San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday admits she previously dated Mohammed Nuru 20 years ago.
Nuru, who earlier this week resigned from his post as San Francisco Public Works Director, is at the center of a public corruption investigation.
"The last couple weeks have been difficult for our City," Breed wrote in a tweet. "We must continue to hold ourselves accountable and work to restore the public's trust. That is why I want to be transparent and share this information directly with the public."
Breed in her tweet linked to a Medium.com post where she outlines her relationship with Nuru.
Several supervisors on Friday commented on Breed's past relationship with Nuru. The board president said Breed made a mistake and is owning up to it, but another supervisor said the mayor broke an ethics law and should step down.
"I consider many legislative aides my friend, I would never think it is acceptable to ask them to spend $6,000 to fix my car," Supervisor Hillary Ronen said.
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Ronen is referring to Breed disclosing she recently received a gift from Nuru. The mayor said her 18-year-old car broke down and Nuru took it to a private mechanic who fixed it up. Nuru also helped her get a rental car. Breed said the value of those favors was about $5,600.
Ronen said Breed broke an ethics law by accepting a gift from her direct subordinate -- and even worse, one who is now facing federal charges of corruption and lying to the FBI.
"I am just asking her to do the right thing and resign," Ronen said.
Breed said she did nothing wrong because the $5,600 help with her car is not a gift that she had to report under the city's ethics laws.
Friday's announcement comes days after City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued investigative subpoenas seeking records of contributions by major companies doing business with the city. The subpoenas went out to five private companies and three San Francisco non-profits, including one set up by Nick Bovis, a businessman and key figure in the corruption scandal surrounding the city Department of Public Works.
Nuru has been charged federally with corruption and lying to the FBI. Bovis is charged with attempting to give a $5,000 bribe an airport commissioner to obtain a lucrative airport concession lease.
Federal authorities allege Bovis got inside information from Nuru to help him bid on a contract to provide portable public bathrooms. The city’s corruption probe identified a $171,000 DPW contract with SMTM Technology LLC, a firm tied to Bovis.
Last week, the city terminated that contract for not meeting deadlines and no payments were made under it, according to the City Attorney’s office. The city is also probing other city contracts based on descriptions provided of alleged participants in the federal complaint.
More coverage of the public corruption probe can be found here.
