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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, Monday, March 18, 2024:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Harlan Kelly, the former chief of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday, March 18, and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine after being found guilty last year of various federal fraud and conspiracy crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly “betrayed the public trust and made a mockery of his oath to serve the community in his high public office,” U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said in court Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although federal prosecutors sought a 6 1/2 year prison sentence, Seeborg said Kelly had done enough for the community — as evidenced by the many letters of support sent on his behalf — to warrant a more lenient punishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His sentencing is the latest development in the \u003ca class=\"\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11859677/san-franciscos-unfolding-web-of-corruption-a-cartoon-interactive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-link=\"native\">FBI’s expansive, six-year investigation\u003c/a> into city government corruption that has now ensnared more than a dozen individuals and two corporations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly is expected to begin serving his four-year prison term on June 19, and is ordered to serve three years of supervised release after that, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Original story, July 14, 2023\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>Yet another San Francisco city leader has been found guilty on charges related to bribery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After less than two days of deliberation, a San Francisco jury Friday convicted the former head of a powerful agency on six of eight charges stemming from a federal investigation into corruption in the city’s government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, was charged with wire fraud in 2020, charges that were later expanded to include bank fraud in late 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly was accused of taking bribes for years from a construction contractor, Walter Wong, who sought to win a contract to update city streetlights. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/federal-charges-against-former-san-francisco-puc-general-manager-expanded-include-bank\">separate bank fraud charges\u003c/a> allege Kelly conspired with real estate investor Victor Makras to make false statements to Quicken Loans to obtain a $1.3 million loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg has yet to sentence Kelly, but the former SFPUC chief faces a possible 20 to 30 years on each count against him. Wong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11873494/sf-corruption-saga-continues-permit-expediter-walter-wong-to-repay-1-7-million\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> for his role in multiple alleged bribery schemes in 2021. Makras \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/jury-convicts-san-francisco-broker-and-investor-victor-makras-fraud-real-estate-loan#:~:text=The%20federal%20jury%20today%20convicted,in%20violation%20of%2018%20U.S.C.\">was convicted late last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wide-ranging corruption scandal started in 2020 with a federal indictment of former San Francisco Public Works director Mohammed Nuru, who accepted bribes like a John Deere tractor, a $37,000 Rolex watch, and construction work on his Colusa County ranch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the corruption scandal didn’t stop at Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slew of city officials and contractors have been ensnared in the corruption probe, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-director-san-francisco-mayor-s-office-neighborhood-services-and-san-francisco-s\">Mayor’s Office Fix-It team head Sandra Zuniga\u003c/a> and former Department of Building Inspection director \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/SF-s-building-chief-Tom-Hui-pulls-the-plug-on-15148650.php\">Tom Hui\u003c/a>. Former senior building inspector Bernie Curran also was convicted in a related corruption case, and was sentenced Friday to a year and one day in federal prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly’s wife, Naomi Kelly, did not face indictment, but stepped down from her role as city administrator after evidence against her husband implicated her, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While most of the city leaders who found themselves under the FBI’s microscope pleaded guilty, Kelly fought his charges in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the three-week trial, a jury heard testimony and closing arguments from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Kelly’s defense attorneys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are five key takeaways from the trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wong didn’t just admit to bribing Kelly once. He spent years trying to influence him\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The owner of several construction companies, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PROFILE-Walter-Wong-Powerhouse-pushes-2882045.php\">Wong was a politically-connected San Francisco insider\u003c/a> with ties to past mayoral admirations going as far back as Mayor Art Agnos. He used his largesse to help host banquets in Chinatown and bolster annual Lunar New Year parade celebrations. He also featured prominently in the case against Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors argued Wong’s attempts to influence Kelly started as early as 2013.\u003cbr>\nWong allegedly gifted home repair work to Kelly at a heavy discount, from installing iron hand-rails in his home to fixing water damage, and even installing wine-cellar shelving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I owe you big time!!!” Kelly wrote to Wong after the 2013 installation of the wine cellar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also spent lavishly on Kelly’s family during a 2016 China vacation, including a trip to a zoo, sightseeing tours, a meal between Wong and Kelly that topped $600, and freebie stays in five-star hotels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Kelly did pay Wong back, prosecutors argued, on two key projects he had control over: putting up holiday lights in San Francisco’s downtown, and a contract to convert existing city streetlights to use LED bulbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Stories' tag='san-francisco-corruption']Kelly pushed his staffers to expedite the purchase of holiday lights from one of Wong’s companies, a claim prosecutors punctuated in court. Emails sent at the behest of Kelly egged on employees to hurry on the purchase. Kelly also allegedly handed Wong insider-information to help edge-out other contractors bidding to win the city streetlight contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In closing arguments to jurors on July 12, prosecutor Kristina Green, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said text messages tell the tale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do you know Harlan Kelly was receiving gifts intended to influence city business? Because Harlan Kelly shows that link himself,” Green said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors then showed jurors a 2014 text message from Kelly to Wong, “My loan was approved. We need to get together to chat how to reimburse you and rfp (request for proposal). I should get the money in three weeks.” Essentially, in one message, prosecutors argued, Kelly both told Wong he would use a loan to pay him back for the discounted housework, while also saying he would share information about an RFP. That’s a request for proposal, essentially the guidelines the city would use for bidders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Importantly, that information is supposed to be confidential, so all companies bidding on a contract have an even playing field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong’s son, Washington Wong, who worked with him on those contracts, said on the witness stand, “we used that information to, I guess, tweak our next proposal [to the city].”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kelly’s defense attorney sought to sow doubt about Wong’s statements\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wong’s testimony was undoubtedly the biggest pillar of the U.S. attorneys’ arguments, which is likely why the defense had a laser focus on challenging his credibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly’s defense attorneys, Jonathan Baum and Brian Getz, cast the China trip and discounted home repair in a far rosier and more innocuous light, saying that Kelly and Wong enjoyed years of friendship that naturally resulted in exchanged gifts, dinners, and favorable treatment. At the same time, they described Wong as a shark on the hunt for new bribery marks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Was Harlan naive? He should’ve been more careful. He should’ve suspected what Walter was doing, but didn’t,” Baum told the jury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To punctuate his point, Baum flashed the dictionary definition of “naive” in large-font text on screens in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11873494 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/05/HuiAndWong-1020x678.jpg']Kelly’s lawyers also argued that Wong’s actual bribes to city officials – like Nuru – came in the form of thousands of dollars of cash stuffed into envelopes. If he were truly bribing Kelly, why not do that, instead of offering construction work on his home?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That home construction work was also shoddy, and even over-charged, an expert witness brought by the defense said on the witness stand. While Wong tried to fix a water leak, photos showed water stains streaking Kelly’s Inner Sunset-home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this was a complex elaborate bribery scheme, would [Walter Wong] have done that?” Baum said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps most pointedly, however, the defense made sure to remind the jury that Wong stands to see his own bribery-related sentence reduced for cooperating as a witness, an idea they argued influences everything he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Seeborg instructed jurors to treat Wong’s testimony with “greater caution” than that of the other witnesses for that same reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Despite alleged bribes, Kelly’s influence didn’t always help Wong. But that doesn’t mean a crime wasn’t committed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors showed reams of evidence highlighting how Kelly inappropriately aided Wong in navigating an LED streetlight contract with the city. Kelly even went so far as to stuff confidential documents into a manila folder, later handing them to Wong out on the street, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that didn’t mean Wong had any luck winning his bid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When ranking companies who had thrown their hat in the ring for the city contract, Wong’s company ranked 47th out of 51 total bidders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can we say that was dead last?” Baum, the defense attorney, said. “The most important thing to think about is, what happened? [Prosecutors would] argue this information was very valuable. But what were the results?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even on the witness stand, Wong’s son, Washington Wong, admitted their attempts to game the system were fruitless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the grand scheme of things, no, it didn’t seem to help,” Washington Wong said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in his instructions to the jury, Judge Seeborg reminded them that Kelly need only have agreed to commit an act to have acted corruptly. And Green, one of the prosecutors, underscored that to the jury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Walter Wong didn’t win the LED lights contract. Under the law, that doesn’t matter,” she said. What matters is if jurors decide they corrupted the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kelly allegedly flouted the rules, but emails and text messages showed he knew the law\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kelly hoped to keep much of his communications with Wong and other co-conspirators outside of the spotlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He wrote in a 2018 email “I’m not the only one who sees my email at work – I have some staff with access because I get a lot of emails and can’t be reading, and responding, to every one. Also emails sent to me are public record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Subsequently, many of his emailed communications with Wong are from Kelly’s personal Yahoo email. It’s a problem known to happen in the city writ large – \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11935973/i-am-somebody-who-enjoys-arguing-anonymoose-who-exposed-sf-city-hall-secrets-hangs-up-antlers\">citizen journalist “Anonymoose” found plenty of city officials trying to hide their communications\u003c/a> by skirting the city’s open records law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11935973 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1302058535-1020x680.jpg']Kelly also, at one point, emailed a city ethics rulebook to his San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff. That rulebook contained explanations of city regulations that bar gifts from contractors with bids before the commission, much like Wong did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors asked Mary Tienken, a project manager at the SFPUC, to take the witness stand in June. She wrote many of the bidding documents that – unbeknownst to her – Kelly eventually passed to Wong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about her duty under the law, Tienken said, “I was obligated not to provide any advantage to any bidders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The city is as connected as can be\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Testimony and documents submitted for evidence during the trial revealed guest-star appearances from various city politicos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2016 trip to China where Wong allegedly bribed Kelly included a visit to an ailing Rose Pak, a well-known Chinatown community leader, who was hospitalized, and later died after returning to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rose Pak was a friend of the family. I met her and she became a friend,” Maria Little, Kelly’s mother-in-law, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly and Makras also dined with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11899657/mohammed-nuru-to-plead-guilty-in-city-hall-corruption-probe\">Mohammed Nuru, the former Public Works director who pleaded guilty to bribery charges in 2021\u003c/a>. And Wong and Kelly planned a dinner with the late Mayor Ed Lee by writing their text messages in code, referring to Lee \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Former-S-F-Mayor-Ed-Lee-code-name-35-15777827.php\">only as “35”\u003c/a> — his initials on a phone keypad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s not a surprise that these folks \u003ca href=\"https://sfist.com/2021/10/20/real-estate-magnate-victor-makras-the-latest-to-indicted-by-feds-in-sf-public-corruption-probe/\">would rub shoulders with other city leaders\u003c/a>, the extent to which others have been mentioned in FBI documents, and the court record, has fueled \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2021/11/web-of-corruption-explore-the-cronyism-lies-and-federal-crimes-at-the-heart-of-san-franciscos-government/\">speculation\u003c/a> as to who in city government, if anyone, was also under federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The conviction is a milestone in San Francisco political history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With no other major indictments pending, Kelly’s conviction may snip the final thread in the tapestry of the San Francisco corruption scandal that has ensnared so many, giving a glimpse into a system of influence many have heard whispers of, but few had seen before in such full view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Kelly is the latest San Francisco official to land in prison after being found guilty of charges related to bribery, as part of an expansive, six-year federal investigation into city government corruption. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, Monday, March 18, 2024:\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Harlan Kelly, the former chief of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday, March 18, and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine after being found guilty last year of various federal fraud and conspiracy crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly “betrayed the public trust and made a mockery of his oath to serve the community in his high public office,” U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said in court Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although federal prosecutors sought a 6 1/2 year prison sentence, Seeborg said Kelly had done enough for the community — as evidenced by the many letters of support sent on his behalf — to warrant a more lenient punishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His sentencing is the latest development in the \u003ca class=\"\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11859677/san-franciscos-unfolding-web-of-corruption-a-cartoon-interactive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-link=\"native\">FBI’s expansive, six-year investigation\u003c/a> into city government corruption that has now ensnared more than a dozen individuals and two corporations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly is expected to begin serving his four-year prison term on June 19, and is ordered to serve three years of supervised release after that, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Original story, July 14, 2023\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>Yet another San Francisco city leader has been found guilty on charges related to bribery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After less than two days of deliberation, a San Francisco jury Friday convicted the former head of a powerful agency on six of eight charges stemming from a federal investigation into corruption in the city’s government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, was charged with wire fraud in 2020, charges that were later expanded to include bank fraud in late 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly was accused of taking bribes for years from a construction contractor, Walter Wong, who sought to win a contract to update city streetlights. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/federal-charges-against-former-san-francisco-puc-general-manager-expanded-include-bank\">separate bank fraud charges\u003c/a> allege Kelly conspired with real estate investor Victor Makras to make false statements to Quicken Loans to obtain a $1.3 million loan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg has yet to sentence Kelly, but the former SFPUC chief faces a possible 20 to 30 years on each count against him. Wong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11873494/sf-corruption-saga-continues-permit-expediter-walter-wong-to-repay-1-7-million\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> for his role in multiple alleged bribery schemes in 2021. Makras \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/jury-convicts-san-francisco-broker-and-investor-victor-makras-fraud-real-estate-loan#:~:text=The%20federal%20jury%20today%20convicted,in%20violation%20of%2018%20U.S.C.\">was convicted late last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wide-ranging corruption scandal started in 2020 with a federal indictment of former San Francisco Public Works director Mohammed Nuru, who accepted bribes like a John Deere tractor, a $37,000 Rolex watch, and construction work on his Colusa County ranch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the corruption scandal didn’t stop at Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A slew of city officials and contractors have been ensnared in the corruption probe, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-director-san-francisco-mayor-s-office-neighborhood-services-and-san-francisco-s\">Mayor’s Office Fix-It team head Sandra Zuniga\u003c/a> and former Department of Building Inspection director \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/SF-s-building-chief-Tom-Hui-pulls-the-plug-on-15148650.php\">Tom Hui\u003c/a>. Former senior building inspector Bernie Curran also was convicted in a related corruption case, and was sentenced Friday to a year and one day in federal prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly’s wife, Naomi Kelly, did not face indictment, but stepped down from her role as city administrator after evidence against her husband implicated her, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While most of the city leaders who found themselves under the FBI’s microscope pleaded guilty, Kelly fought his charges in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the three-week trial, a jury heard testimony and closing arguments from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Kelly’s defense attorneys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are five key takeaways from the trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Wong didn’t just admit to bribing Kelly once. He spent years trying to influence him\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The owner of several construction companies, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PROFILE-Walter-Wong-Powerhouse-pushes-2882045.php\">Wong was a politically-connected San Francisco insider\u003c/a> with ties to past mayoral admirations going as far back as Mayor Art Agnos. He used his largesse to help host banquets in Chinatown and bolster annual Lunar New Year parade celebrations. He also featured prominently in the case against Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors argued Wong’s attempts to influence Kelly started as early as 2013.\u003cbr>\nWong allegedly gifted home repair work to Kelly at a heavy discount, from installing iron hand-rails in his home to fixing water damage, and even installing wine-cellar shelving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I owe you big time!!!” Kelly wrote to Wong after the 2013 installation of the wine cellar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also spent lavishly on Kelly’s family during a 2016 China vacation, including a trip to a zoo, sightseeing tours, a meal between Wong and Kelly that topped $600, and freebie stays in five-star hotels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Kelly did pay Wong back, prosecutors argued, on two key projects he had control over: putting up holiday lights in San Francisco’s downtown, and a contract to convert existing city streetlights to use LED bulbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kelly pushed his staffers to expedite the purchase of holiday lights from one of Wong’s companies, a claim prosecutors punctuated in court. Emails sent at the behest of Kelly egged on employees to hurry on the purchase. Kelly also allegedly handed Wong insider-information to help edge-out other contractors bidding to win the city streetlight contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In closing arguments to jurors on July 12, prosecutor Kristina Green, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said text messages tell the tale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do you know Harlan Kelly was receiving gifts intended to influence city business? Because Harlan Kelly shows that link himself,” Green said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors then showed jurors a 2014 text message from Kelly to Wong, “My loan was approved. We need to get together to chat how to reimburse you and rfp (request for proposal). I should get the money in three weeks.” Essentially, in one message, prosecutors argued, Kelly both told Wong he would use a loan to pay him back for the discounted housework, while also saying he would share information about an RFP. That’s a request for proposal, essentially the guidelines the city would use for bidders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Importantly, that information is supposed to be confidential, so all companies bidding on a contract have an even playing field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong’s son, Washington Wong, who worked with him on those contracts, said on the witness stand, “we used that information to, I guess, tweak our next proposal [to the city].”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kelly’s defense attorney sought to sow doubt about Wong’s statements\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wong’s testimony was undoubtedly the biggest pillar of the U.S. attorneys’ arguments, which is likely why the defense had a laser focus on challenging his credibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly’s defense attorneys, Jonathan Baum and Brian Getz, cast the China trip and discounted home repair in a far rosier and more innocuous light, saying that Kelly and Wong enjoyed years of friendship that naturally resulted in exchanged gifts, dinners, and favorable treatment. At the same time, they described Wong as a shark on the hunt for new bribery marks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Was Harlan naive? He should’ve been more careful. He should’ve suspected what Walter was doing, but didn’t,” Baum told the jury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To punctuate his point, Baum flashed the dictionary definition of “naive” in large-font text on screens in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kelly’s lawyers also argued that Wong’s actual bribes to city officials – like Nuru – came in the form of thousands of dollars of cash stuffed into envelopes. If he were truly bribing Kelly, why not do that, instead of offering construction work on his home?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That home construction work was also shoddy, and even over-charged, an expert witness brought by the defense said on the witness stand. While Wong tried to fix a water leak, photos showed water stains streaking Kelly’s Inner Sunset-home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this was a complex elaborate bribery scheme, would [Walter Wong] have done that?” Baum said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps most pointedly, however, the defense made sure to remind the jury that Wong stands to see his own bribery-related sentence reduced for cooperating as a witness, an idea they argued influences everything he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judge Seeborg instructed jurors to treat Wong’s testimony with “greater caution” than that of the other witnesses for that same reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Despite alleged bribes, Kelly’s influence didn’t always help Wong. But that doesn’t mean a crime wasn’t committed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors showed reams of evidence highlighting how Kelly inappropriately aided Wong in navigating an LED streetlight contract with the city. Kelly even went so far as to stuff confidential documents into a manila folder, later handing them to Wong out on the street, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that didn’t mean Wong had any luck winning his bid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When ranking companies who had thrown their hat in the ring for the city contract, Wong’s company ranked 47th out of 51 total bidders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can we say that was dead last?” Baum, the defense attorney, said. “The most important thing to think about is, what happened? [Prosecutors would] argue this information was very valuable. But what were the results?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even on the witness stand, Wong’s son, Washington Wong, admitted their attempts to game the system were fruitless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the grand scheme of things, no, it didn’t seem to help,” Washington Wong said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in his instructions to the jury, Judge Seeborg reminded them that Kelly need only have agreed to commit an act to have acted corruptly. And Green, one of the prosecutors, underscored that to the jury.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Walter Wong didn’t win the LED lights contract. Under the law, that doesn’t matter,” she said. What matters is if jurors decide they corrupted the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kelly allegedly flouted the rules, but emails and text messages showed he knew the law\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kelly hoped to keep much of his communications with Wong and other co-conspirators outside of the spotlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He wrote in a 2018 email “I’m not the only one who sees my email at work – I have some staff with access because I get a lot of emails and can’t be reading, and responding, to every one. Also emails sent to me are public record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Subsequently, many of his emailed communications with Wong are from Kelly’s personal Yahoo email. It’s a problem known to happen in the city writ large – \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11935973/i-am-somebody-who-enjoys-arguing-anonymoose-who-exposed-sf-city-hall-secrets-hangs-up-antlers\">citizen journalist “Anonymoose” found plenty of city officials trying to hide their communications\u003c/a> by skirting the city’s open records law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kelly also, at one point, emailed a city ethics rulebook to his San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff. That rulebook contained explanations of city regulations that bar gifts from contractors with bids before the commission, much like Wong did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors asked Mary Tienken, a project manager at the SFPUC, to take the witness stand in June. She wrote many of the bidding documents that – unbeknownst to her – Kelly eventually passed to Wong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about her duty under the law, Tienken said, “I was obligated not to provide any advantage to any bidders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The city is as connected as can be\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Testimony and documents submitted for evidence during the trial revealed guest-star appearances from various city politicos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2016 trip to China where Wong allegedly bribed Kelly included a visit to an ailing Rose Pak, a well-known Chinatown community leader, who was hospitalized, and later died after returning to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rose Pak was a friend of the family. I met her and she became a friend,” Maria Little, Kelly’s mother-in-law, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly and Makras also dined with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11899657/mohammed-nuru-to-plead-guilty-in-city-hall-corruption-probe\">Mohammed Nuru, the former Public Works director who pleaded guilty to bribery charges in 2021\u003c/a>. And Wong and Kelly planned a dinner with the late Mayor Ed Lee by writing their text messages in code, referring to Lee \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Former-S-F-Mayor-Ed-Lee-code-name-35-15777827.php\">only as “35”\u003c/a> — his initials on a phone keypad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s not a surprise that these folks \u003ca href=\"https://sfist.com/2021/10/20/real-estate-magnate-victor-makras-the-latest-to-indicted-by-feds-in-sf-public-corruption-probe/\">would rub shoulders with other city leaders\u003c/a>, the extent to which others have been mentioned in FBI documents, and the court record, has fueled \u003ca href=\"https://missionlocal.org/2021/11/web-of-corruption-explore-the-cronyism-lies-and-federal-crimes-at-the-heart-of-san-franciscos-government/\">speculation\u003c/a> as to who in city government, if anyone, was also under federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The conviction is a milestone in San Francisco political history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With no other major indictments pending, Kelly’s conviction may snip the final thread in the tapestry of the San Francisco corruption scandal that has ensnared so many, giving a glimpse into a system of influence many have heard whispers of, but few had seen before in such full view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru was sentenced to seven years (84 months) in federal prison and three years of supervised release on Thursday.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru’s sentencing, while expected, marks an important milestone in the years-long indictment of multiple San Francisco officials. The bribery scheme unveiled in January 2020 continued to snowball, ensnaring contractors, a restaurant owner and five city department heads.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the man known to be at the top of the FBI’s list, publicly at least, was Nuru.\u003c/span>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"U.S. Northern District Judge William Orrick\"]‘If what you had done was a one-off occurrence, I would absolutely agree the leniency was called for, but you made the city’s decision-making and competitive bidding a farce.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Expensive watches, international flights, extravagant dinners, even a John Deere tractor — Nuru took bribes of all sorts from contractors seeking multimillion-dollar contracts with the city, hoping to sway Nuru to give them a much-coveted rubber stamp. Nuru also attempted to bribe an airport contractor on behalf of a restaurateur who was his co-conspirator. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While much of his misdeeds were known, and Nuru pled guilty in January, the severity of Nuru’s punishment was unknown until Thursday when he heard the verdict in court. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">U.S. Northern District Judge William Orrick said Nuru’s sentence reflected how severely Nuru’s crimes as a public official breached public trust.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If what you had done was a one-off occurrence, I would absolutely agree the leniency was called for, but you made the city’s decision-making and competitive bidding a farce,” said Orrick. “By awarding [contractors] and favoring them in exchange for money, gifts, trips, a job for your son and construction for a home, a vacation home, what you’ve done is to question the fairness of every matter, every decision you made at DPW. During my time on the bench, I’ve sentenced people for really horrible things, gang murders, and really deadly stuff. In many ways, what you’ve done is at least as reprehensible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal government initially sought nine years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $35,000 fine for Nuru. Nuru’s attorneys argued for a three-year sentence and the forfeit of his property.\u003c/span>[aside postID=\"news_11899657,news_11849988,news_11801734\" label=\"Related Posts\"]“Mohammed Nuru knows and accepts to his core that the conduct he engaged in was wrong, it was prolonged, and it is inexcusable,” said Miles Ehrlich, Nuru’s attorney. “It was a breach of the trust placed in him by the citizens of San Francisco, his co-workers, and his friends. In the public’s mind, it will overshadow any of the good he did in his life as a public servant, and perhaps Mr. Nuru knows deep down, it should.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ehrlich also argued that Nuru deserved a lighter sentence, citing Nuru’s poor health from diabetes, a recent heart attack and two surgeries for heart problems.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, U.S. Attorney Alexandra Shepard argued that Nuru lied and laundered money for years. When he was caught, he spent days, almost a week, sabotaging the investigation by notifying people under investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is who he is,” said Shepard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Attorney’s Office sought a particularly harsh sentence for Nuru since, after the FBI quietly arrested him in January 2020, Nuru leaked the investigation to multiple people. In doing so he “caused incalculable damage to the investigation,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a sentencing memo a week before Nuru’s sentencing date, saying the leak tipped off potential targets and jeopardized the FBI’s ability to obtain evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A substantial sentence would send a message to other public officials that using their office for their own personal benefit will result in significant jail time,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response, Nuru’s attorney wrote that Nuru regrets his wrongdoing, and “Mohammed Nuru apologizes to the people of San Francisco, to this Court, and to his family and friends for violating the public trust.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His corrupt acts don’t represent “the whole of him,” they argued, adding that Nuru has taught marginalized and incarcerated youth how to farm, and provided education and training jobs in his role at the Public Works department. They also argued Nuru raised five children as a single parent after his ex-wife became addicted to drugs, and that he helps financially support them and his elderly parents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued Nuru did not commit these crimes out of financial hardship, citing his $278,586 annual salary.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the FBI’s revelations, Nuru’s nickname of “Mr. Clean,” so-given for his department’s efforts to spit shine the city, proved to be the height of irony. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The U.S. Attorney’s Office described Nuru’s scheme as “a tale of greed as old as time.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They said Nuru “shook down” contractors for more then a million dollars in cash, goods and services over a 12-year period. Much of those ill-gotten gains went to paying for his ranch in Stonyford, California. That ranch was a cash cow for contractors seeking to influence Nuru: He gave them favorable treatment in city contracts after they custom-built and furnished it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru also often sought the help of contractors to buttress his San Francisco home; a city contractor did such work for free in 2008, when Nuru was a deputy director of the Department of Public Works. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Nuru was the quintessential grifter, using his position at DPW to enrich himself in a multitude of ways,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru was far from alone in his crimes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed their explosive allegations against Nuru in January 2020, one by one new San Francisco officials were accused of taking bribes, and prominent community members well-known to San Francisco politicos for their charitable good deeds were revealed to be in on the scheme. Most have already pled guilty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since Nuru was first taken in, the federal government has indicted the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Harlan Kelly, and the head of the Mayor’s Office’s “fix-it team,” Sandra Zuniga, in related bribery schemes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru, Kelly and Zuniga all worked under Mayor London Breed, and Breed counted Nuru, Kelly and Kelly’s wife, Naomi Kelly, as long-time friends and allies for years. Naomi Kelly resigned as city administrator following her husband’s arrest, although she wasn’t charged; Carmen Chu took her place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Breed publicly revealed she once counted Nuru as a romantic partner, and a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> few weeks after Nuru was charged by the FBI, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11883654/sf-mayor-london-breed-agrees-to-23k-fine-for-ethics-breach\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">she acknowledged in a statement that Nuru had paid for expenses involving repairs to her car in 2019\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Last year she agreed to pay an $8,292 fine for accepting that gift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since Nuru’s arrest, Breed has sought to distance herself from Nuru. Breed and the City Controller’s Office also have sought to plug the holes in city law that allowed much of the bribery under their noses to take place. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Co-conspirators of Nuru, construction contractor Walter Wong and Lefty O’Doul’s restaurant owner Nick Bovis, also were indicted by the federal government. Wong helped connect now-indicted officials to a luxury developer who sought to bribe them, and Wong himself admitted to bribing officials for contracts. Bovis set up a fake baseball charity that funneled bribes to Nuru so he could shower his employees with extravagant parties. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Other city contractors also were indicted for bribing Nuru: Balmore Hernandez, Alan Varela and Bill Gilmartin all provided workers and equipment to help build or improve Nuru’s ranch. Hernandez, Varela and Gilmartin gifted Nuru with a John Deere tractor worth $40,000. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul Fredrick Giusti, working for waste management company Recology, gave Nuru a “continuous stream” of money and benefits. He allegedly funneled over $1 million in bribes from Recology, through restaurateur Nick Bovis’ baseball charity, to Nuru. Giusti also found jobs for Nuru’s son. In return, Nuru allegedly gave Recology favorable treatment in setting garbage rates and securing millions of dollars in city contracts. City Attorney Dennis Herrera reached an agreement with Recology in March 2021 to reimburse $95 million in improperly charged garbage bills set under Nuru’s purview.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All have pled guilty, save Kelly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lastly, in an effort related to the federal investigation, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office also accused former San Francisco Department of Building Inspection Director Tom Hui of taking an inappropriate dinner with a luxury housing developer who wished to curry favor with the department. Hui resigned after the allegations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Associated Press contributed to this report. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru was sentenced to seven years (84 months) in federal prison and three years of supervised release on Thursday.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru’s sentencing, while expected, marks an important milestone in the years-long indictment of multiple San Francisco officials. The bribery scheme unveiled in January 2020 continued to snowball, ensnaring contractors, a restaurant owner and five city department heads.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the man known to be at the top of the FBI’s list, publicly at least, was Nuru.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Expensive watches, international flights, extravagant dinners, even a John Deere tractor — Nuru took bribes of all sorts from contractors seeking multimillion-dollar contracts with the city, hoping to sway Nuru to give them a much-coveted rubber stamp. Nuru also attempted to bribe an airport contractor on behalf of a restaurateur who was his co-conspirator. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While much of his misdeeds were known, and Nuru pled guilty in January, the severity of Nuru’s punishment was unknown until Thursday when he heard the verdict in court. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">U.S. Northern District Judge William Orrick said Nuru’s sentence reflected how severely Nuru’s crimes as a public official breached public trust.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If what you had done was a one-off occurrence, I would absolutely agree the leniency was called for, but you made the city’s decision-making and competitive bidding a farce,” said Orrick. “By awarding [contractors] and favoring them in exchange for money, gifts, trips, a job for your son and construction for a home, a vacation home, what you’ve done is to question the fairness of every matter, every decision you made at DPW. During my time on the bench, I’ve sentenced people for really horrible things, gang murders, and really deadly stuff. In many ways, what you’ve done is at least as reprehensible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The federal government initially sought nine years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release and a $35,000 fine for Nuru. Nuru’s attorneys argued for a three-year sentence and the forfeit of his property.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Mohammed Nuru knows and accepts to his core that the conduct he engaged in was wrong, it was prolonged, and it is inexcusable,” said Miles Ehrlich, Nuru’s attorney. “It was a breach of the trust placed in him by the citizens of San Francisco, his co-workers, and his friends. In the public’s mind, it will overshadow any of the good he did in his life as a public servant, and perhaps Mr. Nuru knows deep down, it should.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ehrlich also argued that Nuru deserved a lighter sentence, citing Nuru’s poor health from diabetes, a recent heart attack and two surgeries for heart problems.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response, U.S. Attorney Alexandra Shepard argued that Nuru lied and laundered money for years. When he was caught, he spent days, almost a week, sabotaging the investigation by notifying people under investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is who he is,” said Shepard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Attorney’s Office sought a particularly harsh sentence for Nuru since, after the FBI quietly arrested him in January 2020, Nuru leaked the investigation to multiple people. In doing so he “caused incalculable damage to the investigation,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a sentencing memo a week before Nuru’s sentencing date, saying the leak tipped off potential targets and jeopardized the FBI’s ability to obtain evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A substantial sentence would send a message to other public officials that using their office for their own personal benefit will result in significant jail time,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response, Nuru’s attorney wrote that Nuru regrets his wrongdoing, and “Mohammed Nuru apologizes to the people of San Francisco, to this Court, and to his family and friends for violating the public trust.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His corrupt acts don’t represent “the whole of him,” they argued, adding that Nuru has taught marginalized and incarcerated youth how to farm, and provided education and training jobs in his role at the Public Works department. They also argued Nuru raised five children as a single parent after his ex-wife became addicted to drugs, and that he helps financially support them and his elderly parents.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued Nuru did not commit these crimes out of financial hardship, citing his $278,586 annual salary.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the FBI’s revelations, Nuru’s nickname of “Mr. Clean,” so-given for his department’s efforts to spit shine the city, proved to be the height of irony. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The U.S. Attorney’s Office described Nuru’s scheme as “a tale of greed as old as time.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">They said Nuru “shook down” contractors for more then a million dollars in cash, goods and services over a 12-year period. Much of those ill-gotten gains went to paying for his ranch in Stonyford, California. That ranch was a cash cow for contractors seeking to influence Nuru: He gave them favorable treatment in city contracts after they custom-built and furnished it. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru also often sought the help of contractors to buttress his San Francisco home; a city contractor did such work for free in 2008, when Nuru was a deputy director of the Department of Public Works. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Nuru was the quintessential grifter, using his position at DPW to enrich himself in a multitude of ways,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru was far from alone in his crimes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed their explosive allegations against Nuru in January 2020, one by one new San Francisco officials were accused of taking bribes, and prominent community members well-known to San Francisco politicos for their charitable good deeds were revealed to be in on the scheme. Most have already pled guilty. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since Nuru was first taken in, the federal government has indicted the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Harlan Kelly, and the head of the Mayor’s Office’s “fix-it team,” Sandra Zuniga, in related bribery schemes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nuru, Kelly and Zuniga all worked under Mayor London Breed, and Breed counted Nuru, Kelly and Kelly’s wife, Naomi Kelly, as long-time friends and allies for years. Naomi Kelly resigned as city administrator following her husband’s arrest, although she wasn’t charged; Carmen Chu took her place.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Breed publicly revealed she once counted Nuru as a romantic partner, and a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> few weeks after Nuru was charged by the FBI, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11883654/sf-mayor-london-breed-agrees-to-23k-fine-for-ethics-breach\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">she acknowledged in a statement that Nuru had paid for expenses involving repairs to her car in 2019\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Last year she agreed to pay an $8,292 fine for accepting that gift.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since Nuru’s arrest, Breed has sought to distance herself from Nuru. Breed and the City Controller’s Office also have sought to plug the holes in city law that allowed much of the bribery under their noses to take place. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Co-conspirators of Nuru, construction contractor Walter Wong and Lefty O’Doul’s restaurant owner Nick Bovis, also were indicted by the federal government. Wong helped connect now-indicted officials to a luxury developer who sought to bribe them, and Wong himself admitted to bribing officials for contracts. Bovis set up a fake baseball charity that funneled bribes to Nuru so he could shower his employees with extravagant parties. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Other city contractors also were indicted for bribing Nuru: Balmore Hernandez, Alan Varela and Bill Gilmartin all provided workers and equipment to help build or improve Nuru’s ranch. Hernandez, Varela and Gilmartin gifted Nuru with a John Deere tractor worth $40,000. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Paul Fredrick Giusti, working for waste management company Recology, gave Nuru a “continuous stream” of money and benefits. He allegedly funneled over $1 million in bribes from Recology, through restaurateur Nick Bovis’ baseball charity, to Nuru. Giusti also found jobs for Nuru’s son. In return, Nuru allegedly gave Recology favorable treatment in setting garbage rates and securing millions of dollars in city contracts. City Attorney Dennis Herrera reached an agreement with Recology in March 2021 to reimburse $95 million in improperly charged garbage bills set under Nuru’s purview.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">All have pled guilty, save Kelly. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lastly, in an effort related to the federal investigation, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office also accused former San Francisco Department of Building Inspection Director Tom Hui of taking an inappropriate dinner with a luxury housing developer who wished to curry favor with the department. Hui resigned after the allegations.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Associated Press contributed to this report. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The Sordid Saga of San Francisco's Trash Cans",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Au\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>g. 5 Update: \u003c/strong>As of August 2026, San Francisco has rolled out 18 of the new trash cans across city streets as part of a pilot project to see how they perform in the real world. The chosen design was the soft silhouette.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people who serviced the cans liked it best,” said Rachel Gordon, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works. “We saw that it was easier to maintain, and it also was the clear favorite with the members of the public who weighed in on the three trash cans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pilot, the city made adjustments to the locking mechanism to increase sturdiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was one of the main criteria we wanted with the new trash cans that they’re going to be hard to break into. Not impossible, but just more difficult,” Gordon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within the next few weeks the design will be finalized and an order will be placed for mass production of the new trash cans in China. By the end of 2026, about 3,000 are expected to be on San Francisco streets, replacing approximately 2,500 of the older trash cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s trash cans have problems. From debris littering the streets around them, to the — more often than not — broken recycling compartments, these green garbage receptacles are past their intended life span. San Francisco is nearing the end of a years-long replacement process designed (in part) to clean up San Francisco’s streets, and years of corruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The dirty backstory behind the ubiquitous green cans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since first appearing on San Francisco streets in 1993, the current cans — called “renaissance cans” by city officials — have been a sore spot for neighborhood groups and officials like District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, who says, “Sometimes [the trash cans are] part of the problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A walk through any of San Francisco’s dense neighborhoods reveals a slew of issues surrounding trash. Rachel Gordon, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works, says that her department picks up “about 90,000 pounds of litter and debris a week” from the streets of San Francisco and knows that the old cans just aren’t up to the job anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907001\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907001\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘renaissance’ trash can surrounded by garbage in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood. \u003ccite>(Christopher J. Beale/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part of the issue with these cans has to do with the maintenance of them, which the city contracts out to a third party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The contract for these [renaissance] trash cans came about in a way that very possibly could have been corrupt,” said Supervisor Haney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walter Wong was a permit expediter in San Francisco who pleaded guilty in 2020 to charges of conspiracy. He — and then-director of the Department of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru — worked together to trade city contracts for gifts. The contract to maintain San Francisco’s trash cans went to a company called Alternate Choice LLC — owned by a family member of Wong — in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907005\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907005\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘big belly’ trash can in District 6. \u003ccite>(Christopher J. Beale/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>City supervisors like Haney tried for years to get the trash cans in their districts replaced with newer, more effective models but say it was Nuru who stood in the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was adamant in his protection of these broken trash cans. And I think it was pretty clear that he was protecting his buddies who were giving us really crappy cans,” Haney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong is now participating with federal investigators in the corruption probe against Nuru, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges earlier this year after being arrested and indicted in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The road to the perfect can\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nuru did eventually set into motion a process to replace San Francisco’s green renaissance cans with some new ones. But, off-the-rack cans — the kind you might find in another American city — weren’t considered suitable for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Public Works want something tamper-proof, with wheels on the inner can so workers won’t get hurt emptying them, and a sensor that can tell when they’re full. Oh, and they have to be attractive. The department commissioned a custom-designed can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prototypes will cost an estimated $12,000 each and will be fabricated locally and tested alongside some off-the-rack designs. Gordon says the prototypes do cost a lot of money. “I don’t think anyone can say otherwise. But will it be money well spent? We hope so,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After prototyping, the selected can’s manufacturing is expected to cost less than half of the prototype, which is comparable to the price paid in other U.S. cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907012\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-800x402.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-800x402.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-1020x512.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-160x80.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-1536x771.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-2048x1028.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-1920x964.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The three trash can prototypes that will be created and tested in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Institute for Creative Integration)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This new-can-selection process has its critics. Supervisor Haney said, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Ultimately, San Francisco shouldn’t be in the trash can making business. The conditions that we face on our streets are not fundamentally different than an LA and New York, or Chicago, D.C., Oakland, and there is plenty of data that we can look at in terms of prototypes, but here we are.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The new cans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Three new trash can prototypes are being considered, with hopes they can solve many of the problems presented by the current cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Salt & Pepper has a durable frame with minimal surface area for graffiti, the Slim Silhouette features a slim profile for less of a sidewalk footprint, and the Soft Square adds a foot pedal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work of making the new trash cans was just handed off from industrial designers to the team at APROE (Advanced Prototype Engineering), a shop founded by San Francisco native Mose O’Griffin. “I went to Galileo High School. I founded this shop in 2006 and it’s been a long, slow crawl to get here. So I’m really proud of what it’s become,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Griffin and his team will take the designs made by the industrial designers and turn them into engineering drawings, the kind that can be used to create actual objects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Griffin says every step in the process for creating a unique, one-of-a-kind trash can is being priced out, but “we’re going to try as hard as we can to, to stay within the bounds of those shapes and materials [outlined by the industrial designers], selections, and all those things, and try to figure out how to get them manufactured for the prices that they’ve set out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new cans will be out on the street testing in different neighborhoods as soon as they are done, but there’s no official word on exactly when that will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After decades of dysfunction, corruption and politics, the end may be in sight for those unsightly green renaissance trash cans. Will the next generation of cans clean up San Francisco’s streets? Well, not unless our behavior as citizens changes, says Gordon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So let’s set public expectations. Garbage cans, new or old, are not going to clean up the streets of San Francisco, but it’s a tool to help us keep the city clean,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest is up to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price (on a SF street): Just walk around any neighborhood in San Francisco, like the Mission where I am right now and you’ll see them. 4 feet tall, green, made of metal. They are (drumroll) … San Francisco’s trash cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In my experience, you can never seem to find one when you are looking for it, and when you do find one…it will often be surrounded by trash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re usually broken in some way, which seems like quite a feat – like how do you even break a trash can? But there’s this recycling container at the top that gets busted, and then anything you try to recycle falls into the trash can below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These trash cans got our question asker Matt Leonard wondering …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: What’s the deal with San Francisco’s trash cans? Why are they so unwieldy and why does it seem like it’s so hard to get them replaced?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: I have some good news for Matt. San Francisco is in the process of replacing about 2,500 of these old city trash cans with a sleek new design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s been a long road, littered with obstacles to get here as we found out in 2022 when Bay Curious first reported on the cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In honor of the new models hitting the streets in a neighborhood near you, we’re going to reair a refreshed version of that episode – and share some updates at the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Reporter Christopher Beale got the down and dirty on San Francisco’s trash cans for our question asker Matt…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Matt, this story is crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: Really?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Oh gosh, let me just break down what I found out so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For starters, these big green trash cans we have now have been in place since 1993. San Francisco officials call them Renaissance Cans, and in the almost 30 years since their installation they have certainly had their detractors, like Matt Haney. I caught up with him in the Tenderloin back in 2022 when he was the District 6 supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Haney: You know, we’re a city that unfortunately has become known around the country and around the world for, dirty streets and sidewalks. And, there’s pretty much nothing more basic than a trash can. One of the frustrating things that I have experienced with our trash cans that we’ve had are that sometimes they’re part of the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: The story of San Francisco’s trash cans started to go a little sideways in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale (on phone): I don’t know if you’ve heard the name Walter Wong. If that name rings a bell?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: Recently indicted or something, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale (on phone) Ding, ding, ding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: Yeah\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsclip 1 – “Tonight, a strange twist in the San Francisco corruption probe. Our investigative unit has learned the city bought $5 million worth of public garbage cans from a vendor with ties to ousted public works director Mohammed Nuru.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsclip 2 – Cans that one supervisor say make the city’s litter problem, worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Walter Wong was a permit expediter in San Francisco who pleaded guilty in 2020 to charges of conspiracy. He—and then Department of Public Works director Mohammed Nuru—worked together to trade City contracts for gifts…it’s messy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyway… so Wong has a family member who owned a company called Alternate Choice LLC who made and maintained…you guessed it…Trash Cans! See where I’m going here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: This is what I was wondering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Oh yes, the story of San Francisco’s dysfunctional trash cans, past, present, and even future are tied directly to Walter Wong, and Mohammed Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: This is like The Sopranos mafia. You know, they control the trash that’s insane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Permit expediter Wong cooperated with federal officials in the corruption case against Nuru. Wong and his companies ultimately paid about one and a half million dollars to the city because they violated ethics laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Haney: The contract for these trash cans came about in a way that, very possibly could have been corrupt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: After their installation, city supervisors complained about the poorly maintained trash cans but Nuru defended them, refusing to buy alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Haney: He was adamant in his protection of these broken trash cans. And I think it was pretty clear that he was protecting his buddies who were giving us really crappy cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Ultimately, Mohammed Nuru was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for honest services wire fraud – which is legal speak for taking bribes or offering kickbacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the Department of Public Works, under new leadership, ventured forward trying to fix the trash can situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I want to bring in Rachel Gordon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: Spokesperson for San Francisco Public Works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: She shares Supervisor Haney’s frustration with the condition of San Francisco’s messy streets but says it’s vandals who are to blame for the used and abused trash cans…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: Folks like to do things like take the doors off, break the locks, ravage through them, scavenging looking for cans and bottles. Graffiti of them, knock them over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Rachel says the department of public works has been working for years to try and find solutions to the trash can problems in the City. Things like removing trash cans in certain areas, putting more trash cans in others and even installing sensors to tell DPW when a can is full. And that data that will ultimately be used to pick where to put the next generation of trash cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: The bigger issue is how do we change behavior of people not trashing San Francisco in the first place? Like that’s a big challenge. I don’t have the magic wand for that. How do you get it in someone’s head that it’s not okay to litter. We got into a mindset with some people and certainly not all in San Francisco where they think you put it on the sidewalk and then we’ll get picked up. In San Francisco, public works picks up about 90,000 pounds of litter and debris a week from the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: That’s from the streets?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: It’s from the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Goodness, that is a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: We have been looking at other cans and we have been trying other cans in the city. Uh, we haven’t found one that’s going to be the perfect can yet for San Francisco. Are we going to get to the perfect can? We don’t know that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: The perfect can is the goal. And whether it’s possible or not, the Department of Public Works is trying to get there. No off-the-shelf cans – like what you might see in any other American city – were deemed suitable. So the department commissioned a custom designed can with some really specific ideas about what it should do and look like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted something tamper proof. With wheels on the inner can can so workers don’t get hurt emptying them. A sensor that can tell when they’re full. Oh, and they have to be gorgeous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obviously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the blog post for this episode of Bay Curious there are some photos of the new trash can prototypes. One is called a soft square and has a little foot pedal on it. There is the elegant—for a trash can—Slim Silhouette and the Salt & Pepper that looks like a giant salt shaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cans are sleek, they are modern, and they are designed to solve a lot of the problems we have with the current renaissance cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But will it work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: When we return, we take a trip to where the prototype trash cans were being made and learn which one is being rolled out on city streets today. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sponsor Messages\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: San Francisco Public Works was considering three trash cans designs, the Soft Square, the Slim Silhouette and the Salt & Pepper. Christopher Beale takes us behind the scenes as they make a prototype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: The prototype cans are actually being made right here in San Francisco. The work is being done by this engineering Firm called A-P-R-O-E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: Advanced Prototype Engineering, but we say aye-pro-ee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: That’s Mose O’Griffin, he is the founder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: I went to Galileo high school here in San Francisco\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: He opened this shop in 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: It’s been a long, slow crawl to get here. So I’m really proud of what it’s become.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Mose gave me a little tour of his design shop where some really specific parts—like some that may eventually be created for the new trash cans–were being created.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: This is a CNC milling machine. So it’s a computer controlled cutting machine. This is a milling machine. Over on the side, here was a lathe.These are kind of the workhorse machine tools. If you find a machine shop there’s mostly mills and lades, there are a lot of other really specific machines, but these are the more generic ones that can make lots and lots of different shapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Mose and his crew will be working to create real trash cans from those prototype drawings…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: Those are from an industrial design firm. And industrial designers, their specialty is how do humans interact with shapes and how, you know, what are the right kinds of materials? They certainly do some level of, of engineering design, but, uh, we’re going to be doing the in-depth mechanical design. So the, what you said is correct where we’re taking those designs that we have been given, and we’re going to try as hard as we can to, to stay within the bounds of those shapes and material selections, and all those things, and try to figure out how to get them manufactured for, for the prices that they’ve they’ve outlined for us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: They’ll get that info figured out, and then the real work of making San Francisco’s new trash cans begins. And it’s worth noting that all of the work outside this shop is also being done by local businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: The local piece is huge. In terms of the ability of the residents of SF to come up with a really cool trashcan that you won’t see in any other city, that’s pretty cool, I think.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Since this story aired, those prototypes made by APROE spent some time on city streets and ultimately a best can was chosen…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon with the big reveal…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: We selected the slim silhouette…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: It’s tall and wide, but, as the name says, slim – so it doesn’t take up too much walking space on the sidewalk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: … the people who serviced the cans liked it best. We saw that it was easier to maintain, that means to be able to clean off graffiti as an example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: There are currently 18 of these slim silhouette trash cans peppered all around the city as part of a pilot program. The city wants to see how they perform, and make any final adjustments to the design before placing a big order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: So we’re liking what we’re seeing. We have made some tweaks to the locking mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Next step, the city will start getting the trash cans mass produced in China, and ultimately you’ll find about 3,000 of them around town. The price per can, by the way, came out to about $1,400 – very comparable to the price of off-the-shelf cans, Rachel says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s been a saga, but looks like we are close to putting a lid on this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today’s story was reported by Christopher Beale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to our listener Matt for asking this week’s question, and thanks also to the many members of KQED who listen to the podcast. Your support means everything. If you’re not a member yet, consider becoming one. All it takes is a donation. Whatever is comfortable for your budget. You can get started at donate.kqed.org/podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. Our show is produced by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia Allen-Price. We get extra support from Maha Sanad, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, Ethan Toven-Lindsey, and everyone on Team KQED. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Au\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>g. 5 Update: \u003c/strong>As of August 2026, San Francisco has rolled out 18 of the new trash cans across city streets as part of a pilot project to see how they perform in the real world. The chosen design was the soft silhouette.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people who serviced the cans liked it best,” said Rachel Gordon, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works. “We saw that it was easier to maintain, and it also was the clear favorite with the members of the public who weighed in on the three trash cans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pilot, the city made adjustments to the locking mechanism to increase sturdiness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was one of the main criteria we wanted with the new trash cans that they’re going to be hard to break into. Not impossible, but just more difficult,” Gordon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within the next few weeks the design will be finalized and an order will be placed for mass production of the new trash cans in China. By the end of 2026, about 3,000 are expected to be on San Francisco streets, replacing approximately 2,500 of the older trash cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s trash cans have problems. From debris littering the streets around them, to the — more often than not — broken recycling compartments, these green garbage receptacles are past their intended life span. San Francisco is nearing the end of a years-long replacement process designed (in part) to clean up San Francisco’s streets, and years of corruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The dirty backstory behind the ubiquitous green cans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since first appearing on San Francisco streets in 1993, the current cans — called “renaissance cans” by city officials — have been a sore spot for neighborhood groups and officials like District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, who says, “Sometimes [the trash cans are] part of the problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A walk through any of San Francisco’s dense neighborhoods reveals a slew of issues surrounding trash. Rachel Gordon, spokesperson for the Department of Public Works, says that her department picks up “about 90,000 pounds of litter and debris a week” from the streets of San Francisco and knows that the old cans just aren’t up to the job anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907001\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907001\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220207_174614.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘renaissance’ trash can surrounded by garbage in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood. \u003ccite>(Christopher J. Beale/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part of the issue with these cans has to do with the maintenance of them, which the city contracts out to a third party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The contract for these [renaissance] trash cans came about in a way that very possibly could have been corrupt,” said Supervisor Haney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walter Wong was a permit expediter in San Francisco who pleaded guilty in 2020 to charges of conspiracy. He — and then-director of the Department of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru — worked together to trade city contracts for gifts. The contract to maintain San Francisco’s trash cans went to a company called Alternate Choice LLC — owned by a family member of Wong — in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907005\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907005\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/20220205_105605-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A ‘big belly’ trash can in District 6. \u003ccite>(Christopher J. Beale/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>City supervisors like Haney tried for years to get the trash cans in their districts replaced with newer, more effective models but say it was Nuru who stood in the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was adamant in his protection of these broken trash cans. And I think it was pretty clear that he was protecting his buddies who were giving us really crappy cans,” Haney said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong is now participating with federal investigators in the corruption probe against Nuru, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges earlier this year after being arrested and indicted in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The road to the perfect can\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nuru did eventually set into motion a process to replace San Francisco’s green renaissance cans with some new ones. But, off-the-rack cans — the kind you might find in another American city — weren’t considered suitable for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Public Works want something tamper-proof, with wheels on the inner can so workers won’t get hurt emptying them, and a sensor that can tell when they’re full. Oh, and they have to be attractive. The department commissioned a custom-designed can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prototypes will cost an estimated $12,000 each and will be fabricated locally and tested alongside some off-the-rack designs. Gordon says the prototypes do cost a lot of money. “I don’t think anyone can say otherwise. But will it be money well spent? We hope so,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After prototyping, the selected can’s manufacturing is expected to cost less than half of the prototype, which is comparable to the price paid in other U.S. cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11907012\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11907012\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-800x402.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-800x402.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-1020x512.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-160x80.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-1536x771.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-2048x1028.png 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/SFTrashPrototypes-1920x964.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The three trash can prototypes that will be created and tested in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Institute for Creative Integration)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This new-can-selection process has its critics. Supervisor Haney said, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Ultimately, San Francisco shouldn’t be in the trash can making business. The conditions that we face on our streets are not fundamentally different than an LA and New York, or Chicago, D.C., Oakland, and there is plenty of data that we can look at in terms of prototypes, but here we are.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The new cans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Three new trash can prototypes are being considered, with hopes they can solve many of the problems presented by the current cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Salt & Pepper has a durable frame with minimal surface area for graffiti, the Slim Silhouette features a slim profile for less of a sidewalk footprint, and the Soft Square adds a foot pedal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work of making the new trash cans was just handed off from industrial designers to the team at APROE (Advanced Prototype Engineering), a shop founded by San Francisco native Mose O’Griffin. “I went to Galileo High School. I founded this shop in 2006 and it’s been a long, slow crawl to get here. So I’m really proud of what it’s become,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Griffin and his team will take the designs made by the industrial designers and turn them into engineering drawings, the kind that can be used to create actual objects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Griffin says every step in the process for creating a unique, one-of-a-kind trash can is being priced out, but “we’re going to try as hard as we can to, to stay within the bounds of those shapes and materials [outlined by the industrial designers], selections, and all those things, and try to figure out how to get them manufactured for the prices that they’ve set out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new cans will be out on the street testing in different neighborhoods as soon as they are done, but there’s no official word on exactly when that will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After decades of dysfunction, corruption and politics, the end may be in sight for those unsightly green renaissance trash cans. Will the next generation of cans clean up San Francisco’s streets? Well, not unless our behavior as citizens changes, says Gordon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So let’s set public expectations. Garbage cans, new or old, are not going to clean up the streets of San Francisco, but it’s a tool to help us keep the city clean,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest is up to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price (on a SF street): Just walk around any neighborhood in San Francisco, like the Mission where I am right now and you’ll see them. 4 feet tall, green, made of metal. They are (drumroll) … San Francisco’s trash cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In my experience, you can never seem to find one when you are looking for it, and when you do find one…it will often be surrounded by trash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re usually broken in some way, which seems like quite a feat – like how do you even break a trash can? But there’s this recycling container at the top that gets busted, and then anything you try to recycle falls into the trash can below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These trash cans got our question asker Matt Leonard wondering …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: What’s the deal with San Francisco’s trash cans? Why are they so unwieldy and why does it seem like it’s so hard to get them replaced?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: I have some good news for Matt. San Francisco is in the process of replacing about 2,500 of these old city trash cans with a sleek new design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s been a long road, littered with obstacles to get here as we found out in 2022 when Bay Curious first reported on the cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In honor of the new models hitting the streets in a neighborhood near you, we’re going to reair a refreshed version of that episode – and share some updates at the end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Reporter Christopher Beale got the down and dirty on San Francisco’s trash cans for our question asker Matt…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Matt, this story is crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: Really?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Oh gosh, let me just break down what I found out so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For starters, these big green trash cans we have now have been in place since 1993. San Francisco officials call them Renaissance Cans, and in the almost 30 years since their installation they have certainly had their detractors, like Matt Haney. I caught up with him in the Tenderloin back in 2022 when he was the District 6 supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Haney: You know, we’re a city that unfortunately has become known around the country and around the world for, dirty streets and sidewalks. And, there’s pretty much nothing more basic than a trash can. One of the frustrating things that I have experienced with our trash cans that we’ve had are that sometimes they’re part of the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: The story of San Francisco’s trash cans started to go a little sideways in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale (on phone): I don’t know if you’ve heard the name Walter Wong. If that name rings a bell?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: Recently indicted or something, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale (on phone) Ding, ding, ding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: Yeah\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsclip 1 – “Tonight, a strange twist in the San Francisco corruption probe. Our investigative unit has learned the city bought $5 million worth of public garbage cans from a vendor with ties to ousted public works director Mohammed Nuru.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsclip 2 – Cans that one supervisor say make the city’s litter problem, worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Walter Wong was a permit expediter in San Francisco who pleaded guilty in 2020 to charges of conspiracy. He—and then Department of Public Works director Mohammed Nuru—worked together to trade City contracts for gifts…it’s messy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyway… so Wong has a family member who owned a company called Alternate Choice LLC who made and maintained…you guessed it…Trash Cans! See where I’m going here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: This is what I was wondering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Oh yes, the story of San Francisco’s dysfunctional trash cans, past, present, and even future are tied directly to Walter Wong, and Mohammed Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Leonard: This is like The Sopranos mafia. You know, they control the trash that’s insane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Permit expediter Wong cooperated with federal officials in the corruption case against Nuru. Wong and his companies ultimately paid about one and a half million dollars to the city because they violated ethics laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Haney: The contract for these trash cans came about in a way that, very possibly could have been corrupt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: After their installation, city supervisors complained about the poorly maintained trash cans but Nuru defended them, refusing to buy alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matt Haney: He was adamant in his protection of these broken trash cans. And I think it was pretty clear that he was protecting his buddies who were giving us really crappy cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Ultimately, Mohammed Nuru was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for honest services wire fraud – which is legal speak for taking bribes or offering kickbacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the Department of Public Works, under new leadership, ventured forward trying to fix the trash can situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I want to bring in Rachel Gordon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: Spokesperson for San Francisco Public Works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: She shares Supervisor Haney’s frustration with the condition of San Francisco’s messy streets but says it’s vandals who are to blame for the used and abused trash cans…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: Folks like to do things like take the doors off, break the locks, ravage through them, scavenging looking for cans and bottles. Graffiti of them, knock them over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Rachel says the department of public works has been working for years to try and find solutions to the trash can problems in the City. Things like removing trash cans in certain areas, putting more trash cans in others and even installing sensors to tell DPW when a can is full. And that data that will ultimately be used to pick where to put the next generation of trash cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: The bigger issue is how do we change behavior of people not trashing San Francisco in the first place? Like that’s a big challenge. I don’t have the magic wand for that. How do you get it in someone’s head that it’s not okay to litter. We got into a mindset with some people and certainly not all in San Francisco where they think you put it on the sidewalk and then we’ll get picked up. In San Francisco, public works picks up about 90,000 pounds of litter and debris a week from the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: That’s from the streets?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: It’s from the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Goodness, that is a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: We have been looking at other cans and we have been trying other cans in the city. Uh, we haven’t found one that’s going to be the perfect can yet for San Francisco. Are we going to get to the perfect can? We don’t know that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: The perfect can is the goal. And whether it’s possible or not, the Department of Public Works is trying to get there. No off-the-shelf cans – like what you might see in any other American city – were deemed suitable. So the department commissioned a custom designed can with some really specific ideas about what it should do and look like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted something tamper proof. With wheels on the inner can can so workers don’t get hurt emptying them. A sensor that can tell when they’re full. Oh, and they have to be gorgeous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obviously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the blog post for this episode of Bay Curious there are some photos of the new trash can prototypes. One is called a soft square and has a little foot pedal on it. There is the elegant—for a trash can—Slim Silhouette and the Salt & Pepper that looks like a giant salt shaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These cans are sleek, they are modern, and they are designed to solve a lot of the problems we have with the current renaissance cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But will it work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: When we return, we take a trip to where the prototype trash cans were being made and learn which one is being rolled out on city streets today. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sponsor Messages\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: San Francisco Public Works was considering three trash cans designs, the Soft Square, the Slim Silhouette and the Salt & Pepper. Christopher Beale takes us behind the scenes as they make a prototype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: The prototype cans are actually being made right here in San Francisco. The work is being done by this engineering Firm called A-P-R-O-E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: Advanced Prototype Engineering, but we say aye-pro-ee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: That’s Mose O’Griffin, he is the founder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: I went to Galileo high school here in San Francisco\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: He opened this shop in 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: It’s been a long, slow crawl to get here. So I’m really proud of what it’s become.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Mose gave me a little tour of his design shop where some really specific parts—like some that may eventually be created for the new trash cans–were being created.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: This is a CNC milling machine. So it’s a computer controlled cutting machine. This is a milling machine. Over on the side, here was a lathe.These are kind of the workhorse machine tools. If you find a machine shop there’s mostly mills and lades, there are a lot of other really specific machines, but these are the more generic ones that can make lots and lots of different shapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: Mose and his crew will be working to create real trash cans from those prototype drawings…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: Those are from an industrial design firm. And industrial designers, their specialty is how do humans interact with shapes and how, you know, what are the right kinds of materials? They certainly do some level of, of engineering design, but, uh, we’re going to be doing the in-depth mechanical design. So the, what you said is correct where we’re taking those designs that we have been given, and we’re going to try as hard as we can to, to stay within the bounds of those shapes and material selections, and all those things, and try to figure out how to get them manufactured for, for the prices that they’ve they’ve outlined for us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christopher Beale: They’ll get that info figured out, and then the real work of making San Francisco’s new trash cans begins. And it’s worth noting that all of the work outside this shop is also being done by local businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mose O’Griffin: The local piece is huge. In terms of the ability of the residents of SF to come up with a really cool trashcan that you won’t see in any other city, that’s pretty cool, I think.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Music\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Since this story aired, those prototypes made by APROE spent some time on city streets and ultimately a best can was chosen…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon with the big reveal…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: We selected the slim silhouette…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: It’s tall and wide, but, as the name says, slim – so it doesn’t take up too much walking space on the sidewalk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: … the people who serviced the cans liked it best. We saw that it was easier to maintain, that means to be able to clean off graffiti as an example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: There are currently 18 of these slim silhouette trash cans peppered all around the city as part of a pilot program. The city wants to see how they perform, and make any final adjustments to the design before placing a big order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rachel Gordon: So we’re liking what we’re seeing. We have made some tweaks to the locking mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Next step, the city will start getting the trash cans mass produced in China, and ultimately you’ll find about 3,000 of them around town. The price per can, by the way, came out to about $1,400 – very comparable to the price of off-the-shelf cans, Rachel says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s been a saga, but looks like we are close to putting a lid on this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today’s story was reported by Christopher Beale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks to our listener Matt for asking this week’s question, and thanks also to the many members of KQED who listen to the podcast. Your support means everything. If you’re not a member yet, consider becoming one. All it takes is a donation. Whatever is comfortable for your budget. You can get started at donate.kqed.org/podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. Our show is produced by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia Allen-Price. We get extra support from Maha Sanad, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, Ethan Toven-Lindsey, and everyone on Team KQED. Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>Mohammed Nuru, the former director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works, agreed Friday to plead guilty to wire fraud in a federal investigation into public corruption at City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798447/sf-public-works-director-mohammed-nuru-arrested-by-fbi\">who was arrested in January 2020 and lost his job\u003c/a>, faces up to nine years in prison as part of the plea agreement announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds — although a judge could sentence him to up to 20 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the plea agreement, filed in U.S. District Court, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges against him, including money laundering and lying to the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is next scheduled in court on Jan. 14 to formally enter the plea and, in the meantime, remains out of custody on a $2 million bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label ='More Coverage on the Nuru Scandal' tag='mohammed-nuru']As part of the plea agreement, Nuru, 59, admitted to widespread corruption, including taking bribes from developers, a restaurant owner and the city’s garbage company, Recology, as part of what prosecutors called “a long-running scheme involving multiple bribes and kickbacks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For years, Nuru held a powerful and well-paid public leadership position at San Francisco City Hall, but instead of serving the public, Nuru served himself,” Hinds said, calling the degree of corruption “staggering.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He took continuous bribes from the contractors, developers and entities he regulated,” she added. “He now faces a prison sentence for enriching himself at the expense of the public as he sat in high office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru admits in the plea agreement to a litany of transgressions, in which he offered city contractors and developers preferential treatment in exchange for cash, jewelry, international trips and a slew of other goods and favors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mohammed is ready to accept responsibility in this matter and begin to put it behind him,” his attorney Ismail Ramsey said in a statement. “He has learned a lot from his past mistakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru’s guilty plea does not mark the end of the long-running investigation into public corruption in San Francisco, federal authorities said in a statement released Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will persist in our commitment to protect the integrity of the institutions that serve the people of San Francisco,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twelve people have been charged in the City Hall corruption probe that began in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less than two months after Nuru’s arrest, Tom Hui, former director of the Department of Building Inspection, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/SF-s-building-chief-Tom-Hui-pulls-the-plug-on-15148650.php\">faced allegations of breaching ethics laws\u003c/a> by the City Attorney’s Office and resigned before being dismissed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the city’s Public Utilities Commission, faced similar charges, and stepped down from his position. He has since \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/S-F-City-Hall-scandal-Harlan-Kelly-pleads-not-16549329.php\">pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges\u003c/a>. His wife, Naomi Kelly, similarly abandoned her post as city administrator after being implicated in the charges against her husband, despite not being charged herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11859677 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/02/SF_corruption_BG_featured001.png']The scandal has also brought down former Recology executive Paul Giusti, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11882955/sf-corruption-saga-continues-trash-company-official-to-plead-guilty-to-bribing-city-official\">who was charged last November with bribing Nuru\u003c/a>, as well as for money laundering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At roughly the same time that Giusti was allegedly handing bribes to Nuru in 2017, Recology’s service rates were going up. In March 2020, the City Attorney’s Office announced that the garbage company had overcharged rate payers by $94.5 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a settlement city officials reached with Recology, the garbage company has since agreed to pay back some $95 million to the roughly 160,000 San Francisco ratepayers affected by the improper increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from Bay City News and KQED’s Alex Emslie and Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mohammed Nuru, the former director of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works, agreed Friday to plead guilty to wire fraud in a federal investigation into public corruption at City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798447/sf-public-works-director-mohammed-nuru-arrested-by-fbi\">who was arrested in January 2020 and lost his job\u003c/a>, faces up to nine years in prison as part of the plea agreement announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds — although a judge could sentence him to up to 20 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of the plea agreement, filed in U.S. District Court, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges against him, including money laundering and lying to the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is next scheduled in court on Jan. 14 to formally enter the plea and, in the meantime, remains out of custody on a $2 million bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As part of the plea agreement, Nuru, 59, admitted to widespread corruption, including taking bribes from developers, a restaurant owner and the city’s garbage company, Recology, as part of what prosecutors called “a long-running scheme involving multiple bribes and kickbacks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For years, Nuru held a powerful and well-paid public leadership position at San Francisco City Hall, but instead of serving the public, Nuru served himself,” Hinds said, calling the degree of corruption “staggering.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He took continuous bribes from the contractors, developers and entities he regulated,” she added. “He now faces a prison sentence for enriching himself at the expense of the public as he sat in high office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru admits in the plea agreement to a litany of transgressions, in which he offered city contractors and developers preferential treatment in exchange for cash, jewelry, international trips and a slew of other goods and favors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Mohammed is ready to accept responsibility in this matter and begin to put it behind him,” his attorney Ismail Ramsey said in a statement. “He has learned a lot from his past mistakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru’s guilty plea does not mark the end of the long-running investigation into public corruption in San Francisco, federal authorities said in a statement released Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will persist in our commitment to protect the integrity of the institutions that serve the people of San Francisco,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twelve people have been charged in the City Hall corruption probe that began in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less than two months after Nuru’s arrest, Tom Hui, former director of the Department of Building Inspection, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/SF-s-building-chief-Tom-Hui-pulls-the-plug-on-15148650.php\">faced allegations of breaching ethics laws\u003c/a> by the City Attorney’s Office and resigned before being dismissed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last November, Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the city’s Public Utilities Commission, faced similar charges, and stepped down from his position. He has since \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/S-F-City-Hall-scandal-Harlan-Kelly-pleads-not-16549329.php\">pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges\u003c/a>. His wife, Naomi Kelly, similarly abandoned her post as city administrator after being implicated in the charges against her husband, despite not being charged herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The scandal has also brought down former Recology executive Paul Giusti, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11882955/sf-corruption-saga-continues-trash-company-official-to-plead-guilty-to-bribing-city-official\">who was charged last November with bribing Nuru\u003c/a>, as well as for money laundering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At roughly the same time that Giusti was allegedly handing bribes to Nuru in 2017, Recology’s service rates were going up. In March 2020, the City Attorney’s Office announced that the garbage company had overcharged rate payers by $94.5 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a settlement city officials reached with Recology, the garbage company has since agreed to pay back some $95 million to the roughly 160,000 San Francisco ratepayers affected by the improper increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post includes reporting from Bay City News and KQED’s Alex Emslie and Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors issued a subpoena Thursday to obtain financial records between a parks-supporting nonprofit, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Parks Alliance raises money to build park infrastructure across the city in a private-public partnership, it’s usually primarily interested in one type of green — planting trees, for instance. But the board says more transparency is necessary to ensure \u003cem>another\u003c/em> type of green — money — isn’t changing hands improperly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just who has influence in renovating parks, and where, is a chief concern, said Supervisor Connie Chan, the lawmaker who requested the subpoena during a hearing of the board’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Supervisor Connie Chan, District 1\"]‘Are we now setting ourselves up for a two-tier parks system for those who can pay to play, literally, and for those who cannot afford access to our public space?’[/pullquote]While no formal accusations have been made, Chan’s subpoena comes \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839531/report-corrupt-sf-official-directed-nonprofit-to-pay-60k-to-organizations-under-fbi-investigation\">in the wake of an ever-unfolding corruption scandal that has ensnared four city department heads since early 2020\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chan said she was worried the influence of money could determine exactly who gets to have parks built in the city, and where, citing equitable access as a key priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a city of riches,” she said during Thursday’s committee hearing. “We receive so much donations and so much money to renovate and improve our parks, and we can see those results. And yet there is lack of equity, lack of access for those who cannot pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In this case, are we now setting ourselves up for a two-tier parks system for those who can pay to play, literally, and for those who cannot afford access to our public space?”\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003cbr>\nAlso, notably, this is the first-ever use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/supes-to-boost-subpoena-power-in-wake-of-city-hall-corruption-scandal/\">a new subpoena power the board crafted for itself in 2020\u003c/a>, in a law written by Supervisor Aaron Peskin. Previously, the board needed a majority to issue a subpoena, but since March 2020, the three-supervisor Government Audit and Oversight Committee has the power to issue its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson told the supervisors that the agency follows all codes and laws. And Parks Alliance Board Chair Liz Farrell said, “I want to also just to be clear on the record, and say that the Parks Alliance has not been accused or found to be involved in any wrongdoing as part of the investigation into the government corruption.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Liz Farrell, board chair of the Parks Alliance\"]‘The Parks Alliance has not been accused or found to be involved in any wrongdoing as part of the investigation into the government corruption.’[/pullquote]But the supervisors were concerned that the public simply doesn’t have enough information from the Parks Alliance to verify that fact on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/BLA.Rec%20Parks%20Parks%20Alliance.111221.pdf\">A report issued just this month\u003c/a> from the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst, an arm of the city tasked with researching questions posed by the Board of Supervisors, took a look at the Parks Alliance’s financial relationship with SF Rec and Parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of transparency in those finances leaves the possibility of a pay-to-play culture to flourish in the shadows, the supervisors said Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Adequate controls against the possibility of corruption and financial transparency were found lacking in our review of key agreements between the two organizations from recent years,” the report reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report’s authors came away with more questions than answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, millions of dollars flow into the San Francisco Parks Alliance. The money is used to renovate the city’s treasured green spaces large and small — for example, erecting a towering Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park and laying down AstroTurf at Merced Heights Playground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11894359\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/10/Josh-Withers-1020x680.jpg\"]The Parks Alliance serves a unique role in this, raising money for some projects and selecting contractors, a role often served by government agencies. But that leaves some of their methodologies in the dark, the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s report found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are the names of their anonymous donors? How are the contractors who build out our green spaces chosen? How does the group use city funding it’s granted? When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of transparency may also allow the Parks Alliance to circumvent good government practices developed by the city, the Budget and Legislative Analyst wrote, including compliance with prevailing wage requirements for contractors and competitive bidding to find lower costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a Richmond neighborhood playground, for instance, the $3 million budget was completely opaque, said Fred Brousseau, from the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we found is that the [memorandum of understanding] had a high-level preliminary budget but no detail as to what the costs were going to be for the design contractor, for example, that was being paid for by the Parks Alliance,” he told the supervisors at Thursday’s hearing. “We also found that there was no requirement for how the contractor was selected in this case.”[aside postID=\"news_11883654\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/06/RS50017_013_SanFrancisco_JuneteenthKickoffRally_06172021-qut-1020x679.jpg\"]While the city’s Recreation and Park Commission approved a use permit in December 2019 between the Parks Alliance and SF Rec and Parks for Golden Gate Park’s 150th celebration, “there wasn’t a draft agreement at that time,” Brousseau said, “or an agreement that we felt should have been put into place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No budget was presented to the commission providing the details of what would be spent before the agreement got commission approval, Brousseau said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what about the Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park? While it’s gotten a lot of love for its glowing lights at night, the contract to build it wasn’t issued competitively, Brousseau said. That’s a standard practice governments use to ensure they get the best deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have issue with the way the vendor was selected. It was a sole-source selection, there’s no competitive bidding by the department,” Brousseau said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Fred Brousseau, Budget and Legislative Analyst's Office\"]‘We have issue with the way the vendor was selected … there’s no competitive bidding by the department.’[/pullquote]A memorandum of understanding between the city and the Parks Alliance lays down some requirements for how they operate, and was retooled to strengthen some reporting requirements in 2020 in the wake of the citywide corruption scandal, but the Budget and Legislative Analyst still recommended it be strengthened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the first time the Parks Alliance has found itself under the microscope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco City Controller’s Office found,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839531/report-corrupt-sf-official-directed-nonprofit-to-pay-60k-to-organizations-under-fbi-investigation\"> in a September 2020 report\u003c/a>, that the San Francisco Parks Alliance took roughly $1 million in donations from a number of city contractors that were under investigation by the City Attorney’s Office for funneling money to the Public Works Department for lavish parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was at the behest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who was arrested by the FBI in 2020 on corruption charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former City Attorney Dennis Herrera\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2020/02/12/city-attorney-subpoenas-8-organizations-in-widening-public-corruption-investigation/\"> first issued subpoenas investigating the Parks Alliance in early 2020\u003c/a>, also in connection with the ongoing corruption scandal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label ='Related Coverage' tag='nuru-scandal']It also isn’t the first time the Parks Alliance and Supervisor Chan have clashed in public. The Parks Alliance wrote a letter to Chan earlier this year\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/S-F-Parks-Alliance-threatens-to-pull-funding-for-16037113.php\"> threatening to pull $2 million in funding for a Richmond District playground \u003c/a>in response to her statements about their alleged wrongdoing. During the Thursday hearing, Farrell from the Parks Alliance said they have already apologized for that spat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the end of the hearing, Chan said the driving force behind her line of questioning was to ensure that anyone, regardless of the amount of money they can donate to a nonprofit, gets their say in how parks across San Francisco are shaped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco ranks No. 1 in its park investments in the nation, dollars per capita,” Chan said. “When it comes to equity in our public parks, San Francisco doesn’t even rank top ten. That’s the problem we are talking about here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors issued a subpoena Thursday to obtain financial records between a parks-supporting nonprofit, the San Francisco Parks Alliance, and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the Parks Alliance raises money to build park infrastructure across the city in a private-public partnership, it’s usually primarily interested in one type of green — planting trees, for instance. But the board says more transparency is necessary to ensure \u003cem>another\u003c/em> type of green — money — isn’t changing hands improperly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just who has influence in renovating parks, and where, is a chief concern, said Supervisor Connie Chan, the lawmaker who requested the subpoena during a hearing of the board’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While no formal accusations have been made, Chan’s subpoena comes \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839531/report-corrupt-sf-official-directed-nonprofit-to-pay-60k-to-organizations-under-fbi-investigation\">in the wake of an ever-unfolding corruption scandal that has ensnared four city department heads since early 2020\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chan said she was worried the influence of money could determine exactly who gets to have parks built in the city, and where, citing equitable access as a key priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a city of riches,” she said during Thursday’s committee hearing. “We receive so much donations and so much money to renovate and improve our parks, and we can see those results. And yet there is lack of equity, lack of access for those who cannot pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In this case, are we now setting ourselves up for a two-tier parks system for those who can pay to play, literally, and for those who cannot afford access to our public space?”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nAlso, notably, this is the first-ever use of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/supes-to-boost-subpoena-power-in-wake-of-city-hall-corruption-scandal/\">a new subpoena power the board crafted for itself in 2020\u003c/a>, in a law written by Supervisor Aaron Peskin. Previously, the board needed a majority to issue a subpoena, but since March 2020, the three-supervisor Government Audit and Oversight Committee has the power to issue its own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Recreation and Parks Department spokesperson told the supervisors that the agency follows all codes and laws. And Parks Alliance Board Chair Liz Farrell said, “I want to also just to be clear on the record, and say that the Parks Alliance has not been accused or found to be involved in any wrongdoing as part of the investigation into the government corruption.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But the supervisors were concerned that the public simply doesn’t have enough information from the Parks Alliance to verify that fact on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/BLA.Rec%20Parks%20Parks%20Alliance.111221.pdf\">A report issued just this month\u003c/a> from the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst, an arm of the city tasked with researching questions posed by the Board of Supervisors, took a look at the Parks Alliance’s financial relationship with SF Rec and Parks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of transparency in those finances leaves the possibility of a pay-to-play culture to flourish in the shadows, the supervisors said Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Adequate controls against the possibility of corruption and financial transparency were found lacking in our review of key agreements between the two organizations from recent years,” the report reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report’s authors came away with more questions than answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year, millions of dollars flow into the San Francisco Parks Alliance. The money is used to renovate the city’s treasured green spaces large and small — for example, erecting a towering Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park and laying down AstroTurf at Merced Heights Playground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Parks Alliance serves a unique role in this, raising money for some projects and selecting contractors, a role often served by government agencies. But that leaves some of their methodologies in the dark, the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s report found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are the names of their anonymous donors? How are the contractors who build out our green spaces chosen? How does the group use city funding it’s granted? When the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department pitches in its own money, are they getting the most bang for their buck?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lack of transparency may also allow the Parks Alliance to circumvent good government practices developed by the city, the Budget and Legislative Analyst wrote, including compliance with prevailing wage requirements for contractors and competitive bidding to find lower costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a Richmond neighborhood playground, for instance, the $3 million budget was completely opaque, said Fred Brousseau, from the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we found is that the [memorandum of understanding] had a high-level preliminary budget but no detail as to what the costs were going to be for the design contractor, for example, that was being paid for by the Parks Alliance,” he told the supervisors at Thursday’s hearing. “We also found that there was no requirement for how the contractor was selected in this case.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While the city’s Recreation and Park Commission approved a use permit in December 2019 between the Parks Alliance and SF Rec and Parks for Golden Gate Park’s 150th celebration, “there wasn’t a draft agreement at that time,” Brousseau said, “or an agreement that we felt should have been put into place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No budget was presented to the commission providing the details of what would be spent before the agreement got commission approval, Brousseau said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what about the Ferris wheel in Golden Gate Park? While it’s gotten a lot of love for its glowing lights at night, the contract to build it wasn’t issued competitively, Brousseau said. That’s a standard practice governments use to ensure they get the best deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have issue with the way the vendor was selected. It was a sole-source selection, there’s no competitive bidding by the department,” Brousseau said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A memorandum of understanding between the city and the Parks Alliance lays down some requirements for how they operate, and was retooled to strengthen some reporting requirements in 2020 in the wake of the citywide corruption scandal, but the Budget and Legislative Analyst still recommended it be strengthened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the first time the Parks Alliance has found itself under the microscope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco City Controller’s Office found,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11839531/report-corrupt-sf-official-directed-nonprofit-to-pay-60k-to-organizations-under-fbi-investigation\"> in a September 2020 report\u003c/a>, that the San Francisco Parks Alliance took roughly $1 million in donations from a number of city contractors that were under investigation by the City Attorney’s Office for funneling money to the Public Works Department for lavish parties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was at the behest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who was arrested by the FBI in 2020 on corruption charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former City Attorney Dennis Herrera\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcityattorney.org/2020/02/12/city-attorney-subpoenas-8-organizations-in-widening-public-corruption-investigation/\"> first issued subpoenas investigating the Parks Alliance in early 2020\u003c/a>, also in connection with the ongoing corruption scandal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It also isn’t the first time the Parks Alliance and Supervisor Chan have clashed in public. The Parks Alliance wrote a letter to Chan earlier this year\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/S-F-Parks-Alliance-threatens-to-pull-funding-for-16037113.php\"> threatening to pull $2 million in funding for a Richmond District playground \u003c/a>in response to her statements about their alleged wrongdoing. During the Thursday hearing, Farrell from the Parks Alliance said they have already apologized for that spat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Near the end of the hearing, Chan said the driving force behind her line of questioning was to ensure that anyone, regardless of the amount of money they can donate to a nonprofit, gets their say in how parks across San Francisco are shaped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco ranks No. 1 in its park investments in the nation, dollars per capita,” Chan said. “When it comes to equity in our public parks, San Francisco doesn’t even rank top ten. That’s the problem we are talking about here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:00 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco real estate investor Victor Makras pleaded not guilty in federal court on Thursday to two bank fraud charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charges were unveiled by the U.S. Department of Justice last month against Makras and Harlan Kelly, the former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager, who similarly pleaded not guilty two weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison or a $1 million fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly and Makras are accused of defrauding Quicken Loans by inflating the amount of money Kelly owed on his mortgage and lying about his level of debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Makras’s next court date is scheduled for Dec. 16, the same day Kelly is set to appear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley\u003cbr>\nalso placed travel restrictions on Makras, who must now obtain permission to leave the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original post, Oct. 20\u003c/strong>: Harlan Kelly, a former general manager of San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission already accused of accepting bribes from a city contractor, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/federal-charges-against-former-san-francisco-puc-general-manager-expanded-include-bank\">new bank fraud charges\u003c/a> leveled against him by federal prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly was charged Tuesday with two new counts — bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud — alongside local real estate investor and former city commissioner Victor Makras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the indictment, Kelly and Makras defrauded Quicken Loans by inflating the amount of money Kelly owed on his mortgage — to qualify for a lower-interest refinance loan. The complaint also alleges that Kelly and Makras lied to the lender about debt owed by Kelly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictments are part of a wide-ranging public corruption investigation that has led to charges against 12 people and the resignation or ousting of four city department heads, including Kelly and Kelly’s wife, former City Administrator Naomi Kelly. Naomi Kelly has not been charged with any crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First charged last year was Mohammed Nuru, the longtime director of San Francisco Public Works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798447/sf-public-works-director-mohammed-nuru-arrested-by-fbi\">Nuru was arrested in January 2020.\u003c/a> Federal prosecutors have \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/san-francisco-trash-company-executive-charged-bribing-company-s-chief-san-francisco\">accused him of taking more than $1 million\u003c/a> in bribes from people doing business with the city, and of attempting, unsuccessfully, to bribe a San Francisco airport commissioner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11849113/u-s-attorney-charges-san-francisco-department-head-with-fraud-in-connection-to-bribery-scheme\">Kelly was arrested in November 2020\u003c/a> and stepped down from his role as head of the city’s PUC. The U.S. attorney’s office charged him with five counts related to an alleged bribery scheme, saying he accepted thousands of dollars in international trips, meals and other gifts from city contractor Walter Wong, in exchange for providing Wong with information meant to help him win a multimillion-dollar contract from the SFPUC for a citywide LED lighting contract. Wong’s son was bidding on the contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong, who is cooperating with federal investigators, is identified only as “Contractor #1” in court documents. In a statement this week, the U.S. attorney’s office wrote that the indictment against Kelly alleges “that Kelly provided confidential internal PUC documents and information to Contractor #1 to give Contractor #1 competitive advantages during public contract bidding competitions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11871191,news_11849113,news_11859677\" label=\"Related Coverage\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In exchange,” the statement continues, “Contractor #1 lavished Kelly with personal financial benefits, including discounted construction work on Kelly’s residence and an international vacation for Kelly and his family that included Contractor #1 paying for hotel charges, hundreds of dollars for meals, and jewelry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest charges stem from a complicated financial scheme federal prosecutors are accusing Kelly and Makras of conducting, to conceal the Kellys’ debt to secure a more favorable loan from Quicken Loans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint states that Kelly first took out a $715,000 loan in 2012 from Makras’s real estate company, Makras Investors, to pay for a home remodel — which was being done by Wong. Then, in 2013, Kelly allegedly asked Makras for a personal loan of $70,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the indictment, Makras then texted Kelly:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After thinking about it a bit, I recommend that I pay your credit cards directly. This will avoid a large check going into your account, Then needing to explain it to the bank. Banks do not like seeing anything unusual about the flow of cash in and out of checking savings accounts. This will make the loan process go easy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Makras then allegedly paid off $70,000 in credit card debt owed by the Kellys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment goes on to allege that Makras and Kelly inflated the amount of the Makras Investors loan to secure a lower interest rate on a home refinance from Quicken Loans. That $1.3 million loan was used to pay off the Makras Investors loan as well as the Kellys’ first mortgage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors say Makras then paid Wong for the nearly $90,000 worth of construction work on the Kelly home conducted between 2013 and 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If convicted of all seven counts, Kelly could face more than 160 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Harlan Kelly was charged on Oct. 20 with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Two weeks later, on Nov. 4, local real estate investor and former city commissioner Victor Makras was similarly charged. Both men pleaded not guilty. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:00 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco real estate investor Victor Makras pleaded not guilty in federal court on Thursday to two bank fraud charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charges were unveiled by the U.S. Department of Justice last month against Makras and Harlan Kelly, the former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager, who similarly pleaded not guilty two weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison or a $1 million fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly and Makras are accused of defrauding Quicken Loans by inflating the amount of money Kelly owed on his mortgage and lying about his level of debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Makras’s next court date is scheduled for Dec. 16, the same day Kelly is set to appear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley\u003cbr>\nalso placed travel restrictions on Makras, who must now obtain permission to leave the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original post, Oct. 20\u003c/strong>: Harlan Kelly, a former general manager of San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission already accused of accepting bribes from a city contractor, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/federal-charges-against-former-san-francisco-puc-general-manager-expanded-include-bank\">new bank fraud charges\u003c/a> leveled against him by federal prosecutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelly was charged Tuesday with two new counts — bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud — alongside local real estate investor and former city commissioner Victor Makras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the indictment, Kelly and Makras defrauded Quicken Loans by inflating the amount of money Kelly owed on his mortgage — to qualify for a lower-interest refinance loan. The complaint also alleges that Kelly and Makras lied to the lender about debt owed by Kelly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictments are part of a wide-ranging public corruption investigation that has led to charges against 12 people and the resignation or ousting of four city department heads, including Kelly and Kelly’s wife, former City Administrator Naomi Kelly. Naomi Kelly has not been charged with any crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First charged last year was Mohammed Nuru, the longtime director of San Francisco Public Works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798447/sf-public-works-director-mohammed-nuru-arrested-by-fbi\">Nuru was arrested in January 2020.\u003c/a> Federal prosecutors have \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/san-francisco-trash-company-executive-charged-bribing-company-s-chief-san-francisco\">accused him of taking more than $1 million\u003c/a> in bribes from people doing business with the city, and of attempting, unsuccessfully, to bribe a San Francisco airport commissioner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11849113/u-s-attorney-charges-san-francisco-department-head-with-fraud-in-connection-to-bribery-scheme\">Kelly was arrested in November 2020\u003c/a> and stepped down from his role as head of the city’s PUC. The U.S. attorney’s office charged him with five counts related to an alleged bribery scheme, saying he accepted thousands of dollars in international trips, meals and other gifts from city contractor Walter Wong, in exchange for providing Wong with information meant to help him win a multimillion-dollar contract from the SFPUC for a citywide LED lighting contract. Wong’s son was bidding on the contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong, who is cooperating with federal investigators, is identified only as “Contractor #1” in court documents. In a statement this week, the U.S. attorney’s office wrote that the indictment against Kelly alleges “that Kelly provided confidential internal PUC documents and information to Contractor #1 to give Contractor #1 competitive advantages during public contract bidding competitions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In exchange,” the statement continues, “Contractor #1 lavished Kelly with personal financial benefits, including discounted construction work on Kelly’s residence and an international vacation for Kelly and his family that included Contractor #1 paying for hotel charges, hundreds of dollars for meals, and jewelry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest charges stem from a complicated financial scheme federal prosecutors are accusing Kelly and Makras of conducting, to conceal the Kellys’ debt to secure a more favorable loan from Quicken Loans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint states that Kelly first took out a $715,000 loan in 2012 from Makras’s real estate company, Makras Investors, to pay for a home remodel — which was being done by Wong. Then, in 2013, Kelly allegedly asked Makras for a personal loan of $70,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the indictment, Makras then texted Kelly:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After thinking about it a bit, I recommend that I pay your credit cards directly. This will avoid a large check going into your account, Then needing to explain it to the bank. Banks do not like seeing anything unusual about the flow of cash in and out of checking savings accounts. This will make the loan process go easy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Makras then allegedly paid off $70,000 in credit card debt owed by the Kellys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment goes on to allege that Makras and Kelly inflated the amount of the Makras Investors loan to secure a lower interest rate on a home refinance from Quicken Loans. That $1.3 million loan was used to pay off the Makras Investors loan as well as the Kellys’ first mortgage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors say Makras then paid Wong for the nearly $90,000 worth of construction work on the Kelly home conducted between 2013 and 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If convicted of all seven counts, Kelly could face more than 160 years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>KQED’s Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Monday agreed to pay nearly $23,000 in fines to the city for a series of ethics violations while in office, including asking a former governor to release her brother from prison and allowing the former head of Public Works, who's now embroiled in a corruption scandal, to pay her car repair bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed agreement from the city’s Ethics Commission also fines Breed for failing to properly report a 2015 campaign contribution while running for reelection to the Board of Supervisors. If approved by the Ethics Commission at its next meeting on Aug. 13, the mayor will personally pay the fine, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Mayor-Breed-fined-22-000-for-series-of-16360994.php\">the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission found Breed’s violations are “significant” and involve the misuse of her title as mayor for personal gain and violated the city’s rules on accepting gifts from subordinates and campaign contributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed said in a statement Tuesday that the fines are “fair” and she took responsibility for her actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"london-breed\"]“I’ve learned a lot over the last two years since the most recent of these events took place, and I’ve learned from this process,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed agreed to pay $8,292 for accepting a gift in 2019 from Mohammed Nuru, the former Public Works director whom federal officials charged with fraud. A few weeks after Nuru was charged by the FBI, Breed acknowledged in a statement that Nuru paid for expenses involving repairs to her car in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, Breed joined other members of her family in a letter to outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown requesting an early release from prison for her older brother who has served nearly two decades of a 44-year sentence on a manslaughter conviction. The governor ultimately did not pardon Breed’s brother, who remains in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She will be fined $2,500 for the letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2015, when Breed was a member of the city's Board of Supervisors, and running for reelection, she sought to have a float created to ride in during the annual San Francisco Pride Parade. According to the stipulation, Breed asked two restaurateurs to each pay $1,250 directly to the float manufacturer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]According to the stipulation, the contributions were not properly recorded in campaign finance disclosures and also exceeded the $500-per-person contribution limit established for city candidates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor will be fined $7,500 for failing to disclose the contributions and $4,500 for accepting contributions over the legal limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Monday agreed to pay nearly $23,000 in fines to the city for a series of ethics violations while in office, including asking a former governor to release her brother from prison and allowing the former head of Public Works, who's now embroiled in a corruption scandal, to pay her car repair bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposed agreement from the city’s Ethics Commission also fines Breed for failing to properly report a 2015 campaign contribution while running for reelection to the Board of Supervisors. If approved by the Ethics Commission at its next meeting on Aug. 13, the mayor will personally pay the fine, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Mayor-Breed-fined-22-000-for-series-of-16360994.php\">the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission found Breed’s violations are “significant” and involve the misuse of her title as mayor for personal gain and violated the city’s rules on accepting gifts from subordinates and campaign contributions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breed said in a statement Tuesday that the fines are “fair” and she took responsibility for her actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A former executive with San Francisco’s waste company, Recology, has agreed to plead guilty to bribery and will cooperate with federal investigators looking into corruption at City Hall, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Giusti, 65, Recology’s former government and community relations manager for its San Francisco group, had been charged last November with allegedly bribing former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, and for money laundering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Garbage collection has been a crooked enterprise for decades under the protective blanket of City Hall,” retired judge Quentin Kopp told KQED in reaction to Giusti’s guilty plea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kopp has been a longtime critic of what he calls Recology’s sky-high garbage rates in San Francisco. History has proven him right: In March, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced that Recology would repay San Francisco garbage customers $95 million in overcharges. Those garbage rates were overseen by Nuru, the former public works director, while he was allegedly taking bribes from Giusti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s only the latest development in the long-unfolding San Francisco scandal that has seen the ouster or resignation of four city department heads, including Nuru, and the cooperation of others charged in the investigation, like construction contractor Walter Wong and restaurateur Nick Bovis, both of whom were also involved in bribery schemes of public officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong and Bovis have also pleaded guilty. Court dates for Nuru and former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, who was also accused of accepting bribes, have been repeatedly delayed. Kelly’s next court date, for instance, has been pushed back to September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, prosecutors say that Giusti conspired with others between 2014 and January 2020 to direct payments and benefits from Recology to Nuru, who as Public Works director presided over the process governing how much the company could charge residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gifts included payments of about $150,000 per year to a nonprofit, knowing that Nuru controlled it, $60,000 from 2016 to 2019 to fund the annual Public Works holiday party, and a job for Nuru’s son at a Recology subsidiary, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a real big deal,” said long-time Bay Area political consultant Jim Ross. The holiday party in a particular was a way for Giusti to influence public officials who had direct oversight over the garbage rates that would put money into Recology’s coffers, Ross noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He should know: Ross counted Recology as a client, back when it was known as Sunset Scavenger. In 1993, Ross worked on the \u003ca href=\"https://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/pdf/elections/November2_1993.pdf\">No on Proposition Z campaign\u003c/a> for Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Disposal to defeat a ballot proposition that would’ve ended Recology’s monopoly in San Francisco, which is written into city law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s one thing I think that that people need to understand, is that the garbage contract in San Francisco is perhaps one of the largest garbage contracts in the state of California. And, you know, a lot of Recology’s worth as a company is grounded in that contract, so it’s very important for it as a company and it and its employees are very, very motivated, have a lot of incentive to maintaining that contract,” Ross said. “This is the golden goose that really funds Recology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s also where Ross met a younger Giusti. Ross remembers meeting him in the break room at Sunset Scavenger and hearing Giusti describe his garbage route and all the regulars he knew and spoke to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, anybody that can build relationships driving a truck on a route like this could certainly do the work of going and meeting voters and other folks around a political campaign,” Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so Giusti got a leg up off the garbage route to pitch voters on defeating Proposition Z, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/david-campos-pushes-garbage-deal-competition-in-san-francisco/\">which voters rejected by 76%, according to the San Francisco Examiner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly three decades later, that career pitching the garbage company’s good graces would land Giusti on a pile of others who pleaded guilty to bribing city officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speculating on Giuisti’s motivations, Ross said, “You’ve got a guy that has a real person, well, wants to really please people. He’s under a lot of pressure to perform and deliver. And you have a city official who wants to be all over the line in terms of ethical behavior to extract favors, and it kind of creates a situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru was arrested in January 2020 and resigned from his position, and several other people have also been arrested and charged in the probe, including Harlan Kelly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New court documents filed Tuesday in federal court elaborated on the alleged bribes and charged Giusti with one count of conspiracy to bribe a local official and to commit honest services fraud. He was arraigned Wednesday and remains out of custody on bond, prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison but could receive a lower sentence depending on his assistance in the larger City Hall corruption case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Reporting from Bay City News was used in this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Paul Giusti, 65, Recology's former government and community relations manager for its San Francisco group, had been charged with allegedly bribing former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A former executive with San Francisco’s waste company, Recology, has agreed to plead guilty to bribery and will cooperate with federal investigators looking into corruption at City Hall, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Giusti, 65, Recology’s former government and community relations manager for its San Francisco group, had been charged last November with allegedly bribing former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, and for money laundering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Garbage collection has been a crooked enterprise for decades under the protective blanket of City Hall,” retired judge Quentin Kopp told KQED in reaction to Giusti’s guilty plea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kopp has been a longtime critic of what he calls Recology’s sky-high garbage rates in San Francisco. History has proven him right: In March, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced that Recology would repay San Francisco garbage customers $95 million in overcharges. Those garbage rates were overseen by Nuru, the former public works director, while he was allegedly taking bribes from Giusti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s only the latest development in the long-unfolding San Francisco scandal that has seen the ouster or resignation of four city department heads, including Nuru, and the cooperation of others charged in the investigation, like construction contractor Walter Wong and restaurateur Nick Bovis, both of whom were also involved in bribery schemes of public officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong and Bovis have also pleaded guilty. Court dates for Nuru and former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, who was also accused of accepting bribes, have been repeatedly delayed. Kelly’s next court date, for instance, has been pushed back to September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, prosecutors say that Giusti conspired with others between 2014 and January 2020 to direct payments and benefits from Recology to Nuru, who as Public Works director presided over the process governing how much the company could charge residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gifts included payments of about $150,000 per year to a nonprofit, knowing that Nuru controlled it, $60,000 from 2016 to 2019 to fund the annual Public Works holiday party, and a job for Nuru’s son at a Recology subsidiary, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a real big deal,” said long-time Bay Area political consultant Jim Ross. The holiday party in a particular was a way for Giusti to influence public officials who had direct oversight over the garbage rates that would put money into Recology’s coffers, Ross noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He should know: Ross counted Recology as a client, back when it was known as Sunset Scavenger. In 1993, Ross worked on the \u003ca href=\"https://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/pdf/elections/November2_1993.pdf\">No on Proposition Z campaign\u003c/a> for Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Disposal to defeat a ballot proposition that would’ve ended Recology’s monopoly in San Francisco, which is written into city law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s one thing I think that that people need to understand, is that the garbage contract in San Francisco is perhaps one of the largest garbage contracts in the state of California. And, you know, a lot of Recology’s worth as a company is grounded in that contract, so it’s very important for it as a company and it and its employees are very, very motivated, have a lot of incentive to maintaining that contract,” Ross said. “This is the golden goose that really funds Recology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s also where Ross met a younger Giusti. Ross remembers meeting him in the break room at Sunset Scavenger and hearing Giusti describe his garbage route and all the regulars he knew and spoke to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, anybody that can build relationships driving a truck on a route like this could certainly do the work of going and meeting voters and other folks around a political campaign,” Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so Giusti got a leg up off the garbage route to pitch voters on defeating Proposition Z, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/david-campos-pushes-garbage-deal-competition-in-san-francisco/\">which voters rejected by 76%, according to the San Francisco Examiner\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly three decades later, that career pitching the garbage company’s good graces would land Giusti on a pile of others who pleaded guilty to bribing city officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speculating on Giuisti’s motivations, Ross said, “You’ve got a guy that has a real person, well, wants to really please people. He’s under a lot of pressure to perform and deliver. And you have a city official who wants to be all over the line in terms of ethical behavior to extract favors, and it kind of creates a situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nuru was arrested in January 2020 and resigned from his position, and several other people have also been arrested and charged in the probe, including Harlan Kelly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New court documents filed Tuesday in federal court elaborated on the alleged bribes and charged Giusti with one count of conspiracy to bribe a local official and to commit honest services fraud. He was arraigned Wednesday and remains out of custody on bond, prosecutors said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison but could receive a lower sentence depending on his assistance in the larger City Hall corruption case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Reporting from Bay City News was used in this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "SF Corruption Saga Continues: Permit Expediter Walter Wong to Repay $1.7 Million",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco is making one man tied to an ongoing corruption scandal pay back every penny he bilked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walter Wong, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-permit-consultant-Walter-Wong-charged-with-15363780.php\">admittedly crooked\u003c/a> permit expediter and contractor who helped facilitate alleged bribes for former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and other city officials, will pay San Francisco $1.45 million in ill-gotten gains he was improperly awarded for city contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong’s restitution to the city, part of a settlement with San Francisco announced by City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday, will also see Wong pay $317,650 in penalties and late fees for ethics violations, mostly for unlawful meals Wong provided to city department heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco will not tolerate bribery and insider dealing,” Herrera said in a statement. “This settlement ensures that taxpayers are made whole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong and his numerous companies, including W. Wong Construction Co., had 10 non-competitive procurements with the city — including contracts and purchase orders — where he was set to provide services to help homeless people, provide holiday lights and a pilot program to convert city streetlamps to LED lighting technology, among others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the settlement, Wong will repay the city for those non-competitive procurements, which were granted by Nuru and former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, two men facing corruption charges from the U.S. attorney’s office who lie at the center of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-corruption/\">unfolding scandal\u003c/a> that has seen five department heads either drummed out of city government or resigning on their own. Kelly has denied wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11859677 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/02/SF_corruption_BG_featured001-1038x576.png']So why does Wong owe the city? He didn’t win these contracts by being the best bidder, the city argues – instead, they were given to him while he was bribing city officials. No one else had a chance to get these contracts. Wong did have some other contracts with the city which were awarded in a competitive process that were deemed lawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the federal government continues its criminal investigation, Herrera’s office continued its civil investigation, issuing more than two dozen subpoenas. That investigation found Wong hadn’t just netted illicit contracts from Kelly and Nuru, but set up a dinner between a billionaire housing developer and the former Department of Building Inspection Director Tom Hui, an ethics violation. Hui \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Mayor-Breed-looks-to-fire-SF-building-inspection-15120965.php\">stepped down\u003c/a> after Mayor London Breed urged that he be removed when the investigation was made public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera’s announcement of Wong’s settlement lays bare the threads between all of the men in the scandal so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Documents made public in the investigations of Nuru, Hui and Kelly revealed that Wong’s connection to all three related back to his close relationship with former Mayor Ed Lee,” the announcement reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, in one of the federal charging documents, Wong and Kelly discuss one of Wong’s permits and mention a meeting with “35,” a reference to Ed Lee’s initials on a phone keypad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since his indictment in June 2020, Wong has pleaded guilty for his crimes. He agreed to cooperate with the federal government’s investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='SF Corruption Coverage' tag='san-francisco-corruption']The settlement agreement needs a vote of approval by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to be finalized. Funds will be disbursed to the city from $1 million already seized by the federal government from Wong when a conviction is reached, according to the settlement agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong will be barred from doing business with San Francisco for five years under legislation passed just last year by the Board of Supervisors and proposed by Herrera in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under that law, Herrera has barred other contractors who were also embroiled in the corruption scandal, mostly for alleged bribery: Nick Bovis (the owner of Lefty O’Doul’s restaurant), Alan Varela and William Gilmartin of ProVen Management, and Florence Kong, as well as her companies SFR Recovery Inc. and Kwan Wo Ironworks Inc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the corruption scandal emerged, the city attorney’s office and the city controller have conducted a public integrity investigation to identify the systems and practices that allowed corruption to flourish in several San Francisco government departments. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A report they released in June last year revealed Nuru \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11826653/bad-policies-and-practices-report-highlights-weak-sf-laws-that-enable-public-corruption\">was given unprecedented independence in awarding contracts\u003c/a> without oversight by the mayor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Breed immediately instituted new practices recommended by that report to institute tighter contracting oversight.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco is making one man tied to an ongoing corruption scandal pay back every penny he bilked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walter Wong, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-permit-consultant-Walter-Wong-charged-with-15363780.php\">admittedly crooked\u003c/a> permit expediter and contractor who helped facilitate alleged bribes for former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and other city officials, will pay San Francisco $1.45 million in ill-gotten gains he was improperly awarded for city contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong’s restitution to the city, part of a settlement with San Francisco announced by City Attorney Dennis Herrera on Thursday, will also see Wong pay $317,650 in penalties and late fees for ethics violations, mostly for unlawful meals Wong provided to city department heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco will not tolerate bribery and insider dealing,” Herrera said in a statement. “This settlement ensures that taxpayers are made whole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong and his numerous companies, including W. Wong Construction Co., had 10 non-competitive procurements with the city — including contracts and purchase orders — where he was set to provide services to help homeless people, provide holiday lights and a pilot program to convert city streetlamps to LED lighting technology, among others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the settlement, Wong will repay the city for those non-competitive procurements, which were granted by Nuru and former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, two men facing corruption charges from the U.S. attorney’s office who lie at the center of an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco-corruption/\">unfolding scandal\u003c/a> that has seen five department heads either drummed out of city government or resigning on their own. Kelly has denied wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So why does Wong owe the city? He didn’t win these contracts by being the best bidder, the city argues – instead, they were given to him while he was bribing city officials. No one else had a chance to get these contracts. Wong did have some other contracts with the city which were awarded in a competitive process that were deemed lawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the federal government continues its criminal investigation, Herrera’s office continued its civil investigation, issuing more than two dozen subpoenas. That investigation found Wong hadn’t just netted illicit contracts from Kelly and Nuru, but set up a dinner between a billionaire housing developer and the former Department of Building Inspection Director Tom Hui, an ethics violation. Hui \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Mayor-Breed-looks-to-fire-SF-building-inspection-15120965.php\">stepped down\u003c/a> after Mayor London Breed urged that he be removed when the investigation was made public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera’s announcement of Wong’s settlement lays bare the threads between all of the men in the scandal so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Documents made public in the investigations of Nuru, Hui and Kelly revealed that Wong’s connection to all three related back to his close relationship with former Mayor Ed Lee,” the announcement reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, in one of the federal charging documents, Wong and Kelly discuss one of Wong’s permits and mention a meeting with “35,” a reference to Ed Lee’s initials on a phone keypad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since his indictment in June 2020, Wong has pleaded guilty for his crimes. He agreed to cooperate with the federal government’s investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The settlement agreement needs a vote of approval by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to be finalized. Funds will be disbursed to the city from $1 million already seized by the federal government from Wong when a conviction is reached, according to the settlement agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wong will be barred from doing business with San Francisco for five years under legislation passed just last year by the Board of Supervisors and proposed by Herrera in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under that law, Herrera has barred other contractors who were also embroiled in the corruption scandal, mostly for alleged bribery: Nick Bovis (the owner of Lefty O’Doul’s restaurant), Alan Varela and William Gilmartin of ProVen Management, and Florence Kong, as well as her companies SFR Recovery Inc. and Kwan Wo Ironworks Inc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the corruption scandal emerged, the city attorney’s office and the city controller have conducted a public integrity investigation to identify the systems and practices that allowed corruption to flourish in several San Francisco government departments. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A report they released in June last year revealed Nuru \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11826653/bad-policies-and-practices-report-highlights-weak-sf-laws-that-enable-public-corruption\">was given unprecedented independence in awarding contracts\u003c/a> without oversight by the mayor’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Breed immediately instituted new practices recommended by that report to institute tighter contracting oversight.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco waste management company Recology \u003ca href=\"http://bit.ly/fiorerecologyrefund\">overcharged ratepayers $94.5 million\u003c/a> since 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under a settlement deal announced by the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, now they have to start paying it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Collection rates went up under the oversight of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru amid deals that unleashed a wide-ranging corruption probe in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After you figure in a $7 million settlement payment to the city, Recology's bill is over $100 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's a lot of bottles and cans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "SF Corruption Saga: Under Nuru's Oversight, Garbage Company Recology Overcharged Ratepayers $95 Million",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since 2017, San Francisco’s garbage company, Recology, has overcharged ratepayers to the tune of $94.5 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now they’re going to pay it back — and then some.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera\"]‘With this legal action, we are making San Francisco ratepayers whole and sending a clear message that cozying up to regulators won’t be tolerated.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, which on Thursday announced it had reached a settlement agreement with Recology, and will also file a lawsuit against the company in San Francisco Superior Court to make the agreement legally binding. The garbage rate overcharge revelation comes from an ongoing public integrity investigation conducted by the City Attorney’s Office and City Controller Ben Rosenfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recology’s rates went up in 2017 under the oversight of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who federal authorities accused of accepting bribes from the company at roughly the same time the increases occurred. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said Recology reported its incorrect accounting rates to Nuru in 2018, but Nuru did not follow up on the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With this legal action, we are making San Francisco ratepayers whole and sending a clear message that cozying up to regulators won’t be tolerated,” Herrera said in a statement. “Mohammed Nuru may have had his challenges keeping the streets clean, but he clearly excelled at cronyism, slush funds, and indifferent oversight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the settlement agreement, Recology will pay back some $95 million to ratepayers. It will also make a $7 million payment to the city, bumping its total tab to over $100 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average residential ratepayer, billed between July 2017 and June 2021, will get back about $190, Herrera said. Some 160,000 San Francisco ratepayers annually were affected by the improper rate increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recology will repay its current customers by Sept. 1, the company said in a statement. Payments to former customers will be made on a “rolling basis,” and the company will be required to perform outreach to locate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company will also lower its garbage rates by about 6.8% starting April 1, as part of the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ramifications of our work with the City Attorney on this investigation are not abstract — there are real financial consequences for San Franciscans,” Controller Rosenfield said in a statement. “It’s only right that our residents are repaid for the unjustified rates they were charged, but going forward we need stronger regulations that leave no room for systemic problems to occur.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recology will also be barred, under the agreement, from making any gifts to any city employees or any contribution to nonprofits if directed by a city employee, according to the city attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We value our customers, and making them whole for this mistake is our top priority,” Recology CEO Sal Coniglio said in a statement Thursday. “As soon as we learned of the mistake, we took immediate action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera’s office also alleges that Recology and its affiliated companies — Sunset Scavenger Company and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company — regularly gave gifts of money, meals and accommodations to city employees to influence decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also on Thursday, Supervisor Aaron Peskin announced plans to form a task force to determine next steps for Recology, which may include recommendations for the city to eventually take over the company and perform its own garbage collection. Peskin said he plans to officially start the process of forming the group — to be composed of labor leaders, public officials and other experts — at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all owe the city attorney a debt of gratitude for doing his job rooting out fraud and corruption,” Peskin said. “But it still leaves a big public policy question” of how to regulate Recology to prevent further rate fiascos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not like, ‘Uh shit, we just realized we had a problem in our billing system that was inadvertently charging people $100 million over four years.’ They knew it, and we now know they knew it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running Recology like a local utility could help the city better coordinate across departments to meet its zero-waste goals, Peskin added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s one thing you could say about Recology — their service is actually pretty darn good,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any changes to the relationship between Recology and the city may need to be approved by voters, but Peskin said he’s prepared to introduce a ballot measure next year should the task force recommend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the latest fallout in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855352/sf-mayor-breed-names-replacement-for-city-administrator-marred-by-scandal\">ever-expanding San Francisco public corruption scandal\u003c/a>, which now spans a civil investigation by the city attorney and a criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office. Four city department heads have either been removed or stepped down in the ensuing scandal, including Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And last year, San Francisco Mayor London Breed threw herself into the fray \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11801734/sf-mayor-breed-reveals-she-once-dated-mohammed-nuru-received-gift-from-him\">after publicly admitting\u003c/a> she had let Nuru — who she once dated — repair her old car as a gift, a job valued at about $5,600.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How It Happened\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>So how did Recology’s overcharges happen in the first place?[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"san-francisco-corruption\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garbage rates are set through a rate-making process originally established in the city’s 1932 charter. It gives the city the right to determine how much Recology can charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until his downfall, Nuru was the man tasked with recommending garbage rates to the city, but his recommendations were also garbage, the city essentially said on Thursday. Nuru was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798447/sf-public-works-director-mohammed-nuru-arrested-by-fbi\">arrested by federal authorities \u003c/a>in January 2020 on corruption charges. Among the many allegations against him, he was accused of accepting bribes from Recology through a baseball charity: Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to federal charging documents, Recology sent a $5,000 “holiday donation” on Dec. 5, 2016 to the foundation, whose purported goal was to provide equipment to youth baseball teams. But, in a scheme\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/lefty-odouls-charity-used-city-contractor-donations-to-pay-for-public-works-party/\"> first revealed by the San Francisco Examiner\u003c/a>, and later referenced by the U.S. attorney’s office, that money was allegedly spent throwing lavish holiday parties for San Francisco government officials under the direction of Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same month, Recology submitted its 2017 rate application increase to Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By May 2017, Nuru recommended raising San Francisco’s garbage rates by 14%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that the costs submitted by Recology and adjusted by The City accurately reflect the cost of providing refuse collection and disposal services to San Francisco ratepayers,” Nuru said in a statement that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That rate increase can be appealed, per the 1932 agreement with Recology, to a three-person Refuse Rate Board. Two of the members of the Refuse Rate Board are Harlan Kelly and Naomi Kelly, a husband and wife who were formerly the city’s Public Utilities Commission general manager and city administrator. Both Kelly’s stepped down from their roles after becoming embroiled in the city’s corruption scandal, with Harlan Kelly facing corruption-related charges by the U.S. attorney’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast forward to the 2017 holiday party for city officials, when Recology donated $15,000 to Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids, upping the number from 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2018, at roughly the same time of year, that donation increased to $20,000. That same year, Recology disclosed a “revenue error” to the city — an omission of revenues, that if used in the rate-making process would have led to a 7% increase, rather than 14% increase. But Nuru never corrected the error.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those garbage rates shocked San Franciscans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ ” Chris Faust, a middle school science teacher, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Jump-in-SF-garbage-bills-shocks-multiunit-11824832.php\">told the San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/a> at the time, after learning that his garbage bill had increased from $42.40 a month to $61.30. Other residents called new fees associated with the rate increase “ludicrous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The donations from Recology to the Lefty O’Doul’s charity were requested by Paul Fredrick Giusti, a former Recology executive, \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/san-francisco-trash-company-executive-charged-bribing-company-s-chief-san-francisco\">the U.S. attorney’s office alleged\u003c/a> in November last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal authorities ultimately charged Giusti with laundering $1 million in bribes to nonprofits at the behest of Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an appalling case for our residents and businesses who have been overpaying their trash rates for years,” Mayor Breed said in a statement Thursday. “The good news is that thanks to the City Attorney, they will be getting that money back now. Not only will this make a difference for people who are struggling in this moment, but also it sends a message to everyone — from the corporations and city contractors doing business with the City to the individuals working on the City’s behalf — that we will hold everyone accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bay City News contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since 2017, San Francisco’s garbage company, Recology, has overcharged ratepayers to the tune of $94.5 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now they’re going to pay it back — and then some.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s according to the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, which on Thursday announced it had reached a settlement agreement with Recology, and will also file a lawsuit against the company in San Francisco Superior Court to make the agreement legally binding. The garbage rate overcharge revelation comes from an ongoing public integrity investigation conducted by the City Attorney’s Office and City Controller Ben Rosenfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recology’s rates went up in 2017 under the oversight of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who federal authorities accused of accepting bribes from the company at roughly the same time the increases occurred. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said Recology reported its incorrect accounting rates to Nuru in 2018, but Nuru did not follow up on the report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With this legal action, we are making San Francisco ratepayers whole and sending a clear message that cozying up to regulators won’t be tolerated,” Herrera said in a statement. “Mohammed Nuru may have had his challenges keeping the streets clean, but he clearly excelled at cronyism, slush funds, and indifferent oversight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the settlement agreement, Recology will pay back some $95 million to ratepayers. It will also make a $7 million payment to the city, bumping its total tab to over $100 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The average residential ratepayer, billed between July 2017 and June 2021, will get back about $190, Herrera said. Some 160,000 San Francisco ratepayers annually were affected by the improper rate increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recology will repay its current customers by Sept. 1, the company said in a statement. Payments to former customers will be made on a “rolling basis,” and the company will be required to perform outreach to locate them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company will also lower its garbage rates by about 6.8% starting April 1, as part of the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ramifications of our work with the City Attorney on this investigation are not abstract — there are real financial consequences for San Franciscans,” Controller Rosenfield said in a statement. “It’s only right that our residents are repaid for the unjustified rates they were charged, but going forward we need stronger regulations that leave no room for systemic problems to occur.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recology will also be barred, under the agreement, from making any gifts to any city employees or any contribution to nonprofits if directed by a city employee, according to the city attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We value our customers, and making them whole for this mistake is our top priority,” Recology CEO Sal Coniglio said in a statement Thursday. “As soon as we learned of the mistake, we took immediate action.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Herrera’s office also alleges that Recology and its affiliated companies — Sunset Scavenger Company and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company — regularly gave gifts of money, meals and accommodations to city employees to influence decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also on Thursday, Supervisor Aaron Peskin announced plans to form a task force to determine next steps for Recology, which may include recommendations for the city to eventually take over the company and perform its own garbage collection. Peskin said he plans to officially start the process of forming the group — to be composed of labor leaders, public officials and other experts — at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all owe the city attorney a debt of gratitude for doing his job rooting out fraud and corruption,” Peskin said. “But it still leaves a big public policy question” of how to regulate Recology to prevent further rate fiascos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not like, ‘Uh shit, we just realized we had a problem in our billing system that was inadvertently charging people $100 million over four years.’ They knew it, and we now know they knew it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Running Recology like a local utility could help the city better coordinate across departments to meet its zero-waste goals, Peskin added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s one thing you could say about Recology — their service is actually pretty darn good,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Any changes to the relationship between Recology and the city may need to be approved by voters, but Peskin said he’s prepared to introduce a ballot measure next year should the task force recommend it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is the latest fallout in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11855352/sf-mayor-breed-names-replacement-for-city-administrator-marred-by-scandal\">ever-expanding San Francisco public corruption scandal\u003c/a>, which now spans a civil investigation by the city attorney and a criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office. Four city department heads have either been removed or stepped down in the ensuing scandal, including Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And last year, San Francisco Mayor London Breed threw herself into the fray \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11801734/sf-mayor-breed-reveals-she-once-dated-mohammed-nuru-received-gift-from-him\">after publicly admitting\u003c/a> she had let Nuru — who she once dated — repair her old car as a gift, a job valued at about $5,600.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How It Happened\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>So how did Recology’s overcharges happen in the first place?\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garbage rates are set through a rate-making process originally established in the city’s 1932 charter. It gives the city the right to determine how much Recology can charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until his downfall, Nuru was the man tasked with recommending garbage rates to the city, but his recommendations were also garbage, the city essentially said on Thursday. Nuru was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798447/sf-public-works-director-mohammed-nuru-arrested-by-fbi\">arrested by federal authorities \u003c/a>in January 2020 on corruption charges. Among the many allegations against him, he was accused of accepting bribes from Recology through a baseball charity: Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to federal charging documents, Recology sent a $5,000 “holiday donation” on Dec. 5, 2016 to the foundation, whose purported goal was to provide equipment to youth baseball teams. But, in a scheme\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/lefty-odouls-charity-used-city-contractor-donations-to-pay-for-public-works-party/\"> first revealed by the San Francisco Examiner\u003c/a>, and later referenced by the U.S. attorney’s office, that money was allegedly spent throwing lavish holiday parties for San Francisco government officials under the direction of Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That same month, Recology submitted its 2017 rate application increase to Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By May 2017, Nuru recommended raising San Francisco’s garbage rates by 14%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that the costs submitted by Recology and adjusted by The City accurately reflect the cost of providing refuse collection and disposal services to San Francisco ratepayers,” Nuru said in a statement that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That rate increase can be appealed, per the 1932 agreement with Recology, to a three-person Refuse Rate Board. Two of the members of the Refuse Rate Board are Harlan Kelly and Naomi Kelly, a husband and wife who were formerly the city’s Public Utilities Commission general manager and city administrator. Both Kelly’s stepped down from their roles after becoming embroiled in the city’s corruption scandal, with Harlan Kelly facing corruption-related charges by the U.S. attorney’s office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fast forward to the 2017 holiday party for city officials, when Recology donated $15,000 to Lefty O’Doul’s Foundation for Kids, upping the number from 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By 2018, at roughly the same time of year, that donation increased to $20,000. That same year, Recology disclosed a “revenue error” to the city — an omission of revenues, that if used in the rate-making process would have led to a 7% increase, rather than 14% increase. But Nuru never corrected the error.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those garbage rates shocked San Franciscans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, my gosh!’ ” Chris Faust, a middle school science teacher, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Jump-in-SF-garbage-bills-shocks-multiunit-11824832.php\">told the San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/a> at the time, after learning that his garbage bill had increased from $42.40 a month to $61.30. Other residents called new fees associated with the rate increase “ludicrous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The donations from Recology to the Lefty O’Doul’s charity were requested by Paul Fredrick Giusti, a former Recology executive, \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/san-francisco-trash-company-executive-charged-bribing-company-s-chief-san-francisco\">the U.S. attorney’s office alleged\u003c/a> in November last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal authorities ultimately charged Giusti with laundering $1 million in bribes to nonprofits at the behest of Nuru.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an appalling case for our residents and businesses who have been overpaying their trash rates for years,” Mayor Breed said in a statement Thursday. “The good news is that thanks to the City Attorney, they will be getting that money back now. Not only will this make a difference for people who are struggling in this moment, but also it sends a message to everyone — from the corporations and city contractors doing business with the City to the individuals working on the City’s behalf — that we will hold everyone accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
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"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
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