Assessing the raid

City Hall observers speculate assessor investigation is about more than alleged campaign violations

By Rachel Brahinsky

By most accounts, it seemed like overkill. At the crack of dawn May 10, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the San Francisco assessor's City Hall office. Staffers were kept out for more than five hours so agents could dig through their files and computers. An FBI search warrant claimed the bureau was after evidence that Assessor-Recorder Doris Ward has used public funds to promote her reelection bid. But the high-profile nature of the raid – carried out with at least 12 agents – left many observers wondering if the FBI is really after something, or someone, bigger.

Ward's office is ripe for investigation. Throughout her 10-year reign, and long before, the place has been notorious for reducing property assessments for downtown businesses – costing the city millions in lost property tax revenues each year.

But the loss of tax money has never drawn a federal probe here. The investigation was sparked instead by reports first published in the San Francisco Chronicle last December, which revealed that Ward had hired political consultant Claude Everhart for a $48,750 public relations job last July – not long after Everhart sent her a memo suggesting that "fewer dollars will have to be spent on your campaign" if Everhart was paid with public funds. Ward denied the contract was problematic but later apologized for spending $563 in city cash on a promotional mailer sent to potential contributors.

And last October, Ward's confidential secretary Walter Reed resigned, after complaining that he had been pressured to do campaign work for Ward on public time. Soon after, the FBI began its investigation, which resulted in the May 10 raid.

It was also reported last week that a federal grand jury has been convened. The U.S. Attorney's Office, which is in charge, won't comment on the secret proceedings.

Longtime observers of the office say that if the FBI is fishing for scandal, there could be plenty to find. "They are all good people [in the Assessor's Office], but the bureaucracy has two speeds: slow and stop," Alec Lambie, a nine-year member of the Assessment Appeals Board, told us. Lambie described the raid as "long overdue" and said he "will not be surprised" if the FBI uncovers other improper activity.

Though the true scope of the investigation remains a mystery, there's reason to suspect the FBI may be using the campaign fiasco to gain broader access to the office. John Scott, chief assistant assessor-recorder, told us May 10 that the FBI interviewed him within the past several weeks, around the time it subpoenaed him and several other employees. He said questions concerned "basically office issues," leaving it unclear whether the probe will go beyond the campaign scandal. "They didn't ask me anything about the campaign," he said. Scott later said the FBI has posed no detailed questions to him.

Troubles with the office have been documented for some time. A Bay Guardian investigation in 1999 surveyed 10 downtown properties and found that the city had lost as much as $23.6 million because of property value reductions. Records were such a shambles that it was impossible to come up with a precise number (see "The Real Welfare Cheats," 10/6/00).

The raid raises another question: if there is evidence of wrongdoing, why didn't District Attorney Terence Hallinan launch his own investigation months ago? Hallinan wouldn't comment for this story, but some say investigating local political corruption has never been a priority for the D.A., who is counting on the support of his peers should he run for mayor.

Others suggest the probe is an FBI P.R. stunt. "My theory: [FBI agents] get promoted by getting politicians," one source told us. "You make a career by nailing hides to the wall. In this case circumstances have conspired to make it extremely easy." And if it's indictments the FBI is after rather than simply media attention, a well-publicized raid could backfire. "When you explode an investigation like this, you shut down witnesses, and you potentially taint evidence. It's for P.R.," the source said.

There's also the Willie Brown factor. The Brown administration has been the target of several previous FBI investigations. Political insiders have speculated for years that the bureau has tried to get evidence against the mayor – with no luck. The federal sleuths have taken aim at the San Francisco Housing Authority, the Human Rights Commission, the Department of Building Inspection, and other city departments, as well as city contractors with ties to the mayor. Probes have failed to produce more than a few low-level indictments.

Neither Ward nor her attorney Doron Weinberg could be reached for comment by press time. But Weinberg has told other news media the raid doesn't make sense, since Ward has been cooperating with other inquiries.

Jerrold Ladar, former head of the U.S. Attorney's Office criminal division, said that when dealing with an attorney like Weinberg, a dramatic raid is unnecessary. "[He would] always say, 'If you need documents, give me a call, and we'll either produce them or you can subpoena us. Or we'll contest it,' " he said. "But that's a much more civilized way, because you don't have this posse of agents showing up. And with everything else that's going on in the world, I'm not sure it's a wise use of resources, unless they have evidence of an immediate threat of destruction of documents."