SF program facing calls for an audit

The San Francisco Standard reports that the director of the program, Sheryl Davis, sent a letter earlier this week to City Controller Greg Wagner to investigate spending by the Dream Keeper Initiative across all city departments and to report on funds, operations and performance.

The program was started by Mayor London Breed in the wake of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.

It sought to redirect about $60 million-a-year of police funds to support San Francisco’s dwindling, underserved African American community.But, since then, a number of Dream Keeper recipients have come under scrutiny for some of their expenses.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that one nonprofit, the J & J Community Center, charged the city for bourbon, motorcycle rentals and cigars.

Another group, SF Black Wall Street, which promotes entrepreneurship, spent more money on two Juneteenth celebrations – about $700,000 – than it did on grants to small businesses.

The program has also generated a number of internal whistleblower complaints.

Tinisch Hollins, the director of that program, was found to have funneled tens of thousands of dollars in administrative fees to a shell company she created.

The program’s current budget, which has been scaled down to $45 million, is divided among 11 city departments, including the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the Department of Public Health, and the Human Rights Commission.