Mark Farrell (politician)

Mark Farrell
Born	(1974-03-15) March 15, 1974 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Attorney, politician
Years active	2010–present
Known for	44th Mayor of San Francisco, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Mark Ewoldt Farrell (born March 15, 1974) is an American attorney and political figure who held the office of the 44th Mayor of San Francisco from January through July 2018. Before assuming the mayoralty, he served nearly two terms representing District 2 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which includes prominent neighborhoods such as Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, Seacliff, Lake District, Presidio Heights, Jordan Park, Laurel Heights, Presidio, and portions of Russian Hill.

In the 2024 San Francisco mayoral election, Farrell ran as a candidate and placed fourth behind incumbent London Breed, challenger Aaron Peskin, and eventual victor Daniel Lurie.

Early life and education

Born in 1974 to Lena (née Ewoldt), a former flight attendant originally from Probstei near Kiel, Germany, and John Farrell, an ex-Air Force pilot and lawyer who grew up near San Francisco’s Marina District by the Palace of Fine Arts, Mark Farrell spent his childhood summers visiting his cousin’s farm in Probstei.

His education includes attendance at Stuart Hall for Boys and Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University in 1996, followed by a Master’s degree from University College Dublin, and completed his Juris Doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2001.

Private sector career

Farrell initially practiced corporate and securities law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Silicon Valley before transitioning to investment banking with Thomas Weisel Partners. Subsequently, he co-founded Quest Hospitality Ventures, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco that targets hospitality and travel industries. Prior to his entry into elected office, he held a mid-level directorship at Quest Hospitality Ventures—now known as Thayer Ventures—a venture capital firm concentrating on investments in hospitality technology.

Board of Supervisors (2010–2018)

Elected to represent San Francisco’s 2nd district on the Board of Supervisors in November 2010 and re-elected in 2014, Farrell chaired the Budget and Finance Committee. He was also instrumental as a founding member of the committee responsible for San Francisco’s 2016–17 Super Bowl bid and participated on various local and state boards.

Recognized as a centrist politician, Farrell spearheaded initiatives such as a two-year city budget overhaul that restructured retiree health care financing alongside tax credits aimed at supporting small businesses to foster employment growth. He pioneered a collaboration between Kiva.org and San Francisco's Office of Small Business, becoming the first elected official in California to personally endorse Kiva loan recipients.

Farrell advocated for Laura's Law to authorize court-ordered treatment for individuals with mental illness; this legislation was enacted in 2014 and demonstrated promising results by 2018. In 2015, he proposed an ordinance mandating that gun retailers record video footage of sales and submit weekly ammunition transaction reports to law enforcement. Following these measures, San Francisco’s sole firearm dealer ceased operations—an outcome Farrell publicly supported.

2014 Campaign Finance Ethics Violations

In June 2016, Farrell was mandated to return $191,000 identified as improper campaign contributions after the City ethics commission unanimously upheld the prior ruling from the 2014 San Francisco Ethics Commission. These funds originated from only two donors and were expended late in the 2010 election cycle by Common Sense Voters, an independent expenditure group implicated in unauthorized communications involving a campaign consultant. Although Farrell was cleared by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, consultant Chris Lee and Common Sense Voters were found guilty of breaching federal campaign finance regulations. Janet Reilly—who lost to Farrell by 256 votes—filed an additional complaint. Under San Francisco law, candidates are held accountable for staff conduct regardless of their awareness. In response, Farrell filed a lawsuit in May 2016 seeking to block repayment demands but ultimately settled with the City for $25,000 in October 2016.

Appointment

On January 23, 2018, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors selected Farrell as mayor, succeeding acting mayor London Breed, who had stepped in following Mayor Lee's passing on December 12, 2017. Breed subsequently entered the 2018 special election to secure the position permanently.

Approximately three weeks after Mayor Lee’s death, the Board voted to replace Breed with Farrell as acting mayor. Advocates for this decision argued that Breed’s simultaneous roles as supervisor and acting mayor presented a conflict of interest and conferred an electoral advantage. Critics contended that her removal was influenced by racial and gender biases.

After the vote, Farrell took the oath of office administered by City Attorney Dennis Herrera and vacated his seat on the Board of Supervisors. On January 30, he appointed Catherine Stefani to succeed him in that role.

Farrell chose not to participate in the June 5, 2018 special election; Breed emerged victorious and was sworn in on July 11, concluding Farrell’s brief tenure as mayor. She completed the remainder of Lee’s term through January 8, 2020.

To mitigate potential conflicts of interest during his time as mayor, Farrell temporarily stepped away from his responsibilities at Thayer Ventures.

Tenure

Soon after assuming office, Farrell enacted legislation prohibiting the sale of fur products within San Francisco, citing ethical concerns related to animal welfare. At that time, San Francisco became the largest U.S. municipality to implement such a ban.

Farrell was responsible for crafting an $11 billion municipal budget that allocated resources for hiring 250 additional police officers and dedicated over $7 million toward criminal justice reform, including launching a pilot pretrial diversion initiative. The budget also expanded support for homelessness programs such as navigation centers and the Homeward Bound initiative designed to assist homeless individuals in reconnecting with family members outside the city.

He further approved an ordinance banning courts from imposing fines and fees exclusively on formerly incarcerated persons, making San Francisco the first city nationwide to adopt this policy.

Behested payments investigation

During his service as both supervisor and mayor, Farrell arranged $882,500 in "behested payments"—funds solicited from private sources directed to the San Francisco Parks Alliance. This nonprofit later became entangled in a City Hall corruption scandal involving former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru. Additionally, Farrell helped obtain $35,000 in behested payments for the Parks Alliance from Recology, a company subsequently implicated in bribery connected to Nuru.

A 2020 Ethics Commission report highlighted that some of Farrell’s behested payments coincided with lobbying efforts by firms including AT&T, Facebook, and the San Francisco Realtors Association. Notably, Farrell introduced legislation advantageous to AT&T shortly after receiving behested contributions from the company.

Post-mayoralty

Following his departure from office, Farrell resumed his position at Thayer Ventures.

2024 San Francisco mayoral campaign

In February 2024, Farrell announced his candidacy for mayor with the goal of unseating incumbent London Breed. Positioned as the race’s most conservative contender, he campaigned on a centrist, business-oriented platform that contrasted with San Francisco’s traditionally progressive political landscape. His strong name recognition established him as a prominent candidate.

Farrell pledged a "zero-tolerance" approach to crime that included plans to dismiss Police Chief Bill Scott, increase police staffing levels, and boost recruitment at the police academy. He supported detaining individuals administered Narcan by city personnel and directing them toward drug treatment programs. Farrell proposed shifting funding away from community health and welfare initiatives toward public safety efforts, criticizing those programs for failing to deliver results.

On economic matters, Farrell advocated exempting small businesses generating less than $5 million annually from local taxation. He also favored reintroducing vehicular traffic to Market Street, which is currently restricted to pedestrians.

Regarding housing policy, Farrell opposed widespread upzoning measures and instead supported increasing density selectively in neighborhoods already characterized by high density—a position that drew criticism from housing advocates. For addressing homelessness, he committed to clearing large tent encampments within his first year and transitioning from a “housing-first” model to a “shelter-first” strategy emphasizing temporary shelter beds and establishing a centralized 24/7 intake system for shelter placement.

In November 2024, Farrell consented to pay a $108,179 ethics fine for breaching San Francisco’s $500 limit on individual campaign contributions by improperly funneling approximately $93,000 from a political action committee into his mayoral campaign. This penalty represented the largest ever imposed by the city’s Ethics Commission. Farrell attributed the infraction to accounting mistakes and disagreements over staff time allocation; however, investigators found evidence suggesting deliberate commingling of campaign funds.

In the election results, Farrell placed fourth behind winner Daniel Lurie, incumbent Mayor London Breed, and Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin.

Personal life

Farrell is married to Liz, who grew up in Danville and previously worked as a morning television news producer. Together, they are parents to three children.

External links

• Supervisor Mark Farrell via archive.org/web
• Form 700 Disclosures City and County of San Francisco
• Campaign website

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