Farrell says letter alleging campaign finance misconduct is 'blatant politics'
Three former SF mayors call for criminal investigation into Mark Farrell's campaign finances
San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell dismissed accusations that his office is using funds from the Proposition D campaign to pay for his mayoral campaign expenses. The accusation was sent in a letter signed by former mayors Willie Brown, Art Agnos, and Frank Jordan.
SAN FRANCISCO - Three former San Francisco mayors accused candidate Mark Farrell of misusing campaign funds and called for a criminal investigation, in a letter sent to California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Monday.
The letter was signed by former mayors Art Agnos, Willie Brown, and Frank Jordan, along with former city attorney Louise Renne, former State Senator Mark Leno, former Supervisor Angela Alioto, former Judge Quentin Kopp and attorneys John Keker and Randy Knox.
"I have never ever gone beyond private conversations," former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, "This is the first time that the conduct was so outrageous."
Former Mayor Brown, who supports London Breed's re-election, says he was approached about signing the letter 10 days ago.
The letter accuses Farrell of skirting the mayoral race's $500 donation limit per person by tapping into unlimited contributions allowed for the ballot measure.
"This is something that absolutely violated that standard," Brown said.
"It has no basis in truth at all. I am leading both campaigns," Farrell said at a news conference Monday. Farrell had previously scheduled the media event to discuss the city's ranked choice voting system and ask voters to list Asha Safai as their second choice and "anyone but Breed" on the ballot.
Farrell said his mayoral campaign and Prop D share office space on West Portal Drive. He says his team has been completely transparent, dividing the accounting and expenditures in half, and submitting public reports as required.
"All of our public disclosures have been very clear from day one. My team spend half of our time on Proposition D. That is what we've been doing from the beginning," Farrell said. He added that the campaign finances have been reviewed and approved by legal counsel.
This letter comes in the midst of a heated race that has the incumbent Mayor London Breed facing stiff competition from Farrell, non-profit philanthropy leader Daniel Lurie, Supervisor Asha Safai, and Supervisor Aaron Peskin.
Farrell appeared on KTVU's The Four last week and answered questions about other reported allegations regarding the non-disclosure of a home loan he had received. Farrell said that was an oversight which he subsequently corrected in his campaign's public disclosures.
"I hope that it leads to some action. Not jail, but some action," Brown said.
"What a joke. Each of these former mayors is supporting one of my political opponents. This is the machine trying to attack me as the frontrunner in this race," Farrell said.
Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU. Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com. Call her at 510-326-5529. Or follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU and read her other reports on her bio page.