City Attorney Investigating Board for Illegal Leak
PLUS: Algebra Returns
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of March 29, 2026:
- City Attorney Investigating Board for Illegal Leak
- Algebra Returns
- Fielder on Medical Leave for Mental Health
- Dream Keeper Chief Faces Felonies
- Deficit Shrinks, Cuts Loom
- John Elberling, a Political Force, Dies at 79
- Police Watchdog Gets Review
Election Countdown
59 days until the June 2 SF Primary Election — the one that decides whether our commonsense Board majority survives. Read the GrowSF Voter Guide for the June election.
GrowSF endorses Alan Wong in District 4, Stephen Sherrill in District 2, and Phil Kim for Board of Education. This week we also endorsed Scott Wiener for Congress, and Matt Mahan for Governor.
On the local ballot measures, GrowSF endorses Yes on A, Yes on B, Yes on C, and No on D. Stay tuned for more!
Read our full endorsement rationale in the GrowSF Voter Guide.
City Attorney Investigating Board for Illegal Leak
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
City Attorney David Chiu is investigating the Board of Supervisors to determine who leaked a confidential legal brief. According to his letter dated February 13 reported by Josh Koehn, City Attorney David Chiu warned that whoever leaked the confidential legal memo could face investigations, discipline, or removal from office.
The leak appears to be the same one behind Mission Local’s Feb. 10 story on the legal risks surrounding a proposed sobering center. The letter was first disclosed by Lee Edwards on twitter, who obtained it via a public records request.
Only two Supervisors voted against the sobering center: Jackie Fielder and Connie Chan. Since the City Attorney’s memo on the legal consequences, one of Jackie Fielder’s staff has resigned and Fielder has gone on mental health leave after being briefly hospitalized. Chan’s office has not experienced similar disruption. Fielders office has denied leaking the legal memo, and Chan’s office has not commented on the leak.
The Context
San Francisco’s ethics code bars city officers and employees from knowingly disclosing confidential or privileged information. A 2009 City Attorney memo laid out the same principle and said unauthorized disclosure of confidential legal advice can lead to administrative, civil, or criminal penalties and removal for official misconduct under Charter Section 15.105.
The leak explicitly does not fall under “whistleblower” rules that allow insiders to leak information. The memo in question was an attorney-client privileged legal document, and the entire Board would have needed to vote on it in order to disclose it and break privilege. Breaking privilege makes the city’s internal legal reasoning both discoverable and admissable in any future lawsuits the city may face.
The GrowSF Take
Leaking privileged legal advice is not transparency, and it is irresponsible. If an elected official wants to oppose a policy, they are obligated to make the case in public and keep sensitive legal memos privileged. We hope whoever leaked it is held responsible and removed from office.
Algebra Returns
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
SFUSD’s Board of Education approved a revised math policy on March 24, 2026, by a 4-3 vote, restoring Algebra I to all middle and K-8 schools starting in the coming school year. Students can elect to take just Algebra 1 or both standard 8th grade math and Algebra 1 at the same time. Alice Fong Yu and Hoover will pilot an accelerated pathway that compresses 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math into just 6th and 7th grades.
After a 12-year hiatus, the board finally returned SFUSD to sanity.
The Context
SFUSD removed Algebra I from middle school in 2014 as part of a misguided effort that sought to achieve equity by slowing everyone down to the same pathway. A Stanford study later found AP math participation immediately dropped 15%, and large racial gaps in advanced math course-taking remained. By all accounts, this “equity-driven” experiment achieved the very opposite of its goals.
San Franciscans were clear about wanting a reset: 81.75% of voters backed Proposition G in March 2024, urging the district to restore eighth-grade algebra.
The GrowSF Take
Restoring Algebra is the right call, but the 4-3 margin is a reminder that this progress is still politically fragile.
And it could get fragile again fast. Board President Phil Kim is on the June 2, 2026 ballot, and if he loses, a future board could easily backslide on algebra, acceleration, and academic standards. Families should treat this as progress worth defending, not a fight that is over.
Fielder on Medical Leave for Mental Health
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder said she is taking medical leave while navigating a mental health condition. This announcement follows news last week that Fielder had been hospitalized for “an acute personal health crisis” and that she would resign.
The Context
Fielder was elected in November 2024. Since taking office, she has positioned herself as a fierce and unapologetic critic of the Lurie administration. She has used her platform to engage in targeted harassment of her critics outside of City Hall.
The backdrop of her mental health leave is a leak probe and resignation talk. GrowSF previously reported sources who believed a confidential City Attorney memo may have been leaked from Fielder’s office. Today, Fielder’s office denied leaking the legal memo.
Under a City Attorney guidance memo and the city’s ethics penalty rules, unauthorized disclosure of privileged information can carry civil fines, misdemeanor penalties, and removal from office.
The GrowSF Take
We hope Fielder recovers, and we appreciate the transparency about her health. If her leave lasts longer than three months, then we should have a conversation about whether she should step down to ensure her district gets the representation it deserves, but she deserves the chance to recover and return to work.
And if the City Attorney’s investigation shows that she leaked the legal memo, she should resign.
Dream Keeper Chief Faces Felonies
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
The District Attorney’s Office charged a former City Hall Official, Sheryl Davis, on March 30 with 13 felony conflict-of-interest counts, felony misappropriation of public funds, three felony perjury counts, and two misdemeanor ethics charges. Former Collective Impact chief James Spingola was charged with four felonies. Prosecutors said the 18-month case involved more than 50 search warrants. The pair were booked Monday morning, according to St. John Barned-Smith and Michael Barba at the Chronicle.
The Context
Davis was the executive director of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission. The Dream Keeper Initiative, which was created in 2021 to funnell $60 million per year into San Francisco’s Black community, has been racked with scandal.
A 2025 city audit found more than $4 million in misuse and rule-breaking at the Human Rights Commission, and the Ethics Commission found probable cause on 31 counts tied to gifts, conflicts, and disclosure failures.
The GrowSF Take
These charges are not just about one official. They are an indictment of a City Hall culture that let a fast-growing program led by friends of the powerful move millions of taxpayer without basic controls. As we argued in our September 2025 audit write-up, San Francisco needs real-time spending oversight, enforced disclosures, and clear executive accountability.
Deficit Shrinks, Cuts Loom
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
San Francisco’s March 31 budget update says the city’s projected two-year General Fund shortfall for FY 2026-27 and FY 2027-28 fell to $642.8 million, down $293.8 million from December, with stronger hotel, sales, transfer, and business tax collections, higher hospital revenue, and lower pension costs helping the outlook.
Lucy Hodgman at the San Francisco Chronicle reports that despite the improvement, City Hall is still preparing cuts and possible layoffs before the June 1 budget deadline.
The Context
Mayor Lurie’s budget proposal last year sought to close an $817.5 million deficit, eliminate more than 1,400 positions, mostly vacant, and set aside $400 million in reserve. As we wrote in our budget overview, San Francisco’s government is enormous even by national standards.
The GrowSF Take
A smaller deficit is welcome, but it does not change the core lesson: San Francisco’s problem is not just revenue volatility. It is a city government that has grown faster than results. Protect core services, demand measurable outcomes from contractors and departments, and keep cutting low-value bureaucracy.
John Elberling, a Political Force, Dies at 79
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
John Elberling, the longtime head of TODCO, died of leukemia at 79 on April 2 after decades as one of San Francisco’s most influential land-use figures, J.K. Dineen at The Chronicle reports. TODCO operates eight South of Market buildings that house more than 1,000 families, but The Chronicle reports the group stopped building in the early 2000s. Elberling instead became a major political force, using ballot measures, lawsuits, and negotiations to fight projects he opposed.
The Context
Elberling’s legacy is inseparable from San Francisco’s housing shortage. A 2021 Chronicle profile described him as the figure many YIMBYs saw as the face of San Francisco’s anti-housing politics. That same reporting said critics accused him of using money generated by refinancing federally subsidized buildings to bankroll ballot measures and housing fights. GrowSF’s campaign to support 469 Stevenson came after he helped rally opposition to a nearly 500-home tower on a parking lot near Market Street, a fight that drew state scrutiny. California’s first Housing Policy and Practice Review later said San Francisco is on track to miss its 82,000-home target by 2031 and must reduce delay, discretion, and political obstruction.
The GrowSF Take
That record should be described plainly. Elberling managed an existing subsidized housing portfolio, but he did not keep adding homes as San Francisco became less affordable. Worse, he became one of the city’s most effective anti-housing operators, helping block new development and reinforcing the scarcity that drives up costs. San Francisco needs a very different model: keep vulnerable residents housed, approve far more homes, and stop empowering people who treat new housing as a threat.
Police Watchdog Gets Review
Published April 3, 2026
The Facts
San Francisco’s Police Commission is set to evaluate Department of Police Accountability director Paul Henderson after a March 17 lawsuit by former policy director Janelle Caywood alleged retaliation, racism, and misspent funds. Eleni Balakrishnan at Mission Local reported that general evaluations of either the DPA director or police chief appear to be extremely rare, and the last ones came amid controversy nearly a decade ago.
The Context
The DPA is a powerful oversight body: Charter Section 4.136 gives it authority to investigate misconduct complaints and push police discipline, while the department’s mission includes audits and policy recommendations for SFPD. Henderson also leads an agency that has posted measurable output: the 2024 DPA annual report says it closed 828 cases last year. But good output does not replace basic management oversight.
The GrowSF Take
A police watchdog should be independent, but it should not be exempt from routine review. If San Francisco only evaluates top public-safety leaders after lawsuits or internal revolt, that is a governance failure. The city should require regular performance reviews and keep advancing commission reform so accountability is predictable, not crisis-driven.
Paid for by GrowSF Voter Guide. Committee Top Funder:
Nick Josefowitz
Not authorized by a candidate or a committee controlled by a candidate. Financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org.