Two of former Mayor London Breed’s closest allies are speaking publicly for the first time to allege she handed a coveted Board of Supervisors seat to Stephen Sherrill in hopes that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would give her a job in return. It was her final act in office, and Breed has confirmed Bloomberg personally called her to recommend the appointment.

The accusations don’t come from the political periphery, but from two former aides — Conor Johnston and Eric Kingsbury — who shaped her decisions in office and on the campaign trail.

While versions of the allegation have surfaced before (opens in new tab), this is the first time sources with direct knowledge are speaking publicly and their accounts go further than what has been previously reported. 

One of those aides, Johnston, served under Breed for four years, two of them as her supervisorial chief of staff, and remained one of her closest advisors for her entire political career. 

Kingsbury, who managed Breed’s 2024 mayoral campaign, said she made similar statements to him.

Johnston says he has come forward not out of animus against Breed, but out of caution to voters who are considering Sherrill in the June 2 election for the District 2 supervisor seat.

“This, to me, is 100% about Stephen Sherrill and about whether or not we are forced to just accept corruption and plutocracy,” he said. 

During the weekslong appointment process in 2024, from election day on November 5 until mid-December, Breed was despondent, Johnston told The Standard. She allegedly told Johnston her electoral loss to centimillionaire Levi’s heir Daniel Lurie may hurt her ability to care for her family, who are mostly adult relatives. And while Johnston was clear Breed never explicitly mentioned a job offer, she repeatedly told him that her appointment decision was colored by needing a job from Bloomberg.

Prior to being appointed by Breed, Sherrill was the director of the Mayor’s Office of Innovation, which is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies (opens in new tab), and he previously worked in the Bloomberg mayoral administration, among other connections (opens in new tab). 

According to Johnston, Breed told him, ‘“I’m 50 years old. I’m going to be out of a job. I have to worry about my financial future.” She told him that people in the Bloomberg world “are going to hook me up.”

His clearest memory of those conversations was a day just after the election, while he stood in the Redwood grove of the Transamerica Building, speaking to her on the phone. Johnston claims Breed said to him, word for word, “this one’s for me.”

Breed rejected other appointees she had interviewed with decades of experience in the district, one that includes wealthy neighborhoods like the Marina, Cow Hollow, and Pacific Heights. 

Johnston cautioned her against making the appointment, “I would tell her that you can’t do that. It’s a terrible idea, there’s going to be a huge backlash,” Johnston said. “It will undermine your legacy. He’s not even remotely qualified for the appointment.”

The timing of the allegations may prove a liability for Sherrill, as ballots have already landed in voters’ mailboxes for the June election. Lori Brooke, a community activist, has stayed competitive in the D2 race by harnessing voter frustration over Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan, which Sherrill supported.

Breed denies all of Johnston and Kingsbury’s claims.

“I want to be very clear,” she said. “Stephen Sherrill was appointed because I believed he was the best person for the role, based on his experience, qualifications, and ability to serve District 2 and the city effectively.”

The second former Breed staffer to come forward, Kingsbury, was not as close to the mayor. But Kingsbury was in contention for the D2 appointment and said Breed told him nearly identical things. He claims the mayor told him, “I’m making this decision based off of what I’m going to do next, and I don’t have a paycheck in January.” 

A phone call from Bloomberg to Breed helped cement Sherrill’s prospects, Johnston said.

“She told me, ‘Mike Bloomberg called me personally and asked me to appoint Stephen,’” Johnston recalled. Breed also recounted how Bloomberg playfully said he was a bit forgetful lately, and Breed said she replied, “Well, don’t forget about me.”

When asked if Bloomberg called her to recommend Sherrill, Breed told The Standard by text message, “yes.” She denied the other elements of the conversation Johnston recounted.

“Yes, Mike Bloomberg is a friend, and he has been a thoughtful voice and mentor over the years, just as he has been for countless leaders and public servants across the country and the world,” Breed said. “But that is the extent of it … I have always made my own decisions.”

Breed is currently self-employed, running her own consultancy. She participated in the Aspen Institute as an adviser last year, a group with ties to (opens in new tab) Bloomberg Philanthropies.

“I hold a BA from Davis and a master’s from USF; I am deeply experienced, and I have built a long record of public service and leadership that speaks for itself,” she said. “To once again attempt to portray me as a puppet of a man is deeply offensive.” 

Bloomberg Philanthropies and a Bloomberg spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. 

In a statement, Sherrill said, “The appointment process entailed rigorous vetting, interviews, and community input. I am proud of my record of service both as District 2 Supervisor and in my prior roles, and for delivering results for my neighbors and constituents.”

Sherrill is regarded by insiders (opens in new tab) as a reliable vote for the moderate Democrat faction of the board, supporting police-friendly legislation and streamlining the law to make it easier for developers to build housing. In his district, Sherrill has worked to install safety lights (opens in new tab) to deter crime in Jefferson Square Park, and proposed making Union Street an “entertainment zone (opens in new tab)” to allow more outdoor events.

Breed’s City Hall advisors have maintained they had no knowledge of discussions with Bloomberg, though some warned her that the perception of favoritism would exist should she appoint Sherrill. 

In November, word reached Johnston that Breed had been telling other people, including Kingsbury, that her concern for a Bloomberg job was influencing her appointment decision.

On Dec. 3, he heard she would imminently announce Sherrill’s appointment. That same day, concerned her words would implicate her, Johnston said he and another Breed confidant rushed to City Hall to convince Breed of two things: not to appoint Sherrill, and to stop telling people about the Bloomberg connection, lest she be accused of a crime.

To corroborate his claims, Johnston showed The Standard text messages and other documentation from Dec. 2024 that, while not detailing Breed’s plans on their own, provide supporting evidence.

Johnston says he arrived at Breed’s office with a printout of relevant state and federal statutes. He warned Breed that former Illinois Gov. Rob Blagojevich was jailed for attempting to sell or trade (opens in new tab) President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, and he worried that such a deal may not need to be consummated for it to be criminal.

Johnston also showed The Standard the document with the legal framework, and showed the Microsoft Word file’s printout history, which was on Dec. 3, the day of the meeting. Another Standard reporter witnessed Johnston arriving at City Hall that same day. 

A Dec. 3 morning text message Johnston wrote to Breed said, “I need to see you in person ASAP. You home or at CH?” meaning City Hall.

When he arrived, he said, “I walked her through what I thought was the potential illegality of this move, and said, you really, really can’t do this, aside from the terrible ethics and appearances of it, it’s potentially illegal.”

After the meeting, Johnston and Breed exchanged heated text messages. 

“You coming to my office today with (REDACTED) was not a good idea. You should have just said hold off on decision [sic] until we talked,” she wrote. “I was in the middle of press stuff and couldn’t finish. I wish you would have been more considerate.”

He replied, “I’m trying to look out for you. It was urgent since you called Eric and said you were making a decision. And I didn’t want to do phones. It’s bad and we’re worried.”

Sean McMorris, a government transparency advocate from California Common Cause, said that appointing someone based on the prospect of personal enrichment rather than merit may not be unlawful, especially without an explicit agreement. 

“The ethics, however, are cut and dry: You don’t make appointments based on the prospect of self-enrichment,” McMorris said. “You appoint based on merit, qualifications, and what’s best for your constituents.”

Johnston is an imperfect messenger — he’s known as a provocateur who has reportedly donned a hippo costume to antagonize candidates. Reports have recently alleged he registered a van painted with anti-Saikat Chakrabarti messaging. Johnston was also in contention for the D2 appointment against Sherrill, and Breed’s allies have suggested he may hold a grudge.

At the time of Sherrill’s appointment, The Standard spoke to multiple insiders for background information about Breed’s process. They made it clear Breed was not seriously considering most of the appointees she spoke to, and told some of them she seemed to be speaking to them only out of courtesy.

Johnston was adamant that Sherrill’s appointment process was a cakewalk.

“Stephen’s defense of this issue to date has been that, ‘Oh no, this wasn’t corrupt. I went through a rigorous vetting and evaluation process, which is 100% horseshit.” Johnston said. “He was telling people weeks in advance that he was getting the appointment, and the mayor told me three days after the election that he was going to get the appointment.”

Johnston understands that coming forward has a cost: it will likely end his decade-plus friendship with Breed.

“On her way out the door, (she) sold her soul to one of the richest guys in the world because she thought she needed to,” Johnston said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”