A San Francisco city audit and investigation into former Human Rights Commission leader Sheryl Davis’ spending released today found that Davis spent millions of taxpayer dollars on “prohibited purchases” in the last four years of her tenure, potentially violating state and local laws.
Davis was the head of the Human Rights Commission until Sept. 12, 2024, when news broke detailing Davis’ questionable and excessive spending on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, and a city contract with the nonprofit headed by her housemate.
She resigned that same day, and soon faced a probe from the city attorney’s office and a criminal investigation from the San Francisco district attorney’s office.
This audit is the result of the first investigation.
From July 2020 until Davis resigned, the city attorney and controller’s office found that Davis spent more than 70 percent of funds designated for “non-contract payments” — payments that aren’t determined through the city’s contracting process — on galas, wellness retreats, airfare, hotel charges and gift cards.
Other extravagant purchases included 500 tickets to a San Francisco Giants game, tuition payments, full restaurant buyouts and a house rental on Martha’s Vineyard.
Over the four years of Davis’ tenure, the Human Rights Commissions’ spending on noncontract payments — which are meant for “essential services” or one-time payments that “should be used sparingly,” the audit states — increased by 600 percent, from just $150,000 in 2020 to more than $1 million in 2024, nearly doubling each year.
This spending totaled approximately $4.6 million of the $6.3 million intended for such payments.
Other purchases made by the Human Rights Commission “blurred the lines” between the professional and the personal.
In the audit, the city attorney and the controller’s office point towards payments made to Davis’ podcast, Sunday Candy, including booking guest appearances, and to her personal website.
These payments “were self-dealing,” reads the report, and may have violated laws against the misappropriation of funds and embezzlement.
In an interview with Mission Local, Davis said that she wasn’t given the proper tools and training to know what was legal and what wasn’t. The city attorney’s office refutes this statement.
Of these ineligible payments, $3 million were “single payments” towards suppliers not registered with the city, and more than $100,000 was misclassified as “non-contract payments,” but paid towards grants.
Another $2.6 million went toward small, one-time payments for goods and services under Proposition Q.
Under the 1993 regulation on departmental purchases, city departments can make one-time payments under $10,000 without consulting the Office of Contact Administration, which manages city contracts.
But the Human Rights Commission spent far more than other city departments on such payments.
In 2024, for instance, while the Human Rights Commission spent more than $1 million on gift cards, gala events, tuition reimbursement and Apple products, the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families spent approximately $50,000.
“Under Davis’s leadership, [the Human Rights Commission] demonstrated a pattern and practice of evading existing controls and avoiding scrutiny from city oversight agencies,” read the report.
“[The Human Rights Commission] disregarded city purchasing rules, raising concerns about transparency, accountability, and financial integrity.”
The majority of the Human Rights Commission’s “ineligible” payments were for professional services. In the four-year period, the agency used $471,745 from Prop. Q for payments to staff, including former staff who continued to work for the agency, software, and online content.
By contrast, most other city departments used Prop. Q funds for maintenance, repairs, food supplies and similar expenses.
In the audit, the city attorney and the controller’s office suggested that many staff members at the Human Rights Commission were not trained to make these purchases, and that Davis fostered a culture in the workplace where “misconduct went unchallenged and ethical norms were disregarded.”
“Under new leadership, the department has begun to implement some of our recommended changes, such as ensuring all purchasing and training staff,” read the report.
Controller Greg Wagner says that trust in the department must now be rebuilt.
“Our community and residents have benefitted from HRC’s important programs and services,” said Wagner. But the department’s spending under the direction of Davis, said Wagner, “was clearly not for the benefit of community — it was frivolous, unethical and unjustifiable.”
Lock her up
Tired of persons in public service who do this .
Mandatory long jail sentences .
Making matters worse she blames rather then taking responsibility
Time to cut the grift going on with every person in and outside of government who receive any taxpayer money .
Agreed. However, this rarely applies to folks with less melatonin — even in SF.
Haha. You said “folks.” That is funny
How does this happen? How does the mayor or another advisory board step after the second year costs double from this department?
With all the people struggling to get by in this city who rely on the city for shelter or medical care, how did no one bat an eye at money being stolen like this? Absolutely shameful
If these accounting reports are accurate, Sheryl Davis needs to hang her head in shame, along with her boyfriend, and REPAYMENT is a must. Stealing funds from the County trough that were earmarked for the community she pledged to uplift? She needs to go to Dante’s 9th circle of hell. Disgusting. Shameful. No pity for this level of embezzlement and misappropriation. “I didn’t know paying [my son’s school tuition] with this money was illegal.” She must think all of San Francisco is as dumb as she is, because to use taxpayer funds to pay for your child’s college tuition is not only obviously criminal, it is just plain dumb. good lord almighty.
She obviously went to the Nuru and Breed school of accounting when using public money.
Jeff Adachi, who promoted her when he put her in charge of MoMagic, is turning in his grave. Turning in his grave.
“ In an interview with Mission Local, Davis said that she wasn’t given the proper tools and training to know what was legal and what wasn’t.”
Really. You need training for this? Go ask a classroom full of kindergarteners. They will help with ethics.
She followed Nuru’s lead, sick
This is so sad. To have our tax money fund the Director’s friend’s longterm stays at the Intercontinental, it’s like, what goes through your mind when you’re doing this? That’s taxpayer money meant for anti-discrimination work! How can you possibly justify that to yourself? I can understand being exhausted and ordering food for the staff or something, or paying for taxis to take people home late at night, or buying staff new computers even if the ancient ones are still squeaking by, but these luxury trips to the Four Seasons in NOLA, $60,000 to rent out the Chase Center, like, what on earth are you thinking?!?!? And how on EARTH did this go unnoticed? It’s very sad and upsetting. It really makes you lose faith in local government and I don’t want to feel that way. I want to trust that they’re trying their best.
Next up: an audit of longtime former Parks Alliance CEO Drew Becher’a finances. And an audit with careful scrutiny of SF Rec& Park’s long time Director Phil Ginsberg is long overdue.
Ab so lutely.
Why isn’t this a criminal investigation?
She took all the reparations.
WHY o-WHY am I not surprised. Will she see the inside of a jail cell?
Don’t hold your breath.
There should be some forced culpability, retribution & restitutions made, when it comes to misapproriated funds meant to bolster the communities of San Francisco, not line the pockets of Program Directors, CEOs & politicians for personal gain.
What are the chances she’s prosecuted? Zero unless the Trump DOJ gets involved. Can anyone say “ Tip of the Graft Iceberg “?
She can hire London Breed’s upcoming PR firm and keep the money in the Family!
It is interesting to note that no one noticed any drop in “production” from this commission, despite the fact that the director embezzled most of its non-contractual funds over a four year period. Clearly the commission does nothing of note, and therefore, should be eliminated. Btw, if the $4.6 million that she stole represented 70% of the non-contractual payments for the commission, how much total money is being wasted on this do nothing commission?
Privatize SF City-County Government,
or,
equalize SF City-County HR costs,
salaries, wages, pensions,
to pay the same as private industry levels for similar positions.
So sad that our local and state taxpayers, students and homeless are all short changed by these so called “do good” administrators.
Where is Gavin? Oh that’s right, he wrote the book on scamming taxpayers
What a huge nothing burger. Seems like a clerical error and not a scandal. Sad to see personal opinions in a news article. Maybe journalists need some training also.
ARE YOU SERIOUS LOL. How many millions of taxpayer dollars stolen wakes you out of your slumber?
Yet some people and members of certain groups are not held to the similar “ethical” standards. I’m not condoning any inappropriate behavior by any means — however, sometimes it is tolerated in some instances.
Its simple. She is a crook and fraud. She should be charged with criminal felony charges, forced to pay back the money she misappropriated, and definitely incarcerated along with her “house mate”. As far as the melatonin comment… HA! I have followed most bay area embezzlement from “non profits” and it is clear that these gross misappropriated funds and fraud happen far more often in the “high melatonin community” of leadership in these alleged do gooder non profit agency’s …just saying. Stop bringing the race hate in EVERYTIME something goes wrong. Can’t you call a hustler a hustler without skin color. If your going to bring up race be ready to get called out! African Americans commit a higher percentage of crimes in the US. Its all in your up bringing. FACT. The fraud and embezzlement is rampant in ALL HOMELESS, LOW INCOME HOUSING, CIVIL RIGHT ORGANIZATIONS, AND NON PROFITS!!! THIS IS WITH ALL PEOPLE – BUT MORE FREQUENTLY IN BLACK RUN ORG. REMEMBER THIS PEOPLE WHEN YOU GO VOTE!! P.S. WHERE IS NEWSOME WHEN IT COMES TO THESE CASES?? HA!
@4CK – We can tell how well-thought-out your arguments are by the way they careen into capital letters.
FBI Uniform Crime stats and most reporting on crime is where most of this non-FACTual “higher percentage of crime” claims come from, but it focuses on crime in the streets and overlooks crime in the suites, which is overwhelmingly done by people with higher incomes which correlates with a whiter population. This is also the category of crime that steals the most and hurts and even kills more people than the stuff the FBI tracks.
And in fact the FBI correlates street crime with three independent variables that are not race: 1) male sex, 2) middle years age range, and 3) financial insecurity. Race is a dependent variable that correlates with financial insecurity, and we know that because the statistics show the same three independent variables in parts of the country lacking racial diversity.
We’ve known this for decades, generations even, because it’s been studied in depth for that long. Yet people like you with no grasp of demographics and who probably have no clue what makes a variable independent or dependent keep screaming that something is TRUTH when it’s a side-effect. You attempting to apply it to crime in the suites — where the side-effect is the opposite — is novel, at least. But it’s even more wrong, no many how many consecutive capital letters you type it in.
More locally where is City Atty Chiu?