Daniel Lurie, the first-time candidate, made it official this morning: He is San Francisco’s next mayor, and a public servant who will likely work for free.
“I have to talk to the city attorney about salary. I don’t anticipate taking one, but I have to talk to him about that,” said Lurie, the Levi Strauss heir to a crowd of supporters, campaign staffers, and reporters at St. Mary’s Square in Chinatown on Friday morning. This was the mayor-elect’s first public address since election night.
As for his own wealth, which enabled him to pour more than $8.6 million into the campaign, Lurie said he will put all of his holdings into a blind trust on Day One. He takes office on Jan. 8.
Lurie said he received a “gracious call” from Mayor London Breed on Thursday, who conceded the race to Lurie that afternoon, and said she will work with him on a smooth transition.
“Your voices and your call for accountable leadership, service and change have been heard,” Lurie said reflecting on his 13-month-long campaign. “I stand before you, humbled and inspired with the great honor and privilege of serving you, the people of San Francisco, as your next mayor.”
The press conference was scant on details but did offer a couple: He will declare a fentanyl state of emergency on Day One, as he promised on the campaign trail, and he said public safety would be his “No. 1 priority” including focusing on drug dealing. “We’re gonna get tough,” he said.
He reiterated the issues he promised to address during his administration: street cleanliness and safety, drug and behavioral health crises, City Hall corruption and ineffective bureaucracy, housing affordability, small businesses and downtown revitalization.
Lurie acknowledged the challenges ahead: Both San Francisco’s own economic and social challenges and those brought about by the ascent of a second Trump administration. But as to how to prepare for such challenges, the mayor-elect laid out some high-level, common-sense promises, but scant details were revealed during the 15-minute press conference.
Lurie said he will build a world-class administration but didn’t offer any names of who will be on his team — only promising that the administration will “reflect the diversity” of the city. “The people I hire and appoint will not be in service to me, but to all of you and your desire to have a City Hall that works and listens to you,” the mayor-elect promised.
As for the looming fear and worry among San Franciscans in the face of four years of Trump, Lurie, who has “serious disagreement with President Donald Trump,” offered reassurance. “San Francisco will stand up for the rights of all of our neighborhoods,” he said. “We will never turn a blind eye to racism, bigotry, or anti-Asian hate.” He said his disagreements with the Trump administration would not stop him from doing work here in San Francisco.
Fielding questions from the press, Lurie did not say whether he would fire the police chief, and said he would not interfere in the process of Breed appointing a new District 2 supervisor when the incumbent Catherine Stefani leaves for her new job as a California Assemblymember. He was one of the few candidates who declined to offer voters a list of those he would fire, saying that he instead would interview all department heads in the first months of his administration.
As for the San Francisco Unified School District budget that will drop next week, Lurie said he will work with Maria Su, the new superintendent.
And as for the persisting illegal street-vending issue plaguing the Mission District, Lurie didn’t offer solutions, but assures that it will be his focus in the Mission and every corner of the city.
“We have change coming on Jan. 8, 2025,” Lurie said in closing. “This city will rise again.”
If Lurie is smart (and I believe he is), he will vigorously seek to shift the toxic environment (in SF and at City Hall) where tribal infighting, blaming, shaming and slamming others with whom one disagrees is a daily occurrence. In these unprecedented times with Trump and the fascists seeking to create a terrifying “New World Order” (Musk’s words) and while SF scrambles to avert looming fiscal collapse, chaos in our public schools and on public transit and the threat of increased homelessness and an eviction tsunami, the People require creative thinking and problem solving from our leaders. We need an Abraham Lincolnesque Team of Rivals and we need our electeds to truly selflessly focus on deep problem solving and protections for our most vulnerable San Franciscans. All together now. We have no time to waste. The stakes could not be more dire.
It is wonderful he’s going to “get tough.”
If he needs more talking points:
https://youtu.be/j0uCrA7ePno