Black students pay the price in fallout from City Hall scandal

After The Standard and the San Francisco Chronicle uncovered evidence of misspending and financial mismanagement at the initiative, Sheryl Davis — former head of the Human Rights Commission and a key decision-maker at Dream Keeper — resigned, and the city paused new grants pending a review by budget officials. Dream Keeper recipients amid multi-year contracts have continued to receive payments, according to the mayor’s office. But some fear that won’t last.

The uncertainty is rippling through the Black community. 

In addition to counseling from Get Through College, Bolds receives stipends to help with bills. After those stipends began to dry up, she took on all the extra work she could find — as a valet, at the student union, and at the student game room — often working from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. before attending classes.

She is frustrated that her academics might suffer.

“What you work so hard for is being jeopardized for something that you have nothing to do with,” Bolds said.

At Hamilton Recreation Center on Wednesday, Mawuli Tugbenyoh, acting director of the Human Rights Commission, faced harsh questioning from the Black community. Grier was one of them. His organization, the SF Recovery Theatre, was among dozens of Dream Keeper recipients. Now his annual Black History Month celebration at the San Francisco Jazz Center is at risk, he said. 

“All of a sudden they pull the chair out from under you,” Grier told The Standard. “At what point do we say this portion of the funds is not under investigation and we can release it?”

The palpable frustration over Dream Keeper Initiative funding bubbled over Thursday before members of the Board of Supervisors’ Government Audit and Oversight Committee. In front of an audience of Black community members in the City Hall chambers, Supervisor Dean Preston pushed Tugbenyoh to communicate a timeline as to when the funding would be released.

“It feels like there’s a lack of urgency on that,” Preston said. “People are literally going to lay off staff, or have, because they don’t have these funds.”

Tugbenyoh shot back, “I know it’s very unsatisfying for me to stand here and say there’s not a timeline,” adding, “I’m losing sleep over getting this money out.” 

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin invited Breed and Davis to attend the hearing to hear community concerns. Davis’ attorney did not respond to Peskin’s request, the board president said. Breed declined to attend through a public letter written by her chief of staff, Sean Elsbernd.