Should S.F. supervisors be allowed to solicit more funds, as a treat?

"Mandelman's ordinance would allow supervisors to ask for "behested payments" - donations from people or organizations that have contracts with the city - if they obtain permission from the other supervisors. City supervisors say the current rules are overly restrictive and hamper their ability to do their jobs. In 2021, for example, Ingleside Presbyterian, a church that provides food and programs for children and elders, needed to renovate its kitchen."

"The concern behind Prop. E, and other reforms to behested payments, was corruption. Mohammed Nuru, the former director of Public Works, often asked companies that had business with his department for donations. For instance, from 2014 to 2019, he had the waste company Recology make donations to an account at a local nonprofit, the Parks Alliance, that Nuru controlled. Nuru, who set garbage rates that impact Recology's bottom line, then used the donations for parties for his staff."

A proposed ordinance from Supervisor Rafael Mandelman would permit supervisors to request behested payments—donations from people or organizations with city contracts—after obtaining approval from fellow supervisors. Current restrictions, enacted after Prop. E in 2022, bar supervisors from soliciting such donations and have been described as overly restrictive by city supervisors. An example cited a 2021 crane loan to Ingleside Presbyterian for a kitchen flue that would now be prohibited because the company had city contracts. Prop. E and related reforms arose from corruption cases, notably Mohammed Nuru’s solicitation of donations from companies doing business with his department.

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