WHAT DO YOU MEAN CONFLICT OF INTEREST ?

By Bob Walsh

 

                                                            "I herewith resign, so fuck you!"

The mayor of the city and county of San Francisco appoints a lot of people to boards and commissions, as do most other big-town mayors.  However most of these people do not serve at the pleasure of the mayor.  Theoretically.

It has recently come out that, as a condition of many of these appointments, Mayor London Breed has been requiring that appointees give her a signed, undated letter of resignation.  

This came to light after Police Commissioner Max Carter-Oberstone repudiated his letter in a fairly public fashion.  The Board of Supervisors screamed like mashed cats, asserting (correctly) that this pretty much drops the concept of independent oversight into the crapper.

Mayor Breed originally supported her policy, but then peed all over her shoes.  The mayor's office has said she will stop the practice.  Note it does not say that she HAS stopped the practice.  

The city charter requires that the mayor get permission from the board to can the Police Commissioner.