Former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru speaks at a rally asking for walking safety during seventh annual Walk to Work Day at City Hall on April 10, 2019. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, left, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, center, join then-Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board Chair Mohammed Nuru in turning on a bus schedule screen to celebrate the opening of the new Salesforce Transit Center. Nuru was arrested by the FBI in 2020 on corruption charges.

Elected Watchdogs in Scandal-Plagued Cities Show How SF Might Avert Future Corruption

Recent corruption scandals at City Hall highlight the need for good-government reforms, especially after efforts to create a public advocate’s office failed in July 2020. “It was a lost opportunity,” said David Campos, former supervisor and current chief of staff for District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The measure benefitted from precedents set in cities across the country that were similarly wracked by graft and mismanagement, including Detroit, Chicago and New York.

Can the Ballot Be Used to Hold Local Government Accountable?

San Francisco has faced many scandals in which public officials abused their power for personal, political or organizational gain. Most recently, the Department of Public Works was rocked by an FBI investigation into alleged kickbacks, slush funds and illicit permitting influence. On the November, 2020 ballot, Proposition B has been proposed as a way to limit the scope of alleged corruption in the sprawling Department of Public Works, but what other measures could voters use in the future to keep elected and appointed officials accountable in San Francisco?

Former Department of Public Works head Mohammed Nuru was the subject of an FBI corruption probe that became public earlier this year. In response, local lawmakers have proposed Proposition B, which would split the department into two agencies.

With Corruption on the Ballot, San Francisco Could Learn Oversight From Other Scandal-Plagued Cities

When it comes to good government, dysfunction and disgrace can occasionally inspire some of the brightest ideas for reform. And getting the whole community involved in the cleanup — through the ballot box — can be one way to make those changes happen faster. Though the parallels are not exact, the tiny scandal-ridden city of Bell, near Los Angeles, could hold keys to fixing a culture of corruption that has insinuated itself deep in the heart of San Francisco’s massive and opaque bureaucracy.