Allegations of wrongdoing continue to mount against former city department leader Sheryl Davis, who was accused Thursday of multiple ethics violations.
Davis resigned as executive director of the Human Rights Commission last September following allegations of financial misconduct and conflicts of interest that developed into a major City Hall scandal.
Many of the accusations are linked to her relationship with the nonprofit Collective Impact and its former leader, James Spingola. Davis signed off on several lucrative city contracts for Spingola’s nonprofit while the two shared a home and a car. Much of the money involved stemmed from the San Francisco Dream Keeper Initiative, a signature program of former Mayor London Breed, overseen by Davis, that injected tens of millions of dollars into the Black community.
The city Ethics Commission’s executive director, Patrick Ford, on Thursday published 31 counts against Davis, alleging she accepted prohibited gifts from nonprofits and other entities, failed to disclose them, violated her department’s policies, and breached laws on conflicts of interest by awarding contracts to those from whom she received gifts.
While the nature of Davis’ alleged misconduct isn’t new — city investigations have detailed the claims against her for more than a year — Thursday’s announcement marks the first time monetary fines may loom over her since she left her post.
The Ethics Commission found that Davis in 2023 accepted a seven-night stay at a rental house in Martha’s Vineyard that was paid for by Collective Impact. Around the same time, Collective Impact was accepting grants from Davis’ department — making it a restricted source of gifts for her. Other gifts from the nonprofit included first-class flights and expenses associated with her personal podcast.
In another instance, Davis received a portrait of herself worth $5,000 in December 2023 from the nonprofit Urban Ed Academy, which sought a contract from the department earlier in the year.
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The charges also name the University of San Francisco, which paid Davis an income in 2022 and 2023. Around the same time, she approved thousands of dollars in payments to the school from her department for housing, catering, and other expenses.
The counts were part of a probable-cause determination signed by Ford that spawns a public hearing before the Ethics Commission’s five-member board, which will determine whether Davis violated the law and faces financial penalties.
Davis and her attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
A similar case occurred in 2023, when a former city department leader was found to be accepting gifts from Recology while she was engaged in business with the trash company. Debbie Raphael, who ran the Department of the Environment, received a $4,000 fine.
City investigators are probing Davis’ conduct. The city attorney’s office failed last month in its effort to ban Collective Impact from receiving additional public funding after a hearing officer ruled against it. The city attorney’s office plans to appeal the decision.
In August, The Standard reported that Davis was under criminal investigation by the district attorney. A month later, a joint investigation by the controller and city attorney’s office found that Davis had misspent $4.6 million of her department’s money over nearly half a decade.