Let that sink in for a moment.

The Dream Keeper Initiative — San Francisco's $120 million program launched in 2021 to redirect funding to the Black community — has been plagued by reports of financial mismanagement, lack of oversight, and millions in public dollars that seemingly vanished into a bureaucratic black hole. Multiple nonprofits involved in the program faced serious questions about where the money actually went and whether it reached the communities it was supposed to serve.

And now, instead of holding these organizations at arm's length until every last dollar is accounted for, the city wants to deepen the relationship. The plan? Let one of these organizations manage a public community center — a taxpayer-funded asset that serves real people in a real neighborhood.

This isn't about punishing nonprofits or questioning the mission behind Dream Keeper. Investing in underserved communities is a worthy goal. But the entire point of government oversight is to ensure that good intentions are matched by good execution. When an organization has been caught up in a financial scandal involving public funds, the bare minimum response should be: prove you've cleaned house before we give you more responsibility.

Instead, City Hall seems to be operating under the San Francisco Doctrine of Failing Upward — where controversy is no obstacle to more contracts, more funding, and more trust.

Mayor Lurie campaigned on accountability and a break from the old way of doing business. This deal looks an awful lot like the old way of doing business. If the administration is serious about restoring public trust, it needs to pump the brakes and demand full transparency before handing over any more public assets to organizations that still owe the public answers.

Trust is earned. In San Francisco, apparently, it's just budgeted.