After promoting her former pot-selling nurse friend to a six-figure gig, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is under fire for “eroding.”[ing] public trust”.
“Nepotism in government is a form of corruption.”
For Bay Area residents who thought the 2022 retirement of then-DA Chesa Boudin would bring positive change, the recent allegations against Jenkins' office likely dispelled any lingering hopes. New concerns arose when a quiet appointment became public knowledge when a former high school teammate with questionable qualifications was named chief of staff with a salary of nearly $300,000.
“He was given the position because he knew the prosecutor,” a former Victim Services employee he said the San Francisco Standard regarding the March 2024 appointment of Monifa Willis, who previously led that division. “Things fell through the cracks all the time because she was too busy working two jobs. I've seen her [teaching online] classes during working hours”.
After Jenkins was appointed to replace Boudin by San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) in July 2022, the new DA tapped Willis for the position in the victim services division. Meanwhile, the part-time UCSF nursing professor, who was once the CEO of a marijuana company, continued to contribute $100,000 to her teaching work despite rules prohibiting outside interference.
“No employee may engage in outside activities (regardless of whether the activity is compensable) that would cause the employee to be absent from their duties on a regular basis or otherwise require a demonstrable time commitment that interferes with the employee's performance of his municipal duties,” the DA's office policy states.
Reacting to reports of Jenkins appointing her friend to the post, with whom Venmo's public accounts revealed she had spent social time since at least 2021, San Francisco attorney and candidate for U.S. Attorney Ryan Khojasteh, who previously worked in Boudin's office, told the Standard, “Nepotism erodes public trust. As St. Franciscans, we deserve better from the district attorney's office.”
“My administration will not tolerate such abuses of office: assignments will be based on merit, experience and competence,” he said.
Khojasteh also released a statement that read in part: “Nepotism in government is a form of corruption. Engaging in nepotism at the highest levels of the District Attorney's office is unacceptable. I am calling on Ms. Willis to resign immediately his position as chief of staff and that the district attorney publicly apologize to the people of San Francisco for this abuse of office.”
An impressive revelation that @BrookeJenkinsSF hired her personal friend with no legal experience to be chief of staff @SFDAOfficeat the same time he has another job.
This is bad management at its finest. Monifa Willis must resign immediately. My full statement below: pic.twitter.com/Q6O0cdHzD9
— Ryan Khojasteh (@ryankhoj) July 26, 2024
His statement included a description of the role as a challenge to Willis' qualifications that said in part, the chief of staff “oversees, develops and delegates responsibility for the essential processes of the preeminent law enforcement agency of the city, including the areas of policy and legislation, staffing, communications, data and research, victim services, community engagement, front desk operations and all large-scale projects/changes and implementations affecting the “office”.
“You have to have a basic understanding of the criminal justice system, and you don't get that as a victim services advocate,” a former district attorney administrator told the Standard.
In her own statement on the appointment, Jenkins defended the selection of her former athletics teammate, saying: “I am proud to have Monifa Willis as my chief of staff. I have had the honor and privilege of I've known Monifa for years and I'm excited to work with her in this capacity.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail highlighted Another scandal involving the Division of Victim Services after former employee Jovan Thomas filed a wrongful termination lawsuit after an email was sent to all employees that read, “What color of panties”.
He has since claimed the message was intended for a grieving friend as a means of cheering him up, but is accused of directing the question to Jenkins, who Thomas alleges made “false statements, fraudulent, malicious and humiliating” about him in the press.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you're sick of letting radical tech execs, bogus fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals, and the lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news, consider donating to BPR to help us fight back them. Now is the time. The truth has never been more critical!
Success! Thanks for donating. Please share BPR content to help fight lies.
We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.
English 
Español de Venezuela