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{{short description|American politician from California}}

factoids

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.Democratic Party (United States)>DemocraticLoyola Marymount University (Bachelor of Arts>BA)University College Dublin (Master of Arts)University of Pennsylvania (Juris Doctor>JD)| website = Campaign website| spouse = Liz Farrell| children = 3}}Mark E. Farrell (born March 15, 1974)WEB, Mark E Farrell, Born 03/15/1974 in California {{!, CaliforniaBirthIndex.org |url=https://californiabirthindex.org/birth/mark_e_farrell_born_1974_12229467 |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=californiabirthindex.org}} is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 44th Mayor of San Francisco from January 23 to July 11, 2018. Before his appointment as mayor, he served on the Board of Supervisors for nearly two terms, representing District 2 (the Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, Seacliff, Lake District, Presidio Heights, Jordan Park, Laurel Heights, Presidio, and part of Russian Hill).

Early life and education

Farrell was born in 1974, the only child of Lena (née Ewoldt), a former flight attendantWEB Farrell attended both Stuart Hall for Boys and Saint Ignatius College Preparatory, and subsequently received a B.A. in 1996 from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, an M.A. from University College Dublin in Ireland, and a J.D. in 2001 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180125074519weblink">weblink dead, January 25, 2018, District 2 - Board of Supervisors, January 25, 2018, {{Primary source inline|date=April 2023}}

Private sector career

Farrell practiced law as a corporate and securities attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Silicon Valley, then joined Thomas Weisel Partners as an investment banker. He subsequently co-founded Quest Hospitality Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm focused on the hospitality and travel sector. Prior to his election to office, he served as a mid-level director of Quest Hospitality Ventures,Multiple sources:

• WEB,weblink Our Firm - Thayer Ventures, www.thayerventures.com,
• WEB,weblink Quest Hospitality Ventures I, L.P.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com,
• PRESS RELEASE,weblink Thayer Ventures to Raise New Funds to Finance Hospitality Technology Startups, June 2012, now Thayer VenturesMultiple sources:
• NEWS,weblink Venture capital funds bulk up for hospitality technology disruption, Dennis, Schaal, Phocuswire, June 11, 2012,
• NEWS,weblink Thayer Lodging forms new venture fund, Danielle, Douglas, The Washington Post, June 10, 2012,
• WEB,weblink Skift Q&A: Hospitality Investor Lee Pillsbury on 100 Years of Industry Disruption, Skift, December 4, 2013,
• WEB,weblink Leland Pillsbury '82, Founder, Co-Chairman, and CEO, Thayer Lodging Group, Inc. - Kellogg School of Management - Northwestern University, www.kellogg.northwestern.edu,
• WEB,weblink Thayer Ventures Launches $100M Travel Technology VC Fund; Announces Leland Pillsbury as MD, January 11, 2017, a venture capital firm.NEWS, Knight, Heather, Mark Farrell, District 2 supervisor, a novice,weblink San Francisco Chronicle, December 29, 2010,

Board of Supervisors (2010–2018)

Farrell was elected in November 2010 to the 2nd district seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was subsequently re-elected in November 2014. On the board, Farrell served as chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, a founding member of the 2016–17 Super Bowl Bid Committee, and on eight other local and state boards and committees.WEB,weblinkweblink dead, July 5, 2016, City and County of San Francisco - Mark Farrell, July 5, 2016, WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160705183806weblink">weblink dead, July 5, 2016, Board of Supervisors : District Information, July 5, 2016, WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160705183812weblink">weblink dead, July 5, 2016, Board of Supervisors : Newsletter, July 5, 2016, WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160705183808weblink">weblink dead, July 5, 2016, Board of Supervisors : Staff, July 5, 2016, Farrell is regarded to be a political moderate.After his election to the Board of Supervisors, Farrell ushered through a two-year city budget that reformed the way San Francisco paid for retiree health care benefits and passed small business tax credit legislation so the city's small businesses could hire more employees and create more local jobs. In addition, Farrell created a public-private partnership between the San Francisco non-profit Kiva.org and San Francisco's Office of Small Business. He also became the first elected official in California to endorse Kiva borrowers on the platform personally.WEB, 2016-08-09, New, costly 'Peskin Commission' is not the answer to the housing crisis,weblink 2020-12-02, The San Francisco Examiner, en-US, Farrell was an advocate for the passage of Laura's Law, which established a program to compel mentally ill people to seek treatment, both voluntarily and through court-mandate. The legislation was a matter of heavy debate, and was ultimately passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2014 and took effect in 2015. In 2018, Heather Knight of the San Francisco Chronicle described data collected on the first two years the program as demonstrating success.WEB, Knight, Heather, Laura’s Law is helping many — but still only making a dent in SF,weblink San Francisco Chronicle, 3 March 2024, March 10, 2018, Farrell introduced an ordinance in 2015 that required gun store owners to video record all transactions and give weekly updates on ammunition sales to the police department. High Bridge Arms, the only firearm retailer in the city, closed after the ordinance was passed. Farrell told the San Francisco Chronicle, "From my perspective, if the last gun store in San Francisco wants to close its doors because of my legislation, so be it."NEWS, Johnson, Lizzie, San Francisco's last gun shop gives up the fight.,weblink San Francisco Chronicle, October 30, 2015,

San Francisco Ethics Commission 2014 decision

In June 2016, Farrell was ordered to repay $191,000WEB, Knight, Heather, May 4, 2016, Mark Farrell sues SF over $191,000 election-law fine,weblink SFGate, in unlawful campaign funding after the City ethics panel voted, 5-0, to uphold the original 2014 decision of the San Francisco Ethics Commission that he should have to forfeit back to the City the amount raised from just two donors and used late in the 2010 election by Common Sense Voters,Multiple sources:

• WEB,weblink SF Ethics Commission united behind fining SF supervisor $191K, Joshua, Sabatini, The San Francisco Examiner,
• WEB,weblink In the Matter of : COMMON SENSE VOTERS, SF 2010; VOTE FOR MARK FARRELL FOR DISTRICT 2 SUPERVISOR AND CHRIS LEE, WEB,weblink ITEM-7-Farrell-Referral-and-Response-Letter-FINAL, WEB,weblink Supervisor Farrell Won't Pay His Ethics Fine — Or Talk About It, Jeremy, Lybarger, SF Weekly, an independent expenditure committee, with improper communications from a campaign consultant. Farrell was exonerated by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, although the campaign consultant Chris Lee and Common Sense Voters were found to be in violation of federal campaign finance laws, but a further complaint was filed with the City commission by Janet Reilly, who lost to Farrell by 256 votes. City law, stricter than state law, holds candidates personally responsible for staff as well as themselves, whether they knew about the illegal communication or not. In an unusual move, Farrell responded with a lawsuit against the City in May to prevent further collection efforts from the Treasurer's office, and settled with the City for $25,000 in October 2016.NEWS, Knight, Heather, Green, Emily, Mark Farrell sues SF over $191,000 election-law fine,weblink San Francisco Chronicle, May 4, 2016, NEWS, Green, Emily, SF Ethics Commission slashes fine for Farrell campaign violations,weblink San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 2016, Multiple sources:
• WEB,weblink City considering suing Supervisor Farrell for campaign violation, SFGate,
• WEB,weblink Mark Farrell, San Francisco Citizen,

Mayoralty (2018)

Appointment

Farrell was appointed as mayor by the Board of Supervisors on January 23, 2018, succeeding acting mayor London Breed. After Mayor Lee's death on December 12, 2017, by virtue of her office as president of the Board of Supervisors. Breed launched a campaign in the special election to fill the office permanently.WEB, Mark Farrell appointed interim Mayor of San Francisco, replacing London Breed,weblink KTVU, 3 March 2024, January 24, 2018, Three weeks after Lee's death, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to remove Breed and appoint Mark Farrell as acting mayor. This vote was contentious. Those supporting Breed's removal argued that it presented a conflict of interest for her to continue to serve as a member of the Board of Supervisors while also acting as mayor, and that it would be present unfair advantage for her to enter the special mayoral election with pseudo-incumbency. Opponents of her removal alleged that there were racist and sexist motivations for removing Breed, who is a black woman.After the vote, the mayoral oath of office was administered to Farrell by City Attorney Dennis Herrera. In order to accept his appointment as mayor, Farrell resigned his seat on the board of supervisors. On January 30, Farrell appointed Catherine Stefani to his former seat on the Board of Supervisors.WEB, San Francisco District 2 supervisor replacement sworn in,weblink ABC7 San Francisco, 3 March 2024, en, January 30, 2024, Farrell did not seek election in special election held on June 5, 2018 for a new mayor to fill the remainder of Lee's unexpired term. Breed won that election, and was sworn in on July 11, marking the end of Farrell's mayoralty.NEWS, Fracassa, Dominic, June 13, 2018, London Breed wins SF mayor's race as Mark Leno concedes, San Francisco Chronicle,weblink and served out the remainder of Lee's uncompleted term into January 8, 2020.NEWS, Rules dictate how SF's next mayor may be chosen and how long they may serve,weblink December 12, 2017, San Francisco Chronicle, December 12, 2017, To assuage conflict of interest criticisms, Farrell took a leave of absence from Thayer Ventures during his time as mayor.WEB, Lee, Vic, San Francisco Interim Mayor Mark Farrell addresses conflict of interest claim,weblink ABC7 San Francisco, 3 March 2024, en, February 7, 2018,

Tenure

Farrell authored an $11 billion city budget. The budget included funding for the hiring of 250 new police officers. It also allocated in excess of $7 million to criminal justice reform measures, including a pilot program for pretrial diversion. It also increased the amount of funding the city provided to supportive homeless services, including homeless navigation centers, and the Homeward Bound to send homeless people to live with loved ones elsewhere.WEB, Rodriguez, Joe Fitzgerald, Mark Farrell Enters Crowded SF Mayor's Race, Searches for Support,weblink KQED, 3 March 2024, en, 13 February 2024, Farrell signed into law an ordinance which prohibited court fines and fees from being exclusively levied on those who had previously been incarcerated. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to pass such an ordinance.WEB, San Francisco Looks to End Certain Court Fees,weblink www.usnews.com, US News & World Report, 3 March 2024, May 23, 2018, WEB, File No. 180132 Ordinance No. 131-18,weblink sfbos.org, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 3 March 2024, June 2018,

Post-mayoralty

After leaving office, Farrell returned to his position at Thayer Ventures.

2024 San Francisco mayoral campaign

{{see further|2024 San Francisco mayoral election}}In February 2024, Farrell launched a campaign for mayor, seeking to unseat Breed.WEB, 2024-02-13, ‘Doom loop’ cure? Mark Farrell wants cars back on to Market Street,weblink The San Francisco Standard, en, Farrell is one of several candidates in the election regarded to be a political moderate by the standards of the city's politics, including Breed and fellow challengers Daniel Lurie and Ahsha Safaí. Heather Knight of The New York Times, in February 2024, called Farrell the "most rightward leaning" of the challengers that had entered the mayoral race against Breed. Dustin Gardiner and Lara Korte of Politico described Farrell as running on a platform of "centrist and business-friendly proposals," calling his platform, "strikingly conservative for San Francisco — the liberal bastion that has shaped the direction of the national Democratic Party for decades." Having good name recognition, Farrell is regarded to be a major candidate in the election.WEB, Gardiner, Dustin, Korte, Lara, A man with a plan for San Francisco,weblink Politico, 3 March 2024, February 13, 2024, Farrell has pledged a "zero-tolerance approach and policy for all crime in San Francisco," promising to fire Bill Scott from his post as the city's police chief. He also has promised that he would increase the number of recruits in the city's police academy and "massively" increase the size of the city's police force.WEB, Eskenazi, Joe, Mark Farrell enters SF mayor's race — rips London Breed as 'a mayor without a vision',weblink Mission Local, 3 March 2024, 13 February 2024, WEB, Knight, Heather, Will Voters in San Francisco Go for a Different Kind of Mayor?,weblink The New York Times, 3 March 2024, 13 February 2024, He has pledged to mandate having anyone that is administered Narcan by city employees detained and then directed into drug rehabilitation programs. He has pledged to eliminate recent budget increase for community health and welfare programs and instead allocate that money for public safety and the hiring of additional police officers. He has characterized the community health and welfare programs as "hav[ing] nothing to show" for the funding that the city has allocated to them.Farrell has proposed creating an exemption from local taxes for small businesses whose gross revenues are smaller than $5 million. He has also called for re-introducing cars to Market Street, which currently serves as a pedestrian-only corridor in downtown San Francisco.On expanding housing supply in San Francisco, Farrell said during his campaign, "I do not believe that we need to upzone every single neighborhood in San Francisco."WEB, Zhou, Yujie, 2024-03-23, Mark Farrell’s pitch to voters? 'Common sense.',weblink Mission Local, en-US, His position to focus dense housing in an already-dense neighborhoods has been criticized by pro-housing advocates.WEB, 2024-03-27, YIMBYs on their heels as race for mayor heats up,weblink The San Francisco Standard, en, Farrell has pledged to remove all large tent homeless encampments in the city within his first year. He has described his homeless plan as a move from a “housing-first” to a “shelter-first” approach which would focus on establishing temporary beds rather than providing permanent housing to the homeless. He has stated that he does not believe the city has the resources to find permanent housing for all its citizens. He also has proposed establishing a central intake location that would be open at all hours to guide homeless into shelters.

Personal life

Farrell's wife, Liz, was raised in Danville. She was formerly a morning TV news producer. The couple have three children.WEB, Knight, Heather, February 13, 2024, Will Voters in San Francisco Go for a Different Kind of Mayor?,weblink live,weblink February 13, 2024, March 19, 2024, The New York Times,

References

{{reflist}}{{CAGovernment|sourceURL=weblink" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20180125074519weblink">weblink}}

External links

{{Commons category|Mark Farrell}}

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160703061021weblink">Supervisor Mark Farrell via archive.org/web
• Form 700 Disclosures City and County of San Francisco
• Campaign website

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