A disgraced former San Francisco department head and her longtime beau have been arrested for allegedly grifting taxpayer funds for personal use through a city program intended to help the city’s black communities.
Sheryl Davis, former heard of the San Francisco Human Rights Commissions, and her nonprofit boss partner James Spingola were taken into custody Monday on suspicion of multiple felony counts of misappropriating public funds and conflicts of interest.
“Public integrity matters because our communities must be able to trust that government agencies treat everyone fairly and serve all members equally,” said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins at a press conference Monday.
“This is certainly a lesson for the city that there has to be an infrastructure for checks and balances so things like this don’t happen … there were protections in place, but we should learn from this that more would be useful.”
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Davis led the Dream Keeper Initiative, a scandal-ridden program launched by former mayor London Breed in 2021 in the wake of the George Floyd police killing.
The $120 million initiative was described as plan to redirect police funding towards economic opportunities for needy black residents.
Instead, according to Jenkins, Davis steered the taxpayer funds towards personal projects and parties — including upgraded flights, wine tastings for black college students, concerts, tables and admissions at VIP events in Beverly Hills, Martha’s Vineyard and New York City, and “multiple PR firms” to promote her book and personal brand.
The disgraced human rights boss was “heavily involved” in steering more than $3 million towards Spingola’s nonprofit — in one case, demanding it receive the money despite netting a low score from city evaluators.
Davis and Spingola, who headed a nonprofit Collective Impact that got city funds, lived together for years and shared a car but the close relationship was not disclosed to the city.
Davis has been charged with 17 felonies and two misdemeanors, including perjury and misuse of public funds. Spingola is charged with four felony counts of aiding and abetting Davis’ alleged conflicts of interest in doling out city funds.
Davis’ attorney, Tony Brass, suggested she was set up for failure and claimed she had asked for more oversight.
“They provided her with no guidance about transitioning into government bureaucracy and asked her to develop a robust system to help those in need to advance not only individuals but San Francisco as a city where the black community could thrive.”
“She asked for financial supervision, she asked for internal audits and when no one responded, she actually went to Board of Supervisors to ask for funding so that she could staff these positions,” Brass continued. “For the city to respond with a felony prosecution after 2 years is disappointing.”
