Daniel Lurie used to avoid two topics, but now leans into them: Levi Strauss’ fortune and San Francisco’s “strong mayor” system.
“I’m okay with that. I run towards that,” Lurie said on Tuesday evening when speaking of his family background at a meet-and-greet at the Dolby Chadwick Gallery. During the first minute of his talk, he addressed his relationship to Levi Strauss, proudly noting the company’s dedication to its workers and LGBTQ employees, and its history of desegregated factories in the South. “We need more businesses like that here in San Francisco.”
Later, he also acknowledged San Francisco’s strong mayoral system. “You have power as mayor,” he said, promising accountability on Day One. “I’m not going to shy away from that. I’m going to lean into that.”
The first of three meet-and-greets this week started like the others: with Lurie’s pitch to the audience. The candidate spoke of his track record running the nonprofit Tipping Point; his activist rabbi father, Brian; his stepfather’s family business (Levi Strauss) and its San Franciscan values; his mantra of accountability; and his priorities of public safety, mental health and the drug crisis, and cutting red tape at City Hall.
After the 15-minute pitch came questions from the audience, accompanied by free-flowing wine or sparkling water. But on Tuesday, there was also advice — from Matt Gonzalez, the chief attorney at the public defender’s office and a 2003 mayoral candidate for the Green Party. Gonzalez also served one term as District 5 supervisor from 2001 to 2005.
After losing to Newsom by a 53-47 tilt — which translated to 14,187 votes at the time — Gonzalez didn’t seek re-election to the Board of Supervisors and was succeeded as president by Aaron Peskin.
“I’m sorry, Matt Gonzalez, I’m going to put you on the spot for just a second,” said co-host Kem Theilig, who saved the last few minutes of the event for the former politician and one of the artists shown by the gallery.
“So Matt Gonzalez, public defender, who’s been in your position …” Theilig continued, turning to Lurie.
“Well not exactly in your position. I lost the mayoral race,” Gonzalez said, prompting laughter from the audience.
“And we are gonna win!” Lurie followed up quickly.
Gonzalez praised Lurie’s message on accountability, which he believes voters are seeking this election.
The personal values of a candidate are also important, Gonzalez told the candidate.
“Maybe they don’t know what your position is going to be, some transportation issue or some bond issue, or who knows what,” Gonzalez said. “But they trust that you have the right values to go in there and sort it out.”
And the third thing, Gonzalez said, is to fix city problems with long-term solutions.
“Totally, I get it,” Lurie said, nodding along as he heard the advice. “That’s why I actually think my experience with Tipping Point for 20 years, understanding this long[-term] thing is perfectly suited for this moment … I know how to hold nonprofits accountable.”
For his part, Gonzalez said nothing he heard on Tuesday changed his mind. He still ranks former colleague Peskin as his first choice, and Lurie as second. “I like him very much, and I like Aaron very much,” Gonzalez said. “They are very different candidates.”
Asked to elaborate, Gonzalez demurred. “I don’t really have time, because I’m going to go put the little guy to sleep,” he said, pointing to his newborn baby and making his way out of the gallery.
But for Chadwick, the gallery owner who met Lurie for the first time that night, things had definitely changed. “I was really, really excited and impressed,” she said, adding that she thinks Lurie is “so smart and thinking from a practical perspective and a political perspective.”
He has her vote — and a donation, she said.
It would be great if Levi Strauss, and Dan Lurie himself, didn’t green wash the company, or maybe even tried to uses fair labor practices around the world.
They are one of only a few big clothing corps that have not signed any sort of accord after the Rana Plaza tragedy in 2013, when thousands of workers died as a result of factory conditions. The accord itself is barely even acceptable, but it is a start.
Levi Strauss *has* been excellent at SEO, making sure most of the first pages of search point toward all that they have “done.” However: https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/no-justice-no-jeans-unions-fight-for-levis-workers-around-the-world/
For those who were here in the 1990s and early 2000s, people were quick to point out Gap for the same reasons.
Just saying. Maybe bringing up his pride in his family fortune would sit better if it wasn’t built on the backs of humans a world away.
Where is Lurie’s support for SF tenants? Why should renters vote for an old-money richie who’s never had to work?
Lurie’s running for mayor and sends his kids (ages 10 and 13) to private school. Seriously, he’s going to fix SFUSD without even having an interest in being a basic stakeholder? Does he ever ride MUNI or BART? Go grocery shopping at a supermarket or pick up a prescription at Walgreens? His reality and lived experience is so far away from the day-to-day experience of working San Franciscans, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll do anything to help the majority of residents or fix anything. He’s also said he had no political ambitions beyond being mayor of SF… where have we heard that before? Oh, yeah, Ed Lee said he wasn’t going to run after serving his appointed term and, oh, look! He lied.
All I see and hear is a privileged individual attempting to buy his way into City Hall. Absolutely disgusting.
We wuz robbed in 2003 !!
I laugh when I tell friends that we were the last election fixed with actual paper ballots.
Matt will have none of such discussions or whether Adachi and Gulickson were murdered either.
Over the past 70 years I’ve seen and supported and worked for a lot of candidates and the best were Adlai Stevenson and Eugene McCarthy and Bernie Sanders and Matt Gonzalez was and is head and shoulders above them all.
In 4 years Matt spawned Ranked Choice Voting and put Board of Supe choices on the Elections and Planning and Board of Appeals and Police and DBI for a start.
He was a visionary who invited a presentation from a Scottish Tidal Power Company with a design to wrap a Pollution Free Unit under the Southern leg of the Golden Gate Bridge that would more than power the City and that went away with his political career too.
Lurie’s an honestly good guy and I’ve had coffee with him a couple of times and I live next door to his kids school which is Quaker and he’ll stop to talk with his dog and wife as my dog and I pick up trash and scrape crap around 3 square blocks now every morning.
Matt and Mano handle 23.000 cases a year so Matt’s hardly out of the Public Eye.
Gimme Peskin for a serious change under da Dome with Daniel Second and Safai Third cause don’t waste a chance to vote for someone.
h.
This story would be amusing except that if Matt Gonzalez were able to run today, he would be the best mayoral candidate by far.
Amusing too is his matter-of-fact comment that he “lost” when he ran for mayor almost… twenty years ago.
I’ve always been curious about that.
Who else suspects that Gavin Newsom found ways to steal that election in the runoff?
Since, Gonzalez appears to have adapted to the world as it exists. For his sake, I hope he hasn’t yet made peace with it.
In capitalist society today, the ablest among us tinker for reforms, but sadly, far too many seek salvation from the rich.