A report by the San Francisco City Controller’s Office released
Thursday concludes that the city’s top executive, City Administrator Naomi
Kelly, “was aware” that now-ousted Public Works head Mohammed Nuru was urging
contractors to make donations for a Public Works holiday party last year,
payments that the report concluded had violated ethics rules.
Kelly did not respond to calls seeking comment about the
conclusions of the report, which found that nearly $1 million in off-the-books
donations from private contractors wound up paying for events like the 2019
party, as well as t-shirts, hats, tote bags and other swag.
Late Thursday, city spokesman Bill Barnes said that while Kelly
knew Nuru was soliciting money to pay for the holiday party, she was unaware of
the specific sources of those contributions.
As first reported by NBC Bay Area earlier this year, the
contractors donated through the non-profit San Francisco Parks Alliance, but
the fund was actually controlled by Nuru and other Public Works officials.
Nuru faces five corruption-related federal counts, while others
implicated have agreed to testify against him in the widening scandal.
The controller’s report says the contributions were barred under
city ethics rules that ban gifts from contractors doing business from the city.
“The gifts, which were not accepted or disclosed by the City,
create a perceived ‘pay-to-play’ relationship,” the report concluded.
The report noted that the party last year was attended by some
350 officials, as well as private firms working for Public Works. It noted that
roughly 80 percent of the bill, about $33,000, was from contractors barred from
making such donations because they are restricted from doing so under the
ethics rules.
Nuru and other public works officials solicited those payments,
but the report stressed that Kelly, who was Nuru’s boss, “was aware of his
solicitation efforts.”
Mayor London Breed did not respond to calls for comment about
Kelly’s alleged knowledge of Nuru’s conduct but did issue an executive order
tightening restriction for so-called Friends-of-the-city organizations, like
the Parks Allliance, and closing a loophole that meant city officials like Nuru
were not obligated to disclose such donations.
Supervisor Matt Haney says the reporting loophole should be
closed for good.
“That is a huge problem,” he said.
Haney is pushing for a complete ban on all contractor payments,
including those made through third parties, like the Parks Alliance.
“That is not something that should be allowed,” Haney said.
Yet the supervisor was admittedly surprised to learn that the
city’s administrator may have known Nuru was asking contractors to pay for the
holiday party last year.
“If it was prohibited before and she knew — she knowingly
allowed (city rules) to be violated– then yes, that is a very serious issue
that she has to be held accountable for and answer to.”
