Woke DA is dragged into toxic nepotism fight as she’s accused of hiring her marijuana selling friend on $300,000 salary with no qualification

Controversial San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has been accused of nepotism after she hired an old friend with no legal qualifications to run her office at an inflated salary.

Nursing professor Monifa Willis was offered the $300,000 job in March, two years after Jenkins tapped her to lead the department’s Victim Services division.

The two were on the same track team in high school and have gone to restaurants, football games and waxing salons together over the past three years, according to their Venmo accounts.

Jenkins did not advertise for the position, allowing the former marijuana dealer to keep her part-time, $100,000 teaching job at UCSF despite rules prohibiting jobs that could interfere with the office’s operations.

“Nepotism undermines public trust,” said Ryan Khojasteh, who challenged Jenkins for her job. “As residents of San Francisco, we deserve better from our District Attorney’s Office.”

Willis, a nursing professor and former CEO of a marijuana company, was allowed to keep her $100,000-a-year part-time nursing job at UCSF

Whistleblowers told the SF standard that Willis’s duties were already damaging to the department when she was responsible for Victim Support.

“Things kept falling through the cracks because she was too busy working two jobs,” said a former employee. “I’ve seen her teach (online) classes during work hours.

“She got this position because she knew the prosecutor.”

And a former senior manager in the office said legal qualifications are a requirement to do the job effectively.

“You have to have a basic understanding of the criminal justice system, and you don’t have that as a victim support advocate,” he added.

Jenkins was appointed DA by Mayor London Breed in July 2022 after campaigning for the ouster of incumbent Senator Chesa Boudin.

She took over the role once held by Vice President Kamala Harris, promising to “hold drug dealers accountable for their crimes” and “end the open-air drug markets” that had sprung up under her predecessor.

But the number of people living on the streets has risen to more than 8,000 as businesses and residents continue to move out of the city centre.

people, has brought with it a host of other problems, such as the presence of illegal drug dealers, fentanyl users, and general violent and intimidating behavior near the tent camps.

Jenkins was appointed to the position previously held by Vice President Kamala Harris in July 2022

Jenkins said Willis was highly qualified when she announced her appointment in March, praising her “rich operational experience as an organizer”

A detailed job description for the DA’s chief of staff role states that the officer “oversees, develops and delegates responsibilities for essential processes of the City’s primary law enforcement agency, including policy and legislation, staffing, communications, data and investigations, victim services, community engagement, front office operations, and all large-scale projects/changes and implementations affecting the office.”

Willis was CEO of New Life CA, a now defunct cannabis store.

In neighboring Contra Costa County, the chief of staff of the district attorney must have a law license and ten years of professional legal experience.

In San Francisco, four years of management experience in a legal, legislative, or clinical social setting is required.

But Jenkins said Willis had the right qualifications when she announced her appointment in March, touting her “rich operational experience as an organizer who has successfully launched state-certified mental health programs and improved hospital operations to better serve children and families.”

“I am proud to have Monifa Willis as my chief of staff,” Jenkins told the SF Standard.

“I have had the honor and privilege of knowing Monifa for many years and I look forward to working with her in this capacity.”

The questions came days after a former employee of the Victim Support Department sued the Public Prosecution Service after losing his job over an accidental “reply-to-all” email.

Jovan Thomas, 56, filed the complaint Friday, six months after he was fired for asking Jenkins “what color” her panties were in an office-wide message.

Shortly after Thomas sent the email, Deputy District Attorney Ana Gonzalez sent an email to the office stating that the matter was being handled by the administration. She asked staff to delete the email and not share it.

Thomas claimed he wanted to send the message as a joke to a brother in the fraternity.

Jovan Thomas, 56, filed the complaint Friday, six months after the correspondence in question, seen here

He is now suing Jenkins, her office and the city. The city’s district attorney is seen here with her husband, Daniel. She earned her law degree from the University of Chicago after studying political science at UC Berkeley

He was fired that day, but now claims that after his firing, the defendants invaded his privacy and defamed him by misrepresenting what had happened.

“In hopes of cheering up his friend, who was upset and grieving over the death of his father, (Thomas) wanted to send him a funny text message asking a question that the plaintiff had asked his friend in the past,” his lawyers alleged.

‘His text message to his friend was a whimsical question that was part of the plaintiff’s standard humorous repertoire towards his friend.

‘Given their long-standing friendship, the plaintiff’s reverse question had no sexual, crude, obscene, misogynistic or sexist meaning or intent.’

Thomas complains that Jenkins and others made “false, fraudulent, malicious and derogatory statements” about him to the press.

A week later, he said, he was told he had been fired for cause.

He is demanding a jury trial and, as a result, damages.