Jason Chan's time as a commissioner with the Rec and Parks Department was short and not particularly sweet. The Chronicle reports that the former Ed Lee campaign worker resigned from his post mere days after being sworn in. The reason? He was in all likelihood about to lose the job anyway, and probably wanted to get out on his own terms.
It turns out that Chan is the housemate of the person who vets potential appointees and recommends them to Mayor Lee, Francis Tsang, and as such presented a potential case of nepotism in City Hall (shocking!). What's more, Chan didn't file a required economic interest statement with the board clerk.
To make matters even worse, most of the Board of Supervisors wasn't notified of his appointment ahead of time — Supervisor Mark Farrell swore him in while Lee was out of the country. Supervisors can vote to counter Lee's appointments within 30 days, and according to the paper were in the process of gathering the necessary votes when Chan reportedly submitted a letter saying that his work commitments prevented him from fulfilling the duties of the post and that he intended to resign.
Board President London Breed, meanwhile, says this is all about best serving the interests of the Department. “We get hundreds of emails around issues involving the parks, and we have got to have competent people who understand these issues and can make hard decisions,” Breed told the paper. “I don’t think this (planned rejection vote) was motivated by politics or fighting with the mayor.”
Breed argued, in other words, that Chan just didn't have the chops for the job. But since when was something in City Hall not motivated by politics?
Related: District 8 Will Likely Be Without A Supervisor Until January