SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A top San Francisco official in charge of cleaning up the city’s notoriously filthy streets and a promoter of portable public toilets to ease public urination has been arrested, jail records show.
San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru was in custody Monday, along with Nick Bovis, the owner of Lefty O’ Doul’s, a popular sports bar in Fisherman’s Wharf.
Details on the charges stemming from the arrests were not disclosed. The FBI and David L. Anderson, the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco, planned a Tuesday afternoon news conference.
Local news outlets reported that Nuru, 57, was arrested on suspicion of public corruption. The San Francisco Police Department directed questions to the U.S. attorney’s office, which declined to comment ahead of the news conference.
As the top official in charge of the $312 million city public works budget since 2012, Nuru is tasked with cleaning up San Francisco streets, which critics note remain cluttered with feces, trash and used needles amid a homelessness crisis.
Nuru, who goes by “MrCleanSF” on Twitter, also oversees the design and construction of city facilities and 1,600 employees. Its capital project portfolio is more than $5.6 billion
The department has more recently been lauded for its portable public toilet “Pit Stop” program, which supporters say has reduced the need for steam cleaning human waste in some areas.
Mayor London Breed told reporters that she did not have any information about the allegations, but said the city would cooperate with the FBI.
