County Supes Have Tough Questions About Contract Oversight

Four of the county’s five elected supervisors say they have tough questions and requests for the county’s top bureaucrat since learning that the chief operating officer of a former county contractor is facing criminal misappropriation charges. 

Voice of San Diego broke the news last week that the District Attorney’s Office had charged former Harm Reduction Coalition finance chief Amy Knox with allegedly taking more than $130,000 in public funds from the organization. Knox, who previously served time for embezzling more than $500,000 from a former employer, allegedly used the money on everything from plastic surgeries to San Diego Gas & Electric bills. 

The county contracted with the Harm Reduction Coalition to deploy overdose reversal drugs and test street drugs for fentanyl.  

Supervisor Jim Desmond said he told Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton that he was unsettled by the situation during a call last week. He said he was especially concerned the county inked a second contract with the nonprofit after a 2023 audit raised flags. 

“We’ve gotta get to the bottom of this,” Desmond told Voice. “To me this is embarrassing for the county that we don’t have the proper safeguards in place, when we get somebody that we’re giving millions of dollars to who has a record of embezzling and we did not just one contract but a second.” 

Days before news of the misappropriation broke, Desmond requested a public presentation on the county’s “fraud prevention measures” for its social service programs, because of the national uproar about Minnesota child care fraud. He told Voice he found last week’s news embarrassing and said it only increased his want for information – and ways the county can prevent similar debacles in the future.Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer also zeroed in on the county’s apparent failure to initially uncover Knox’s past conviction. A county spokesperson told Voice in July that the county counted on providers to conduct their own criminal background checks. 

“I’m very concerned,” Lawson-Remer said. “This is completely unacceptable and I have asked the CAO to institute much more robust background checks and protocols to make sure this does not happen again.” 

Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe said she’s also told Shelton she wants more reforms to prevent future debacles. 

“We have raised concerns about strengthening oversight in our auditing and contracting processes before, and this situation proves why that work is necessary,” Montgomery Steppe said in a statement. “I have been in contact with the CAO to ensure accountability and corrective action in operations moving forward.” 

During a Monday interview with Voice, Supervisor Joel Anderson said he planned to pepper Shelton with questions in a call that afternoon, particularly about whether opioid settlement funds were involved.

“I think that oversight, that’s important, so I’m hoping that we have a plan of attack after I talk to (Shelton) today,” Anderson said.

District Attorney Summer Stephan said opioid settlement funds did go to the nonprofit. County spokespeople initially said otherwise.

But late Tuesday a county spokesperson clarified to Voice that the county did provide $102,000 in opioid settlement funds to the Harm Reduction Coalition to buy 102,000 fixed-price fentanyl test strips. He did not suggest there was any wrongdoing associated with this purchase.

After the call, Anderson spokesperson Matthew Phy said the supervisor told Shelton he wants more details on the county’s June cancellation of Harm Reduction Coalition contracts, how the county funded its contracts and the timeline of the District Attorney’s Office investigation. Phy said Anderson was still awaiting answers late Tuesday.

Supervisor Paloma Aguirre was unavailable for comment. 

County spokesperson Tammy Glenn wrote in a statement last week that the county is committed to ensuring its contractors are behaving ethically and that there are controls in place – and that the county may consider ways to improve those. 

“The county will continue to examine and strengthen processes and reinforce accountability to ensure transparency and public trust,” Glenn wrote. 

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