Many attendees, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, described the roughly 20-minute meeting as “horrific,” “freezing,” “uncomfortable” and, at times, “crazy.” It should come as no surprise that Jenkins — who left the DA’s office in October 2021 to volunteer in the recall campaign — would face concern from the staff present. Jenkins has described herself as a progressive, but many progressives dispute that label. Jenkins was a sharp critic of Boudin in the months leading up to the recall election, and office members who spoke to SFGATE felt she crossed the line with some of her campaign attacks. Most of the people in the room were hired by either Boudin or his predecessor, George Gascón, with only a handful prior to Gascón’s tenure that began in 2011. Those attending the meeting said Jenkins opened her remarks by saying that even though she campaigned for the recall, she still has an interest in Boudin’s hiring. Attendees said Jenkins didn’t offer many details about how she would run the office, so at one point in the meeting, someone asked if she had specific instructions. Jenkins responded that she wanted a review of any case in which a plea had been offered but not yet accepted by the suspect, and the purpose of that review would be to determine which plea could be withdrawn. When someone told Jenkins that would mean reviewing thousands of cases, she then said she wanted to prioritize drug cases. Officials said Jenkins did not delineate possession cases (typically drug users) and possession with intent to sell cases (typically drug dealers) and did not offer a timeline for when that work should be completed. He ended the meeting by telling those in attendance that no one would be fired Friday, but he plans to meet with people in the near future about a possible “reshuffling” of the office. Jenkins declined to be interviewed for this story. A source close to Jenkins who was briefed on the meeting but was not authorized to speak publicly said that other attendees’ account of what was said is accurate, but that Jenkins held the meeting primarily to allay employee fears, contrary to the description of political plans. All of the attendees who spoke to SFGATE said they were struck by two things: 1. What they described as a lack of understanding of what it takes to run the office, and 2. The fact that Jenkins was accompanied by Andrea Bruss, who serves as Breed’s deputy chief of staff. Bruce, who did not attend the meeting but observed, was described as a “chaperon” by one of the attendees. The mayor’s office told SFGATE that it is “providing some basic transitional support to get [Jenkins] is in the office while staffing up fast.” “We have no role in any policy-making or office discussions,” the mayor’s office added. How Jenkins runs the DA’s office in the coming months will be a source of intrigue both locally and nationally. Some observers believe Jenkins’ selection may lead Boudin to seek his old office in the upcoming November election. Jenkins has said she believes in balancing reform and accountability, voicing support for alternatives to incarceration such as diversion programs. He had previously said that the specific Boudin-era reforms he wanted to roll back were the elimination of cash bail, the policy of not charging juveniles as adults and the elimination of gang subsidies. Those who attended Friday’s meeting said none of those policies emerged and there was no discussion of the office’s future operations beyond the requested review of drug cases. Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:40 p.m. to fix the duration of said meeting.
