The Facts

A committee including Mayor Daniel Lurie, the City Attorney, and the Controller has selected Alexandra Shepard to be San Francisco's first-ever inspector general, according to Gabe Greschler at The Standard. Shepard is an assistant U.S. attorney who helped prosecute former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and send him to prison for seven years for taking over $260,000 in bribes from contractors.

The Context

The position of Inspector General was created by November 2024's Proposition C, which passed with over 60% voter support. As inspector general, Shepard will have powerful investigative tools, including the authority to seek search warrants, review city contracting for abuse, and investigate whistleblower complaints.

The inspector general will operate under the Controller's Office—the city's chief financial watchdog—and will report publicly twice a year. Shepard, a Stanford Law graduate, has previously advised Ukraine on anti-corruption issues for the U.S. Department of Justice.

The GrowSF Take

While GrowSF opposed Proposition C as duplicative of existing oversight authority, the measure passed with strong voter support. With Shepard's appointment, we hope to be proven wrong, and that she shows that this new position will do better at rooting out corruption than existing mechanisms.

Shepard's track record prosecuting the Nuru case demonstrates she has exactly the skills needed to tackle fraud and abuse in city contracting. Her appointment shows city leaders selecting someone with proven expertise rather than a political insider, which gives this new office the best chance to succeed.