See the Porno E-mail That Got SF City Workers In Trouble (PHOTO: NSFW)

Trouble brewing...

​SF Weekly has obtained the hardcore e-mail sent around the city's Planning Department that led to a scandal and the department's chief moving to fire four veteran planners.

The Dec. 10, 2009 letter, obtained via a public records request, is just one line long: "I would feel a certain ambivalence about taking this young woman out in public." The e-mail also contained the following photo of said young woman:
​The photo in the original e-mail was not censored. Those wishing to see the full monty can visit here (obviously not safe for work, as the planning department has amply demonstrated).

In the wake of the scandal, zoning administrator Larry Badiner, a 20-year veteran of the department, last week tearfully gathered up his belongings and left the building. Calls to Badiner reach a message left in a voice not his own stating he will be "on vacation" from May 17 until the 26th. Badiner was not accused of sending the e-mails -- but reportedly did not take any action to cease the practice, either. Veteran planner Craig Nikitas confirmed to SF Weekly that he, too, is one of the four planners that department head John Rahaim has moved to fire.

Interestingly, following SF Weekly's public records request, the city's Department of Human Resources refused to e-mail us a copy of the offending e-mail due to its "offensive nature." Of course, if not for the "offensive nature" of the e-mail there would have been no scandal -- and no public records request. SF Weekly showed up at DHR's offices today and signed -- in triplicate -- for a copy of the pornographic image sealed in a plain brown wrapper. And that wasn't awkward at all. 

In December, a female employee displeased that the above e-mail landed in her work inbox, filed a complaint against various planning officials. Department employees have purportedly been sending racy e-mails around the office for years. The city's Human Resources Commission is investigating the allegations. 

Follow us on Twitter at @TheSnitchSF and @SFWeekly