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Mission Local is publishing campaign dispatches for each of the major contenders in the mayorโs race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Daniel Lurie. Read earlier dispatches here.
Before Daniel Lurie stepped into Just For Fun, a novelty shop at 1957 Union St. selling toys and gifts, he paused.
“I think, as a kid, I got my hair cut down this alley,” he said pointing down Charlton Court, off of Union Street. “Actually, it first was in this store,โ he said, remembering. โThe rent got too high for them, so they moved down the alley.”
“So much has changed,” said Lurie, who grew up in Presidio Heights, some 10 blocks up the hill. This stretch of Union Street in Pacific Heights, he said, has “taken longer to recover” compared to the nearby corridor of Chestnut Street, which is four blocks north.
“Change” was Lurieโs main takeaway from his 90-minute tour of shops on Wednesday morning. The four-block stretch of Union Street from Steiner Street to Laguna Street is about a 30-minute walk from his childhood home.
Even before the pandemic, Lurie said, this block โwas losing steam.”
“Matthew, what do you think?” Lurie asked his campaign’s senior advisor, Matthew Goudeau, who served at the mayor’s office of protocol for some 18 years. “Why has this block has taken longer to rebound than Chestnut or North Beach?”
Before Goudeau could get in a word, Lurie continued. “I mean, the bottom line is that we know this city makes it very hard to get a business up and running.”
Lurie recounted how heavy taxes, fees and the cityโs bureaucracy make it a challenge for businesses to stay afloat. And with that, the merchant walk became a campaign stop as he reiterated his plan to streamline the permitting and inspection process and lower permitting fees.
Bridgette Silva, a Lurie volunteer and the 27-year-old local guide for the morningโs walk, agreed the area has less foot traffic.
“I’ve seen a lot of shops cycle out and back in,” said Silva, who has worked in the area for 10 years, and appears to know the businesses like the back of her hand. “Some have held strong for many, many years.”
West Coast Leather at 2060 Union St., she said, has been there for decades, and “held on strong.” Sacred Tacos, at 1875 Union St., did well the summer it opened, and is still thriving.
The area, she said, “used to be a lot more family-oriented. โฆ I think after covid, it hasn’t seen as much light as it did before.”
In that context, Lurie promises change. That, he tells Vartan Toutikian of Union Street Jewelers, โis coming.โ
Toutikian remembers the San Francisco he moved to some 30 years ago from Paris; people greeted one another on the street. It felt safe, he said. He wants that back.
“That’s all I want: Walking on the street, and seeing everyone safe,” Toutikian said. “Can you change things back to how they were?” he asked Lurie.
“I don’t know about going back to the past,” Lurie said. “But I know I can make the future better.”
After a five-minute visit, Lurie had convinced Toutikian to vote for him.
On he went, to the clothing store Bobby London at 2187 Union St.
“You guys feeling good about things?” asked Bobby London as Lurie entered the shop.
“Good!” Lurie said. “I mean, we’ve got a long way to go.”
“Are you guys ahead in the polls?”
“No. Underdogs,” said Lurie, who ranked first in second-choice votes, but behind London Breed and Mark Farrell as the first-choice vote, according to the most recent San Francisco Chronicle poll.
But, Lurie says, theyโre working hard to change that.
“No one knows us, and no one knew us,” Lurie told Bobby London. “So now, we’ve started over the last couple of weeks, really getting the word out.”
