Come November, San Francisco voters will decide whether to amend the city’s charter and institute a new role of inspector general in the controller’s office.
The addition to the ballot came after a unanimous vote of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in their regular meeting Tuesday. To pass in November, the amendment would need the support of a majority of San Francisco voters, according to Sunny Angulo, chief of staff for Supervisor Aaron Peskin.
Should voters approve the amendment, the controller would nominate the new inspector general, subject to approval from the mayor and supervisors. The city would then authorize the new inspector to initiate and lead investigations into potential legal violations, fraud, waste and abuse. The amendment would expand the office of the controller, which oversees the city’s financial affairs.
As it currently stands, some supervisors said, residents place diminished trust in their city’s ability to prevent scandal and waste.
“San Francisco has been racked by a number of high-profile public scandals,” Peskin said during the meeting. “But every time one of these things happens, it erodes public trust. It is sickening, and we have to figure out a systemic way to root it out.”
Recently, for example, the Department of Public Works has been embroiled in scandal following the arrest of former department director Mohammed Nuru in 2020 and admissions from representatives of city contractors that they had bribed Nuru to secure business from the city.
In the years that have followed, millions of dollars in fines and settlements have been ordered for those who bribed the former director for lucrative contracts and other preferential treatment.
In 2022, Nuru received a seven-year sentence in federal prison for wire fraud.
“It’s really disheartening to be in this chamber over the last couple years and just to see the constant flow of corruption and scandal coming out of city hall,” said Supervisor Ahsha Safai.
If approved by voters, the amendment would also grant the controller’s office more subpoena power and the ability to carry out search warrants as permitted by state law.
In a July 12 letter to Board Clerk Angela Calvillo, a representative of the controller’s office estimated the charter amendment would cost the city between $725,000 to $775,000 annually, not including other legal support.
“It’s really disheartening to be in this chamber over the last couple years and just to see the constant flow of corruption and scandal coming out of city hall.”
Supervisor Ahsha Safai
That support would include the price of subpoenas and search warrants, which each may cost between $1,000 and $20,000 and between $9,000 and $20,000, respectively, according to the letter.
Peskin said, however, that instituting the position in city governments is the “gold standard for rooting out corruption, fraud and abuse.”
“There are cities around the country that have it,” Peskin said. “San Francisco is one of the only major cities that does not and is arguably the city that needs it the most.”
