Information via email from SF Standard — G.G.
Alex Shepard, is a former assistant U.S. attorney who has a history of busting major corruption cases, started this month as the city’s inspector general, where she’ll investigate fraud, waste, and abuse in the $16 billion budget. She is well known investigating big corruption cases in San Francisco. She establishing a new whistleblower portal and invites the people to report problems they see anonymously.
Shepard’s new role was created through passage of Prop C in 2024.
Power Play asked about the powers she wields and how she intends to use them. “There’s subpoena power available to the controller’s office, but Prop. C extended it to include not just people in the city [and] records but anyone who has a contract with the city or a grant agreement. And I have search-warrant power, which, as a former prosecutor, I’m really familiar with. I view the IG as kind of a force multiplier. I don’t have a lane. I can really look at anything.”
There are two kinds of cases she wants to pursue:
1. She wants to take up big cases which may have an outsize deterrent value, such as the Mohammed Nuru case,
2. She also wants to look into waste in government spending.
Alex Shepard’s message to potential whistleblowers is that they can now report to an anonymous portal without fear of retribution.
If you see something wrong, you should report it to the whistleblower portal. Alex is aware that people see things and are pressured into joining in on activities they know are wrong to keep their jobs. They should no longer feel threatened because now they can report anonymously on what they observe that they feel need to be investigated. Sunshine requests may be helpful to get the ball rolling as well.