Mark Farrell’s campaign for San Francisco mayor is breaking the law, according to former mayors Willie Brown, Art Agnos, and Frank Jordan.
They joined other signatories in a joint letter Monday calling on California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to investigate Farrell for allegedly misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds.
San Francisco attorney John Keker sent the letter on behalf of the former mayors, as well as former city attorney Louise Renne, former state Sen. Mark Leno, retired Superior Court judge Quentin Kopp, former supervisor Angela Alioto, and criminal defense attorney Randy Knox. Keker has represented celebrities like Lance Armstrong and George Lucas, as well as a former Enron executive.
Candidates are limited to accepting $500 per donor in their campaign committees. Ballot measure committees, on the other hand, face no such restrictions. The letter accuses Farrell of using funds from a committee formed to promote Proposition D to prop up his own campaign.
“Mark Farrell appears to be laundering significant sums of money” through the campaign committee, the former mayors wrote.
In a statement, Farrell dismissed the allegation as a “blatant coordinated attempt by my political opponents.”
“Each of these former Mayors has endorsed one of my political opponents in this race, and this is nothing but pure political tactics, and it is shameful,” Farrell said.
Some of the signatories support Farrell’s opponents. Jordan has endorsed Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit founder Daniel Lurie, while Agnos has endorsed Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin. Brown is a long-time confidant of Mayor London Breed.
According to ethics commission data, the ballot measure committee “Mayor Mark Farrell for Yes on Prop. D” has raised $2.3 million, including a $500,000 donation last month from The Standard’s chairman, Michael Moritz. The campaign committee “Mark Farrell for Mayor 2024” has brought in $1.8 million.
In July, Farrell defended sharing costs between the ballot committee and his campaign in a letter from law firm Herrera Arellano. The letter called it a “legally sound” best practice to consolidate resources as long as the committees do not subsidize each others’ campaign activities.
“I lead both campaigns and make no apologies about it. I have disclosed everything from the beginning,” said Farrell. “Every penny for our shared expenses has been accounted for and disclosed.”
In their joint letter, the San Francisco officials claim the Herrera Arellano attorneys are not licensed to practice law in California.
The officials urged the attorney general and district attorney to take action before the November election.
“If you fail to act promptly, Mark Farrell will have exploited inaction by ethics officials and law enforcement authorities alike to unlawfully funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into his campaign for mayor,” they said, “and perhaps prevail as a result.”
In a statement, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office acknowledged they received the letter, adding “as a matter of policy, we do not comment on the existence or non-existence of possible criminal investigations.”
The attorney general’s office acknowledged they received the letter but did not offer additional comment.
Additional reporting was contributed by The Standard’s Gabe Greschler.