Mayor London Breed is a perennial gold medalist in the most important event for any City Hall political athlete: scandal hurdles.
When former public works director Mohammed Nuru was arrested by the FBI in 2020 for taking bribes, San Franciscans didn’t bat an eyelash. No matter that Nuru was Breed’s former paramour, who paid to fix her broken-down jalopy.
After all, Covid struck just weeks after Nuru’s impropriety surfaced, recasting the mayor as a life-saving hero.
One hurdle jumped.
Later that same year, the FBI arrested former Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly. The bribery accusations also implicated his wife, former City Administrator Naomi Kelly.
The story was much the same: They were longtime Breed confidants. In any given week, Kelly may have pocketed those bribes on a Monday and met with Breed to talk city matters on a Tuesday.
Breed sailed with the grace of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone far above any critiques.
This time she may not be so lucky. Fast-forward to 2024, and Breed is running for reelection. Last week’s latest City Hall scandal gives her opponents ample chance to raise those hurdles higher than she can soar.
An investigation by The Standard revealed that Sheryl Davis, head of the Human Rights Commission, approved $1.5 million in contracts with a local nonprofit, Collective Impact, run by a man she has a close personal relationship with; the two shared a home address and a car. Rules require her to disclose such a relationship, though she allegedly has done no such thing.
The San Francisco Chronicle also raised questions about Davis’ financial dealings through the commission. Davis was subsequently placed on administrative leave on Thursday and resigned Friday.
Former political consultant David Latterman, who worked on campaigns for state Sen. Scott Wiener, said Breed may face especially intense scrutiny because she has more direct ties to Davis’ program than she did to Nuru’s department in 2020.
“Harlan’s a grown-up and made his own decisions. Mohammed is a grown-up and made his own decisions. The connection was never there,” Latterman said.
This time, however, Davis awarded the questionable contracts under the Dream Keeper Initiative, and that was Breed’s project.
She conceived of it. She championed it. And now, she may own its political pitfalls.
Already, her mayoral opponents have seized on the moment. On Thursday, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin called for an investigation into Davis’ conduct. Mayoral candidate and former Supervisor Mark Farrell called for a federal investigation into the mayor’s role in the Dream Keeper Initiative. He also challenged the mayor to fire Davis.
Hammering on ethics allegations may ultimately benefit Peskin’s and Farrell’s campaigns. Yet that may be a perilous political path.
Latterman warned that the scrutiny may cause voters to look into Farrell’s own alleged ethical lapses — including questionable campaign donations from Recology, a trash company with its own unscrupulous role in Nuru’s scandal — or into the skeletons in Peskin’s closet.
Already, another candidate, nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie, has started to point fingers at Farrell for alleged questionable ethics related to Recology. He seized on recent scandals to buttress his campaign’s narrative of the disruptor seeking to dethrone crooked City Hall insiders.
Lurie has the largest campaign war chest, which could easily up its spending, spreading its message of Lurie as an incorruptible force for change.
However, Latterman argued, voters may tune out altogether if Breed’s competitors push too hard. And that, perversely, could benefit the mayor.
“Clearly this is a hand, but how do you want to play it?” Latterman said. “If they drag it into the mud and things get ugly, that favors an incumbent. People get tired of it, they get less interested.”
For now, Breed is playing defense.
Reporters from The Standard caught up with her at a Financial District political event. Standing under the soft light of opulent chandeliers in the Julia Morgan Ballroom, reporters asked if she knew about Davis’ relationship with the man she awarded $1.5 million in contracts to.
“Not right now, not right now,” Breed said.
The reporters pressed.
“No means no,” she said.
Absent Breed’s explanations, her opponents will fill in the blanks for voters. The story they tell may make her campaign fall flat on its face. Or, maybe, the hurdling champion will soar again.
Reporter Gabe Greschler contributed to this story.