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San Francisco has reached a $1.7 million civil settlement with a major figure in the ongoing public corruption scandal, long-time permit expediter and contractor Walter Wong.
Wong, 70, agreed to plead guilty last June and has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors conducting a widescale probe into bribery and influence peddling that has implicated several top officials and contractors. Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get the latest breaking news and local stories.
Under the settlement, Wong will pay $317,650 in penalties and fees for ethics violations along with paying back $1.45 million for obtaining contracts and grants through “non-competitive processes.”
Permit Expeditor Walter Wong to Repay $1.45 Million to San Francisco to Settle Corruption Lawsuit
A longtime contractor with the city of San Francisco and a well-known consultant known to be able to grease the wheels of city departments to get notoriously slow permit processes to magically speed up is going to be repaying over $1 million in contract awards to the city.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who ll likely soon be taking a job as general manager of the Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), announced Thursday that Walter Wong has agreed to settle a suit from the city for $1.45 million. In a news release, Herrera s office called the settlement a capstone to the public integrity investigation that has been ongoing of Wong s dealings at the city.
S.F. Public Works finance official retires while $100 million garbage scandal keeps rolling on
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A San Francisco Department of Public Works financial executive has retired while investigations continue into a $100 million overcharging scandal that affected local residents’ bills from garbage collector Recology.Paul Chinn / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
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A San Francisco Department of Public Works financial executive has retired while investigations continue into a $100 million overcharging scandal that affected local residents’ garbage bills. Recology, which collects the city’s garbage, is also tied up in a federal probe alleging that former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru (left) accepted bribes from the company in exchange for allowing it to raise rates.Jeff Chiu / Associated Press 2020Show MoreShow Less
In March, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced a $100 million settlement with Recology over customer overbilling. The company says was due to an error in how it accounted for its revenues.
Two former top officials of that firm, however, are now charged criminally in an ongoing federal public corruption case. The allegations are that both former Recology officials were involved in bribing now ousted San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.
But records show it was one of those two officials, John Porter, who admitted to the overcharging at a meeting with city officials in December 2018.
Documents show that meeting came after Dawson herself raised questions just weeks earlier about how the company was factoring its revenues versus its expenses – a ratio that is key in determining rate hikes.
A year after becoming the first non-male identified transgender person elected to the body that oversees the San Francisco Democratic Party, Honey Mahogany is now aiming to become its first transgender chair and first drag queen to lead the local party. If Mahogany is elected, it is believed she would also be the first Black person to ever chair the local party.
Mahogany, who also identifies as queer and nonbinary, is set to officially announce her candidacy for the party post at noon Thursday, April 29, at the corner of Turk and Taylor streets. It is the site of the Compton s Cafeteria riot in August 1966, the first documented trans uprising in American history.