Ex-San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner accused of using taxpayer funds for lavish trips, son's tuition

A former San Francisco city executive has been accused of diverting millions of taxpayer dollars intended for the black community for personal gain, such as funding lavish trips, concerts, and her son's graduate school tuition.

Sheryl Davis, 57, the city's former Human Rights Commissioner (HRC), was allegedly involved in a scheme that included awarding city contracts to her romantic partner, who was in charge of a nonprofit that she used to lead, and while Davis remained tied to its finances. Davis was arrested on 13 felony counts on Monday, the San Francisco District Attorney's Office announced.

Davis allegedly directed more than $4.5 million in Dream Keeper funds to Collective Impact, a San Francisco-based nonprofit headed by her romantic partner, James Spingola, at the time. Davis formerly managed the Dream Keeper Initiative, a controversial 2020 city program that allocated $120 million to the city's black community by diverting funds from law enforcement. She previously served as the executive director of Collective Impact before accepting her city position in 2019, where she helped determine how Dream Keeper funds were spent.

According to the criminal complaint, Davis remained a signatory on the nonprofit's bank account. She helped steer its spending while sharing finances with Spingola, effectively creating a conflict of interest in government contract claims. Davis then allegedly used those funds for personal expenses, such as first-class flights, a trip to Martha's Vineyard, and concerts.

"Ms. Davis was funneling City money to Collective Impact, while also steering how Collective Impact spent its funds, both for HRC use and her own personal benefit," the SF District Attorney's Office said in a press release. "Her financial interest was not only that her personal and home life, including her rent, were partially fuded by Mr. Spingola's Collective Impact salary - a fact she never disclosed - but also that when Ms. Davis directed City money to Collective Impact, she had a stake in the outcome because Collective Impact's funds were in part under her control and she could use them for HRC purposes or her own personal benefit."

Additionally, the complaint alleges that Davis awarded the Homeless Children's Network $3.5 million in city funds, a nonprofit that then paid her son nearly $140,000 through a bank account she jointly controlled. The funds were used to pay the son's graduate school tuition, according to the Daily Caller.

Davis is also accused of coordinating the sale of a book to a public library for personal profit, according to the complaint.

Davis has been charged by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office with 13 felony counts of having a financial conflict of interest in a government contract. She also faces additional felony counts of perjury and misappropriation of public funds, as well as two misdemeanor ethics-related violations.

Spingola, 65, faces four felony counts of aiding and abetting Davis' conflict-of-interest in city contracts. Both Davis and Spingola have been released from custody pending further court proceedings.

"We have to hold government actors accountable, certainly when they are abusing the trust of San Franciscans, when they are abusing taxpayer dollars, and in this case using funds that are supposed to be targeted towards the black community...and that money was lost," SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday, according to National Review.