SF Mayor’s Lieutenant Steered Contract to Firm With Ties to Daniel Lurie
San Francisco Standard reports that records show the mayor’s office chose the software company OpenGov over a cheaper vendor that a majority of city staff preferred, and records show Ned Segal, one of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s highest-ranking deputies unilaterally steered a lucrative contract to the tech company with longstanding ties to the mayor and his previous nonprofit.
Joan Harrington, a former director and current fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said the financial ties between OpenGov and Lurie’s former nonprofit — combined with a contracting process that skirted norms — still gives off “an appearance of impropriety.”
“San Francisco is a small city and they may have personal relationships by crossing paths over the years,” Harrington said. “But there are facts here that would maybe suggest this wasn’t the best decision for the city.”
Joan Harrington, fellow, quoted by The San Francisco Standard.