A San Francisco department head was arrested and charged by the FBI this week. Mohammed Nuru, now on administrative leave from his position as director of the Department of Public Works, is facing up to 25 years in prison on corruption charges and other charges relating to failing to keep the investigation secret. “Civic” discussed the case with Joe Eskenazi, the managing editor and a columnist at Mission Local. He writes that Nuru’s alleged behavior doesn’t appear to be the sole focus of this investigation – and that this same behavior is part of a pattern in San Francisco.

“The FBI goes for the little fish and the big fish. They’ve gotten the little fish, not in the way they wanted, and we’ll see if that leads to more.” — Joe Eskenazi

A segment from our radio show and podcast, “Civic.” Listen at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 102.5 FM in San Francisco, or online at ksfp.fm, and subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Stitcher. 

I host and report for “Civic,” a San Francisco public affairs radio show and podcast from the Public Press. I've been a multimedia reporter and producer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've reported on housing, health, immigration and homelessness for local news site Mission Local and produced conversations about local, regional and national current affairs for “Your Call,” a live call-in program on KALW-FM public radio.