That's the story emerging around London Breed's appointment of Stephen Sherrill to the District 2 supervisor seat. According to two former Breed staffers, the mayor said she'd appoint Sherrill specifically to curry favor with Michael Bloomberg — yes, that Bloomberg. Not because Sherrill was the best candidate for the residents of District 2. Not because his policy vision aligned with what the neighborhood needed. Because it was politically useful for London Breed.

Let that sink in for a moment. An entire district's representation was allegedly treated like a chess piece in a game that had nothing to do with the people living there.

What makes this worse — and honestly, it takes effort to make it worse — is that Breed's own advisor flagged the move and warned her against it. She reportedly went ahead anyway. That's not just bad judgment. That's the kind of brazen transactional politics that erodes whatever thin thread of public trust City Hall has left.

Now Sherrill is running to keep the seat in a proper election, which means voters will get to decide whether an appointment born from alleged backroom dealing deserves democratic legitimacy. That's the system working, albeit belatedly.

But the bigger question is about accountability. San Francisco has spent years watching its leaders treat public offices like party favors — handing out appointments, contracts, and influence to the politically connected while the city's finances bleed and basic services deteriorate. Every time we learn about another deal cut behind closed doors, it reinforces what most residents already suspect: the people running this city are looking out for themselves first.

District 2 voters deserve a supervisor who got the job because of them, not because of Bloomberg. Let's hope they remember that in November.