Disgraced SF human rights chief collects city retirement benefits as corruption case moves through courts

NY Post ^ | 4/08/26 | Annie Gaus

[Libloather]

A former San Francisco human rights boss accused of squandering city funds to pay for personal projects and her son’s tuition is still collecting a taxpayer-backed check as she faces a battery of criminal charges in court.

Sheryl Davis — 57-year-old former head of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission who resigned in September 2024 after she was accused of conflicts of interest — is receiving a retirement benefit of $4,952.23 per month, according to the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement system.

Davis was hired in 2018 to lead the troubled Human Rights Commission and earned close to $340,000 in total comp in her final full year of employment.

She left following revelations that she steered contracts toward Collective Impact, a nonprofit run by her live-in partner James Spingola that raked in $8.5 million through the Dream Keeper Initiative, a flagship city program intended to help San Francisco’s black communities after the George Floyd police murder in Minneapolis in 2020.

A subsequent city audit and ethics probe alleged that Davis — as head of the Human Rights Commission and later the Dream Keeper Initiative — burned taxpayer dollars in “frivolous” and “unethical” ways and skimmed funds for personal use.

Prosecutors have accused Davis of using Collective Impact as a “slush fund” to help pay for parties and personal projects — such a premium flight upgrades, wine tastings, concerts, tables and admissions at VIP events in Beverly Hills, Martha’s Vineyard and New York City, and “multiple PR firms” to promote her children’s book, “Free to Sing,” and personal website.

An audit published in 2025 by the Controller’s Office detailed millions in “misused” city funds, including more than $685,000 on sports tickets, flight upgrades, hotels and events, $350,000 on restaurant buyouts and catering, and $80,000 for a house rental and other expenses in...

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; Education; History
KEYWORDS: anniegaus; california; corrupticrats; corruption; courts; demagogicparty; newyorkpost; retirement; sanfrancisco; sheryldavis; slushfund

[Libloather]

...Martha’s Vineyard.

Lock 'er up.

[House Atreides]

Jeez, she was hired sometime in 2018 and resigned in September 2024 and is then awarded a pension of almost $5,000 a month? Ain’t life grand if you’re a government employee.