Suspension order and guidance to department heads will prevent City funds from going to Dwayne Jones, who is accused of bribing a City official in order to receive preferential treatment in contracting decisions
SAN FRANCISCO (September 7, 2023) — City Attorney David Chiu and City Administrator Carmen Chu, acting as charging officials, filed a suspension order today against Rudolph Dwayne Jones and affiliated entities to prohibit them from bidding on or being awarded new contracts or grants with the City and County of San Francisco.
Last week, the District Attorney filed criminal charges against Jones and Lanita Henriquez, program director of the City’s Community Challenge Grant (CCG) Program, for bribery, misappropriation of public funds, and financial conflicts of interest that allegedly occurred between 2016 and 2020. Jones is accused of bribing Henriquez in order to steer City contracts and grants towards Jones and the entities he controls.
In addition to suspending Jones as an individual, the City Attorney and City Administrator suspended five affiliated entities that Jones owns, controls, or manages. The affiliated entities suspended today are:
- RDJ Enterprises, LLC
- RDJ-Project Complete, LLC
- The Southeast Consortium for Equitable Partnerships
- Urban Equity, LLC
- 20ROC Holdings, LLC
“After our announcement of a public integrity review to ensure transparency and the integrity of the City’s grantmaking process, we are following through with suspension orders so that the individuals charged can no longer profit from our City,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “The City will not tolerate corrupt actors trying to undermine our contracting and grantmaking processes at the expense of taxpayers.”
“I want to thank the City Attorney for working swiftly to identify affiliated organizations for suspension,” said City Administrator Carmen Chu. “Our actions today and our request for an independent public integrity review of the Community Challenge Grant Program are important first steps for restoring the public trust in an invaluable community program.”
Background
Suspension orders are brought under San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 28 and allow the City to suspend contractors and grantees accused of misconduct in a separate proceeding, such as a criminal proceeding. Suspension orders are effective immediately, bar the contractors and grantees from participating in the procurement process for new contracts or grants, and enable the City to cancel any existing contracts or grants.
Between 2016 and 2020, Jones allegedly paid Henriquez approximately $190,000 with the intent to secure contracts for his companies worth more than $1.4 million. This conduct is not only unlawful but serves as grounds for suspension and debarment.
After the criminal proceedings have concluded, the City intends to seek debarment, which is an administrative enforcement procedure that authorizes the City to ban contractors from applying for or receiving City contracts or grants for up to five years.
Immediately after the filing of the Suspension Order today, the Mayor, in concert with the City Attorney, City Administrator and Controller, issued written guidance to all City departments directing them to suspend or terminate, absent extraordinary circumstances, all existing prime contracts with Jones or the affiliates identified in the Suspension Order. The guidance also directs departments, where legally feasible, to direct prime contractors to terminate all existing sub-contracts with the suspended contractors.
In response to the criminal charges filed last week, the City Administrator immediately placed Henriquez on paid administrative leave, removing all access to the CCG Program. Additionally, the Controller and the City Attorney will conduct a joint Public Integrity Review of CCG’s grantmaking to identify any necessary improvements to the program’s policies and procedures.
The suspension order can be found here.
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