely recalled that Ratio PBC was involved in the process that led to Mechanical Orchard’s winning bid. Shah said Versace was a friend but compared him to any employee for a company that has had longtime dealings with the city. However, a Facebook post from 2017 shows that Shah commented on a photo of Versace’s family, “My favorite peeps!” </p></div><figure class="ImageBlock_ImageFigure__ZnquR grid-wide inset-image mobile-grid-full mobile-grid-full" data-align="wide"><div class="relative"><div><img alt="Recommendation for Anjali Mehta from Eric Guroff praising her data strategy skills and project leadership on a health data engineering engagement." class="block lazyloaded" data-nimg="1" decoding="async" height="3000" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 1001px) 800px, (min-width: 768px) 100vw, 100vw" src="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S3840x2560-FPNG" srcset="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S640x427-FPNG 640w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S750x500-FPNG 750w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S768x512-FPNG 768w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S828x552-FPNG 828w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S1024x683-FPNG 1024w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S1080x720-FPNG 1080w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S1200x800-FPNG 1200w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S1920x1280-FPNG 1920w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S2048x1365-FPNG 2048w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_cev7q0j4tl7fp7icsmjmasfo3i/-S3840x2560-FPNG 3840w" style="color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 4500 3000'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=='/%3E%3C/svg%3E&quot;)" width="4500"/></div></div><figcaption class="basis-full mt-[10px] text-xs text-gray-550 font-inter leading-[18px]">The CEO of Ratio PBC gave the niece of a top San Francisco official a glowing endorsement on LinkedIn within two weeks of its sister company winning a bid on a major city contract. 
</figcaption></figure><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Joan Harrington, a former director and current fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, called Shah’s alleged dealings and lack of transparency throughout the contracting process “extraordinary.” </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">“At the very least, she violated her duty as an employee by not being transparent in the process, and it obviously had an impact,” Harrington said.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Mechanical Orchard was supposed to begin the work of replacing the city’s business tax system in January. However, this process has been mired in protracted contract negotiations that appear to be a mystery even to Cisneros.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">“I’m not aware of a single reason [for the delay],” the treasurer said. “I didn’t inquire about a particular thing, because I don’t suspect there’s a failure here.”</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The whistleblower complaint alleged that Cisneros’ leadership is “concerning.”</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">“If he was unaware of Ms. Shah’s actions, it reflects a serious failure of oversight,” the complaint states. “If he was aware, it suggests complicity.”</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">An email from Feb. 16, 2023, shows that Shah initially tried to help Versace and Mechanical Orchard get a contract to help manage the city’s property tax system by emailing Simone Jacques, who handles contracts in the assessor-recorder’s office.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">“My friend and I were chatting about the company that he just joined,” Shah wrote to Jacques. “As we geeked out on old mainframe and new cloud issues, he told me about what his company does in that space. … I think it might be worth discussing your efforts with them.”</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Shah then forwarded the email to Versace and wrote: “FYI.”</p></div><div class="article-body grid-wide"><figure class="pullquote-block"><blockquote><p>“At the very least, she violated her duty as an employee by not being transparent in the process, and it obviously had an impact.”</p><cite>Joan Harrington, ethics expert</cite></blockquote></figure></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The assessor-recorder’s office did not contract with Mechanical Orchard, but Shah quickly pivoted to discussions with Versace about subcontracting with a vendor in her shop and replacing San Francisco’s business tax system. Shah and staff in the treasurer’s office shared numerous meetings and emails in 2023 with Versace and Ratio PBC CEO Eric Guroff.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Guroff would give Shah’s niece, Anjali Mehta, a glowing LinkedIn endorsement just 12 days after the June 2024 deadline for companies to submit proposals to replace the city’s business tax system.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Attempts to reach Roque Versace, who no longer works for Mechanical Orchard, were unsuccessful. Guroff did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">In an email to staff this month, Shah wrote that she had been enlisted by Mayor Daniel Lurie to help handle <u><a data-post-id="6bc57da4-49ac-47c1-a28a-e2e352d5f52a" href="https://sfstandard.com/opinion/2025/08/25/daniel-lurie-permitsf-opengov/">contracting with OpenGov</a></u>, a software company that was recently given a sole-source contract to overhaul San Francisco’s labyrinthian permit system.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Shah’s suspension or her role in the OpenGov contracting.</p></div></div>

SF may raise $500 campaign donor limit to counter wealthy PACs

<div class="content-grid article-content"><div class="Metadata_container__fxAzw"><div class="Metadata_metadata__W_0LF"><span>By <a class="" href="https://sfstandard.com/author/gabriel-greschler/">Gabe Greschler</a></span><time datetime="2025-08-30T13:00:00.000Z">Published Aug. 30, 2025 • 6:00am</time></div></div><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Nearly a year after the most expensive mayoral race in San Francisco history, city officials are considering doubling the city’s campaign donation limit to $1,000 to counter the millions pouring into political action committees that have increasing sway over election outcomes.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Bumping the current $500 donation limit, which was established in 2000 for candidate campaigns, including the mayor and Board of Supervisors, could shake up how money influences the city’s elections by weakening some of the power that wealthy donors and special interests have over local races.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Advocates of the <u><a href="https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&amp;ID=14729395&amp;GUID=708620E4-2595-496E-8A97-A966A410C3A4">change</a></u>, which is being proposed by the city’s ethics department and will go before the Board of Supervisors this fall, say the current cap has not kept pace with inflation and has become a major disadvantage to candidates who choose not to rely on independent committees to juice their campaigns. The committees are set up separately from a candidate’s account and are not subject to the same donor limits, meaning wealthy individuals and interest groups can contribute huge sums to support their preferred candidate.</p></div><figure class="ImageBlock_ImageFigure__ZnquR inset-image mobile-grid-full mobile-grid-full" data-align="none"><div class="relative"><div><img alt='A sign reads "Polling Place" with an arrow and US flag, on a busy street with pedestrians and a supermarket background.' class="block lazyloaded" data-nimg="1" decoding="async" height="2001" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 1001px) 600px, (min-width: 768px) 700px, 100vw" src="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S3840x2561-FPNG" srcset="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S640x427-FPNG 640w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S750x500-FPNG 750w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S768x512-FPNG 768w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S828x552-FPNG 828w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S1024x683-FPNG 1024w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S1080x720-FPNG 1080w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S1200x800-FPNG 1200w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S1920x1281-FPNG 1920w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S2048x1366-FPNG 2048w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_o7gs1ns36t0nremqqv7p2b930m/-S3840x2561-FPNG 3840w" style="color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 3000 2001'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=='/%3E%3C/svg%3E&quot;)" width="3000"/></div></div><figcaption class="basis-full mt-[10px] text-xs text-gray-550 font-inter leading-[18px]">The 2024 election saw unprecedented amounts of money flow into independent expenditure committees, which are not subject to contribution limits.<span class="image-caption-divider"> | </span><span class="image-credit"><span class="sr-only">Source: </span>Morgan Ellis/The Standard</span></figcaption></figure><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">City officials said the proposed change, if approved, could be implemented in time for the 2026 election. It would also add a mechanism for future updates to the donor limit.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">“If we raised the minimum, what it would do is allow everyday San Franciscans to have a say in their political system,” said Emma Hare, a vice chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and an aide to Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “It gives the little guy a fighting chance.”</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Roughly $28 million poured into the November 2024 mayoral race, an eye-popping sum made possible by the spending power of several independent committees set up largely in support of Mayor Daniel Lurie, former Mayor London Breed, and former Supervisor Mark Farrell. Big donors to those candidates included billionaire venture capitalist and philanthropist <u><a data-post-id="d09fa05f-8037-4220-b9f6-020e59910181" href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/05/06/san-francisco-neighbors-powerful-political-group-crisis/">Michael Moritz</a></u> (chairman of The Standard), who supported Farrell, and former New York City Mayor <u><a data-post-id="52ba8553-7aa4-456a-98fb-6729e6fc09cd" href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/03/michael-bloomberg-london-breed-1-million/">Michael Bloomberg</a></u>, who backed Breed, among others. </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Lurie, who <u><a data-post-id="4427e4db-db67-49d3-8efa-8085687cf62d" href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/10/29/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-wealth-campaign-expensive-levi-strauss/">spent $9.5 million of his personal funds as an heir to the Levi Strauss family fortune</a></u>, also got a boost from an independent committee that received a <u><a data-post-id="83a1048e-c9c6-4312-88b4-9b139a67b66c" href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/01/30/daniel-lurie-mom-spends-million-dollars-san-francisco-mayor-race/">$1 million donation from his billionaire mother</a></u> and support from a slew of other wealthy individuals.</p></div><figure class="ImageBlock_ImageFigure__ZnquR inset-image mobile-grid-full mobile-grid-full" data-align="none"><div class="relative"><div><img alt="An older man in a suit and tie is speaking at a podium with a United Nations emblem. The background is a brownish curtain." class="block lazyloaded" data-nimg="1" decoding="async" height="4499" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 1001px) 600px, (min-width: 768px) 700px, 100vw" src="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S3840x2560-FPNG" srcset="https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S640x427-FPNG 640w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S750x500-FPNG 750w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S768x512-FPNG 768w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S828x552-FPNG 828w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S1024x683-FPNG 1024w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S1080x720-FPNG 1080w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S1200x800-FPNG 1200w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S1920x1280-FPNG 1920w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S2048x1365-FPNG 2048w, https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_mntmhfgjfd4obb6t0gkfcgac4j/-S3840x2560-FPNG 3840w" style="color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 6748 4499'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'/%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw=='/%3E%3C/svg%3E&quot;)" width="6748"/></div></div><figcaption class="basis-full mt-[10px] text-xs text-gray-550 font-inter leading-[18px]">Wealthy donors like former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave big to former Mayor London Breed through an independent expenditure committee.<span class="image-caption-divider"> | </span><span class="image-credit"><span class="sr-only">Source: </span>Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images</span></figcaption></figure><div class="floats"><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Labor groups also gave handsomely. The Service Employees International Union Local 1021 contributed more than $1 million to opposing Farrell and supporting ballot initiatives.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The 11-member Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposal in the coming months. It will require a supermajority for passage, including from the five-member Ethics Commission, which is considering the legislation at a Sept. 12 meeting. </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">After passage by the Board of Supervisors, it would need Lurie’s approval to go into effect. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the legislation.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">The proposal would not increase the money some candidates can receive through a public financing program, which allows mayoral candidates to collect up to $1.2 million and supervisor contenders up to $255,000. That program is intended to level the playing field for those running in local races who might not have the spending power of wealthier candidates or those who have significant backing from independent committees. </p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">“Adjusting the campaign contribution limit for the first time in 25 years to account for inflation will help candidates run viable campaigns from their controlled committees in the face of increasing third-party spending,” Zachary D'Amico, a deputy director at the city’s ethics department, wrote in a statement.</p><p class="paragraph-block article-body undefined text-left">Supporters anticipate opposition from moneyed interests across the political spectrum, including from progressive labor coalitions and tech-backed groups, both of which are typically big spenders in local races. </p></div></div>

City Hall’s ‘incredibly hard’ budget is done. Here are the winners and losers


<p>Following months of tough negotiations at City Hall, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-daniel-lurie-deficit-proposal/">$15.9 billion budget</a>, which required major belt-tightening to close a historic $782 million deficit.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The financial plan reflects <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-screwed-lurie/">some of the most significant cuts</a> to San Francisco’s budget in nearly two decades, when the Great Recession decimated City Hall’s coffers. Lurie, a political neophyte who rose to power on promises to curb irresponsible spending, slashed nonprofit contracts, department budgets, and some city jobs.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Board of Supervisors, which added several politically moderate members after last year’s election, navigated tricky waters in an effort to avoid the most painful cuts. Unions and community groups fought back against the austerity measures — to limited success.</p>



<p>Several of the board’s progressive members joined forces with moderates in a 10-1 vote to approve the budget. Lurie has until Aug. 1 to sign it.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1668" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?w=2500" alt="A woman with long dark hair and gold hoop earrings is seated in a formal setting, looking to the side attentively. A gold thermos and sanitizer are visible." class="wp-image-353124" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg 7433w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=2500,1668 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Supervisor Jackie Fielder emerged as a vocal critic of the mayor&#8217;s budget proposal.</figcaption></figure>



<p>Supervisor Connie Chan, who received accolades from the board and Lurie’s office for steering the negotiations as budget chair, said during the vote that the spending plan is not “something we all can fully celebrate.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>“But we must acknowledge how we have come together despite our differences to meet this moment,” Chan said.</p>



<p>Supervisor Jackie Fielder, a freshman lawmaker who has emerged as the board’s progressive leader, cast the sole “no” vote against the budget, saying it&nbsp;included cuts to programs that&nbsp;serve the city’s most vulnerable.</p>



<p>&#8220;For all these reasons, I cannot in good conscience vote in support of this budget,&#8221; Fielder said. &#8220;And I will be voting no — with disappointment, with frustration, but also with clarity about the kind of city we are fighting to become. We owe our residents more than austerity. We owe them dignity.&#8221;</p>



<p>Here’s a look at the winners and losers.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-winner-with-caveats-mayor-daniel-lurie">Winner (with caveats): Mayor Daniel Lurie</h2>



<p>Lurie entered the mayor’s office as budget <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/23/daniel-lurie-san-francisco-mayor-budget-cuts/">cutter-in-chief</a>. He didn’t get everything he wanted in the final budget deal, but the reduced spending is undoubtedly a small win for the mayor.</p>



<p>Lurie’s trims mean less funding for the network of <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/05/daniel-lurie-budget-cuts-san-francisco-nonprofit-grants/">nonprofits</a> that provide a variety of services to San Franciscans. In a hard-fought battle, the mayor successfully <a href="https://link.sfstandard.com/view/65c28f2e664d5a5d7e0849a8o1rqy.2h1/aba0897b">diverted some money</a> from a 2018 voter-approved proposition intended for homeless services to instead fund his goal of building shelter beds. Lurie was able to <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/26/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-layoffs-negotiation-budget/">get some of his requested layoffs into the budget amid pushback</a> from certain supervisors and unions.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1667" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?w=2500" alt="The image shows two people seated at a conference table with laptops and microphones. The focus is on a woman, appearing attentive, with blurred screens in the foreground." class="wp-image-363859" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg 6414w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=2500,1667 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Supervisor Connie Chan helped shuttle City Hall through the budget process this year.</figcaption></figure>



<p>The mayor continues to face difficult budget years ahead. This year’s blueprint addresses only a portion of San Francisco’s long-standing structural deficit.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“So, this budget year was incredibly hard,” Lurie’s planning chief, Sarah Dennis Phillips, said in a hearing last week. “Future budget years, probably for the next two years, will continue to be hard.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>San Francisco’s budget could worsen if President Donald Trump <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/04/10/san-francisco-lurie-budget-trump-2-billion/">follows through on promises to cut billions of dollars in federal funding</a> to sanctuary cities.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-winner-law-enforcement">Winner: Law enforcement </h2>



<p>The biggest winner of this budget season? <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/27/san-francisco-budget-cuts-district-attorney-public-defender/">The cops</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Lurie followed through on his campaign promise to prioritize public safety by bumping the budgets of several agencies. The San Francisco Police Department received a roughly 3% funding boost to $849 million. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, which provides security for the city’s courts and runs jails, received a 7% bump to $345 million. The district attorney’s office got a 3% boost to $96 million.</p>



<p>Those increases prompted Fielder to rip into the mayor at Tuesday’s hearing over his decision to keep law enforcement funding intact while cutting community services.&nbsp;</p>



<p>&#8220;While programs serving immigrants, families, BIPOC and LGBTQ communities were gutted, law enforcement walked away with more money,&#8221; Fielder said.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1668" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?w=2500" alt="A line of police officers in riot gear, wearing helmets and face shields, stands against a building. They appear alert, holding batons, with focus on one officer." class="wp-image-408648" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg 6481w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=2500,1668 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Law enforcement saw budget increases under Lurie, who campaigned on prioritizing public safety.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-losers-some-commissions-and-departments">Losers: Some commissions and departments</h2>



<p>Other departments did not fare as well as those related to public safety.</p>



<p>Notably, the <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/sf-status-of-women-human-rights-commission-budget/">scandal-ridden Human Rights Commission</a> saw its budget hollowed out by more than a third, to $27.9 million. The Department of Police Accountability saw a drop of 5% to $9 million.</p>



<p>Among others that lost significant chunks of their budgets: San Francisco Homelessness and Supportive Housing, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and the Ethics Commission.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-partial-losers-unions-and-nonprofits">Partial losers: Unions and nonprofits</h2>



<p>One of the fiercest fights to erupt during the budget negotiations was <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/28/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-budget-layoffs/">over Lurie’s proposed layoffs</a>. The mayor’s initial budget proposal cut roughly 100 filled positions and more than 1,000 unfilled roles from the city’s payroll —&nbsp;<a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/26/san-francisco-budget-government-population-daniel-lurie/">a sliver of the total workforce of 34,800</a>.</p>



<p>The unions came out in force over the last several weeks to defend their workers. Late last month, the board restored funding for 57 filled positions, meaning 40 workers will get pink slips. Roughly 1,300 unfilled positions will be axed.</p>



<p>Nonprofits <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/05/daniel-lurie-budget-cuts-san-francisco-nonprofit-grants/">didn’t fare well</a> in the budget, which reduced city contracts by around $180 million. The cuts will affect numerous departments, including Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Economic and Workforce Development, and the Department on the Status of Women, all responsible for doling out grants to a vast network of local nonprofits.</p>


City attorneys warned commissioner about potential ethics breach. She ignored them


<p>A San Francisco planning commissioner was warned more than a decade ago that she risked a conflict of interest&nbsp;if she continued to vote on projects involving her former employer, a document obtained by The Standard shows.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In spite of that warning, commissioner Kathrin Moore voted to approve multiple projects linked to <a href="https://www.som.com/">Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill</a>, the internationally renowned architecture firm, from which she retired as an associate partner in 1999. All the while, Moore continued to receive annual $15,000 retirement payments from the firm, known as SOM.</p>



<p>In response to an investigation into her conduct by The Standard, Moore said in a statement Monday that she would no longer vote on projects involving SOM.</p>



<p>“To remove even the appearance of any impropriety regarding my actions going forward, I will recuse myself from participating in any decisions relating to any project in which SOM is involved,” she wrote.</p>



<p>Moore, who was first appointed to the Planning Commission in 2006 and now serves as its vice president, approved the SOM projects even after being told in 2012 by the city attorney’s office that her votes could breach city and state ethics rules because of her financial interest in the company. In a four-page memo from April of that year, Andrew Shen, a deputy city attorney at the time, said he was writing to “confirm our prior advice” about potential conflicts of interest related to decisions Moore made regarding SOM in her capacity as a city official.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Shen’s memo outlined examples under which Moore&#8217;s decisions involving SOM could qualify as conflicts of interest. Those situations included voting on projects that would have “material financial effect” on the firm or involved individuals with whom Moore might have a &#8220;personal, business or professional relationship.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>



<div class="wp-block-sf-standard-documentcloud-document" data-document-id="418859"></div>



<p>The city attorney’s office also noted that Moore’s fixed retirement payments from SOM qualified as a financial interest under a state ethics law’s definition of income.</p>



<p>The seven-member planning commission, one of the city&#8217;s most powerful boards, votes on development projects and advises the mayor and Board of Supervisors on land use and transportation matters.&nbsp;</p>



<p>City officials, including planning commissioners, <a href="https://sfethics.org/laws/conflict-of-interest/conflict-of-interest-other-prohibited-activities-regulations-san-francisco-campaign-and-governmental-conduct-code-section-3-200-et-seq#:~:text=of%20general%20application.-,Regulation%203.214%2D4.%20Disclosure%20of%20Personal%2C%20Professional%20%26%20Business%20Relationships%20%E2%80%93%20Determining%20Whether%20an%20Individual%20has%20an%20Ownership%20or%20Financial%20Interest%20in%20the%20Subject%20of%20a%20Governmental%20Decision,-An%20individual%20has">are prohibited</a> from making government decisions involving an entity from which they have received $500 or more in income over the previous year. Commissioners <a href="https://sfethics.org/disclosures/city-officer-disclosure/notification-of-recusal">regularly recuse themselves</a> from votes, even if there is merely the appearance of a conflict.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The Standard previously reported that <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/03/san-francisco-planning-commission-kathrin-moore-architecture/">Moore&nbsp;voted to advance two SOM projects</a> in San Francisco, a Buddhist temple on <a href="https://sfyimby.com/2022/02/som-designed-san-bao-temple-redesigned-and-approved-for-1750-van-ness-avenue-nob-hill-san-francisco.html">1750 Van Ness Ave</a>, approved in 2021, and a building at <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/25/related-california-office-development-jackson-square/">520 Sansome St./447 Battery</a>, which is still pending before the commission. In response to The Standard’s reporting, the Planning Commission’s president, Lydia So, called for an investigation into Moore’s votes.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1667" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?w=2500" alt="A person in a hat speaks at a podium in a wood-paneled room, addressing seated officials at a long desk. Laptops and flags add to the formal setting." class="wp-image-387286" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg 8059w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=2500,1667 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Planning Commission, whose members vote on development projects, is one of the city&#8217;s most powerful boards.</figcaption></figure>



<p>Since then, The Standard has discovered at least three more SOM projects that Moore voted to approve: <a href="https://www.som.com/projects/350-mission-street/">350 Mission</a> in 2011; <a href="https://www.som.com/projects/india-basin/">India Basin</a> in 2018; and <a href="https://sfyimby.com/2022/12/som-updates-design-for-98-franklin-street-san-francisco.html">98 Franklin</a> in 2023.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In at least two instances, Moore recused herself from projects involving SOM: the <a href="https://www.som.com/projects/moscone-center-expansion/">Moscone Center expansion</a> in 2014 and <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/approval-of-high-rise-at-75-howard-st-continues-sf-skyline-transformation/article_7b898157-9a8b-50e8-ae07-0cff7e75bc40.html">One Steuart Lane</a> in 2015.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“I worked for SOM for a long period of time, almost three decades, and have an ongoing relationship with the firm,” Moore said during a vote for One Steuart Lane.</p>



<p>It’s unclear why Moore recused herself on certain projects but not others. Moore&nbsp;said in her statement that she believed she could vote on matters related to the architecture firm as long as she disclosed her relationship with the company.</p>



<p>“I have tried to consistently make that disclosure but it appears sometimes I neglected to do so,” she wrote. &#8220;Since I have been on the Planning Commission I have voted for and voted against projects in which SOM has been involved. I have sometimes praised and sometimes criticized projects in which SOM has been involved. I have never been influenced by anything other than the merits of each project, and I certainly have never been influenced by the fixed retirement payments I receive — payments which would never go up or down based on how I voted on a project.&#8221;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1397" height="931" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9547109895_kathrin-moore-01_fe40dd.jpg?w=1397" alt="A person in white pants and a black jacket walks down a corridor, while another figure is silhouetted in the foreground. A third person stands to the side." class="wp-image-418802" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9547109895_kathrin-moore-01_fe40dd.jpg 1397w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9547109895_kathrin-moore-01_fe40dd.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9547109895_kathrin-moore-01_fe40dd.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1397px) 100vw, 1397px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Commissioner Moore worked at architecture firm Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill until 1999.</figcaption></figure>



<p>In a statement, Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill spokesperson Ana Cuadra said Moore&#8217;s retirement payments are not connected to her activities at the planning commission.</p>



<p>&#8220;As a private-sector firm, it was our expectation that required disclosures, recusals, or potential conflicts of interest by the Commissioner were appropriately resolved with the City,&#8221; Cuadra wrote.</p>



<p>The 2012 memo didn’t explain what legal advice had previously been given to Moore. Jen Kwart, spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, said the office does not disclose privileged conversations, which are often provided to clients verbally. Kwart said it is up to officials to ask for an analysis by the city attorney or the SF Ethics Commission regarding decisions that may pose a conflict of interest.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The memo referenced a claim by Moore that she had previously been advised by&nbsp;the city attorney’s office that she was not required to report the SOM retirement payments on her annual disclosure forms.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“This office does not have any record of that advice,” Shen wrote. Moore began reporting her retirement payments on annual disclosure forms in 2012.</p>



<p>Sean McMorris, an ethics expert at the nonprofit California Common Cause, said rules prohibiting conflicts of interest exist “to prevent decisions based on real or perceived self-interest over the people&#8217;s interest.”</p>



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<p>“When in doubt, a public official should seek advice from counsel, which it appears the commissioner did at some point, but perhaps did not heed entirely,” McMorris said. “On matters of conflict of interest, it is best to operate out of an abundance of caution than engage in action that could diminish the public&#8217;s trust.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Moore was first appointed to the Planning Commission by former Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and was most recently reappointed by Supervisor Shamann Walton. Her term ends in July 2026. </p>



<p>Walton’s office did not respond to a request for comment.</p>



<p>Three of the planning commissioners are appointed by the board president, a role currently held by Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, while the mayor chooses the remaining four.</p>


City official got paid by architecture firm while approving its projects


<p>A longtime San Francisco planning commissioner supported the development of at least two projects in the city by a well-known architecture firm from which she also receives income, according to city disclosure forms, an arrangement that appears to breach the city’s conflict of interest rules.</p>



<p>Kathrin Moore, who was appointed to the planning commission in 2006 and currently serves as the body’s vice president, has reported earning between $10,000 and $100,000 each year since 2012 from the global firm Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill, also known by the acronym SOM.</p>



<p>In a 2012 financial disclosure, Moore reported that she retired from the company in 1999 and described the income as a “retirement payment.” Since then, she has listed herself on the forms as a retired associate partner.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, Moore voted in September 2021 to approve the firm’s <a href="https://sfyimby.com/2022/02/som-designed-san-bao-temple-redesigned-and-approved-for-1750-van-ness-avenue-nob-hill-san-francisco.html">San Bao Temple</a> at 1750 Van Ness Ave. This May, she cast a vote supporting the company’s initial plans for a <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/25/related-california-office-development-jackson-square/">building</a> at 520 Sansome St./447 Battery St., a project still making its way through the commission.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1667" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?w=2500" alt="A person in a hat speaks at a podium in a wood-paneled room, addressing seated officials at a long desk. Laptops and flags add to the formal setting." class="wp-image-387286" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg 8059w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=2500,1667 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/8907937419_housingmapsf_004.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The city&#8217;s seven-member planning commission has significant sway over the look and feel of the city&#8217;s development plans.</figcaption></figure>



<p>The city’s conflict of interest rules <a href="https://sfethics.org/laws/conflict-of-interest/conflict-of-interest-other-prohibited-activities-regulations-san-francisco-campaign-and-governmental-conduct-code-section-3-200-et-seq#:~:text=of%20general%20application.-,Regulation%203.214%2D4.%20Disclosure%20of%20Personal%2C%20Professional%20%26%20Business%20Relationships%20%E2%80%93%20Determining%20Whether%20an%20Individual%20has%20an%20Ownership%20or%20Financial%20Interest%20in%20the%20Subject%20of%20a%20Governmental%20Decision,-An%20individual%20has">prohibit</a> city officials, including planning commissioners, from making decisions that involve entities from which an individual has received more than $500 in the past year. The <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/conflicts-of-interest-rules.html">state</a> has similar regulations.</p>



<p>The seven-member commission advises the mayor and board of supervisors on land use, transportation, and development in the city and votes to approve project permits.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Sean McMorris, an ethics expert from the good governance nonprofit Common Cause, said Moore’s votes appear to be a conflict of interest because she was paid by the firm.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“If there is anything that you could presumably be involved in that even gives the appearance of enriching yourself, then you need to recuse yourself,” McMorris said. “That’s why we have conflict-of-interest laws. Our representatives work for us, not for themselves. The public trust is diminished when things like this happen.”</p>



<p>In an emailed statement received after this story&#8217;s publication, Moore defended her votes on Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill projects.</p>



<p>&#8220;Having retired as an Associate Partner of SOM in 1999, I receive a pension from SOM which I report on my annual public financial disclosure,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;In accordance with legal advice from the Office of the City Attorney given to me many years ago, because my pension is unconditional, I have been&nbsp;assured&nbsp;that there is no conflict of interest and do not need to recuse myself from voting on matters involving SOM. My fixed pension does not influence nor is&nbsp;it&nbsp;effected by how I render my decisions. I will continue to hold myself to the highest legal and ethical standards as I have since I first was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2006.&#8221;</p>



<p>An inquiry to Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill went unanswered. </p>



<p>During a May 15 hearing on the 520 Sansome St./447 Battery St. project, Moore thanked a Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill representative after his presentation and lauded the plans, saying they would positively impact the city’s beleaguered downtown.</p>



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<p>“This project addresses all the critical points, including the major investment of the <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/05/06/transamerica-pyramid-renovation-beacon/">refurbishing</a> of the Transamerica Pyramid,” she said. “I think you’re doing that very skillfully.”</p>



<p>During a September 2021 hearing to approve the Buddhist temple at 1750 Van Ness Ave., Moore similarly advocated for the Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill design.</p>



<p>“I am in full support of the project, and I consider the project thoughtful, and as one of the [public] speakers just said, inspirational,” Moore said. “I think it will be a wonderful addition.”</p>



<p>Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill is an internationally renowned firm behind <a href="https://www.som.com/">iconic buildings</a> such as 7 World Trade Center in New York, the Sears Tower in Chicago, and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest building. Its San Francisco designs include One Maritime Plaza and the San Francisco International Airport trusses.</p>



<p>Lydia So, the planning commission’s president, said she was “shocked” to learn of Moore’s connection to the architecture firm and called for an investigation.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“We need to restore public trust in our government,” she said.</p>



<p>The Ethics Commission, which enforces the city’s conflict of interest rules, declined to comment.</p>



<p>“All complaints and enforcement matters are handled confidentially as required by the City Charter,” Michael Canning, the Ethics Commission’s policy and legislative affairs manager, said in a statement. “This requires that we do not disclose any information about any enforcement matters we may be handling, including if we have received a complaint or are carrying out an investigation.”</p>



<p>City officials <a href="https://sfethics.org/disclosures/city-officer-disclosure/notification-of-recusal">regularly</a> recuse themselves from votes due to conflicts of interest, actual or perceived. More than 20 city officials have withdrawn from government decisions this year, including a San Francisco Retirement Healthcare Trust Fund member who in June recused himself from a vote to invest in a company because he had worked there over a decade ago.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="2500" width="2186" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg?w=2186" alt="The image shows a dense cityscape with tall skyscrapers, including a shiny, cylindrical tower. Streets and lower buildings are visible in the foreground." class="wp-image-349056" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg 4191w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg?resize=262,300 262w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg?resize=768,878 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg?resize=2186,2500 2186w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg?resize=1343,1536 1343w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241112_smogday_aar_9_97746f.jpg?resize=1791,2048 1791w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2186px) 100vw, 2186px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The architecture firm Skidmore, Owings &amp; Merrill is behind multiple San Francisco projects, including One Maritime Plaza. </figcaption></figure>



<p>In 2023, Moore recused herself from approving a project on Taylor Street because she resides within 500 feet of the property.</p>



<p>Moore’s links to the architecture firm come to light amid recent turmoil that has shaken the planning commission.</p>



<p>Mission Local reported last month that three commissioners, including Moore, <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/06/walkout-planning-commission-san-francisco-lurie/">walked out of a closed-door meeting</a> to appoint a new planning director. The members said they left the meeting in protest over frustrations with Mayor Daniel Lurie’s process of choosing Sarah Dennis Phillips to lead the commission as director. Phillips was later <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/planning-director-sarah-dennis-phillips-20384050.php">confirmed</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Moore then <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/06/sf-planning-director-process-illegal-commission/">accused</a> So of violating a state law that requires local agencies to hold open meetings for public access.</p>



<p><em>Update: This story was updated with a response from Kathrin Moore.</em></p>


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