Here's a fun question: What's the point of an ethics fine if someone else pays it for you?

Former Mayor London Breed found herself on the wrong side of the city's Ethics Commission back in 2021, hit with nearly $23,000 in fines for — among other violations — borrowing money for a car repair from Mohammed Nuru, the since-convicted former Public Works director who became the poster child for City Hall corruption. Not a great look.

But don't worry. Breed didn't have to sweat the bill. Ripple co-founder and billionaire Chris Larsen tossed $40,000 into her legal defense fund. Oakland real estate investor Wayne Jordan chipped in another $15,000. The money covered the fines. Problem solved — at least for Breed.

Let's sit with this for a moment. Breed was earning $353,801 a year. She could have written that check herself and still had enough left over for, well, a very nice car repair. Instead, wealthy donors — people with clear interests in city business — footed the bill. That doesn't just undermine the penalty; it makes the entire ethics enforcement apparatus look like theater.

An ethics fine is supposed to sting. It's supposed to make an officeholder think twice before cutting corners. When a billionaire can neutralize that consequence with what amounts to pocket change, you don't have accountability — you have a transaction.

Now there's talk of new rules that would close this loophole, and it's about time. As one SF resident put it bluntly: "Ethics fines must be paid personally by the person fined. If you can't pay the fine, don't do the crime." Hard to argue with that logic.

Another local couldn't resist a jab at the mayoral transition: "Thank goodness we now have a mayor who can pay their ethics fines from their own pocket. Upgrade!"

Look, we're not in the business of assuming the worst about everyone at City Hall. But when the system allows fines designed to enforce integrity to be quietly absorbed by deep-pocketed friends, it's not cynicism to call that broken — it's common sense. Fix the rule. Make it simple. You do the violation, you pay the fine. Full stop.