Mayor London Breed is rumored to be seriously considering appointing her former aide and more recently campaign advisor Conor Johnston to Catherine Stefani's soon-to-be-vacated seat on the Board of Supervisors. And for City Hall insiders, this looks like one final middle finger to Daniel Lurie on her way out the door.
The political news of Friday, as San Francisco gets drenched in torrential rain, is that Conor Johnston is strongly rumored to be in line for the District 2 supervisor seat that Stefani is vacating to join the state Assembly. As the Chronicle reports, multiple City Hall sources have confirmed that Johnston is "among" the people being considered for the role, and he's the most provocative choice, given that he has been the mayor's "guard dog" in both her election campaigns — and a loud critic of Daniel Lurie.
Johnston was responsible for coining the "Malibu Dan" nickname after it was revealed that Lurie had purchased a $15.5 million home in Malibu's Point Dume in 2021. And there's a photo of him carrying a sign this year saying "My Cat Is More Qualified Than Dan."
Johnston is well known for his pranks and outspoken ways, and he similarly trolled other candidates for mayor in 2018, as well as their supporters, regularly attacking them on Facebook and Twitter — something that earned him the title of "Biggest Mayoral Campaign Troll" when SF Weekly (RIP) did their Best of San Francisco issue that year.
Johnston was also the subject of an ethics complaint in 2018 after he was paid by the Breed campaign as an advisor, but failed to register with the city as a political consultant.
He has friends in high places of course, and Supervisor Myrna Melgar merely calls him "the funniest person in SF politics" in a comment to the SF Standard. And here he is pictured at a Pride event in 2018 without a shirt on walking with Scott Wiener.
Johnston, who is gay, would become the fourth gay male supervisor on the current Board of Supervisors if he were appointed, which would be something of a milestone — with gay men then controlling 36% of board seats, not that their political interests will always align.
Johnston, who formerly served as Breed's chief of staff when she was a supervisor, currently owns a cannabis business called Otter Brands, and is co-owner of the Blaze on Haight dispensary as well as a nearby Harborside location.
If appointed to the board, he would come into the job with far more knowledge than most of how City Hall works, and how to thwart parts of Lurie's agenda, should he want to.
Others in consideration for the appointment — which could begin as soon as Stefani steps down next week, and would last until a special election can be held to fill the seat — are said to include former D2 Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier; Dianne Feinstein's granddaughter Eileen Mariano, who is a current Breed staffer; Stephen Sherrill, who's the director of the mayor's innovation office; and Parks Commissioner Kat Anderson.
As the Standard notes, it's not clear whether Johnston is a resident of District 2, but he could likely establish residency without much trouble in order to take the appointment.
Photo via Instagram
