The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women voted unanimously Wednesday to fire agency director Kimberly Ellis following a months-long ethics probe into what Mayor Daniel Lurie called “unlawful activities,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Ellis had been under investigation since March for a slate of financial irregularities, including taxpayer-funded payments for luxury staff retreats and photoshoots, steering city money to political allies and moonlighting for an outside group without disclosure, according to the Chronicle. Her ouster marks a decisive break for the newly elected mayor, who campaigned on cleaning up city government.
“By unanimous vote, the commission has voted to remove director Ellis for the benefit and future success of the department,” Sophia Andary, the president of the commission, said after voting closed late Wednesday night, the outlet reported. The Commission has not yet released public documents nor announcements surrounding Ellis’ removal, and did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for confirmation.
The former director’s career initially hit turbulent waters last month after the Chronicle published an investigation detailing how public coffers allegedly became her personal piggy bank. The exposé — later validated by city officials — painted a picture of taxpayer money financing celebrity-style photoshoots, resort retreats with open bars and questionable payments to nonprofits helmed by Ellis’ political allies. The mayor’s office told the outlet she had been “placed on leave pending an investigation” before her formal removal this week.
“I have the highest expectations for city employees, and the city attorney’s investigation found that director Ellis committed a range of misconduct, unlawful activities and mismanagement of the department on the status of women,” Lurie said in a statement to the outlet Thursday.
Ellis, for her part, has crafted an alternative explanation for her troubles, casting herself in a lawsuit as a whistle-blower punished for exposing alleged sexual abuse in San Francisco’s foster care system. Her lawsuit, filed April 1, frames the removal as calculated revenge for “telling the truth” and “defending the vulnerable” — an especially malicious move given her status as a “nationally recognized black woman.”
City officials flatly reject this narrative.
“It is deeply disappointing that Ms. Ellis would blatantly lie in court documents to distract from the investigation into her misconduct,” a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office told the Chronicle.
The department’s transformation under Ellis — once a Democratic wunderkind in California politics — stirred internal turmoil long before her public scandals surfaced. Her decision to pivot the agency away from its traditional focus on gender-based violence — which she outlines in her LinkedIn biography — and “reframing its work” toward left-wing causes attracted scrutiny, employees told to The San Francisco Standard. Former staff described the department-funded gourmet meals and payments to Ellis’ nonprofit allies as “gluttony,” “strange” and “disgraceful” in statements to the outlet.
“This department was supposed to support the women in the city,” a former employee said. “But it is all a lie.”
The Commission has not yet announced who will lead the department in the interim, and the mayor’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment on future appointments. The DCNF also contacted Ronald Arena, who is representing Ellis in her ongoing suit, for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.
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