Every four years, over 500,000 San Francisco voters elect the highest paid mayor in the United States. However, in this particular January 8 inauguration, Daniel Lurie became the city’s first billionaire mayor. This fact caught public attention when he renounced all but $1 of the offered $364,582 salary. Lurie is now taking action on issues that were central to his campaign: the highest rate of homelessness in the U.S. per capita, the fentanyl crisis and the post-COVID decline of downtown San Francisco. Armed with a $15.9 billion dollar budget but with no prior political experience, the question of his qualification remains: will he prove to be novel or a novice?
Many politicians who have worked with him have noted his humble and engaging personality. Ben Rosenfield, former City Controller and member of Lurie’s transition team, observed Lurie’s introduction to City Hall. “He wanted to understand how the place worked. He wanted to understand details. He took the time to get to know people and hear them,” he said.
Julia Howe ’26 enjoys his charisma. “He takes a very hands-on approach to being mayor. On his Instagram, he’s doing vlogs and chatting to people in Chinatown,” she said.
Skeptics of the San Francisco mayor are often critical of the biases at play which may have allowed him to win the mayoral race in the first place. “I don’t love that he’s a billionaire with zero political experience, and got elected for that reason. In a lot of ways, it feels like a continuation of the previous mayor’s policy but rebranded by a billionaire white guy,” said an anonymous man in corporate attire outside City Hall. Lurie has deep pockets for advertising and connections, exemplified by his $13 million campaign. His runner-up, London Breed only spent $4.2 million. Additionally, many questioned the race and gender biases at play. Voters clearly favored a white man over a Black woman despite that both championed the same policies. The margin between Lurie and Breed was greater than anticipated. Breed conceded the mayorship in two days since over half the voters had ranked Lurie as their first choice alone.
A parallel phenomenon took place in the presidential election, which featured a battle between a white man and a woman of color. Trump won at breakneck speed: two hours after the last polls closed. That race was predicted to be extremely close (falsely, as the president won by 86 points in the electoral college). These figures suggest an underlying factor that contributes to the unforeseen approval of white male politicians.
For most of Lurie’s philanthropic career, he has concentrated on his poverty-fighting nonprofit, Tipping Point. On March 17, Lurie launched the “Breaking the Cycle Program,” which aims to “transform the city’s health and homeless response” through the Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance.
On April 24, his administration launched a round-the-clock stabilization center where police can drop off people in need of medical attention. The station is specially equipped to deal with drug overdose or behavioral health problems. On Instagram, Lurie noted that this aims to alleviate the stress of general hospitals while helping police officers spend their time more efficiently, so they can get “back out on the street doing their jobs.”
Lurie’s response to the fentanyl crisis aligns with his doctrine on the surface: human dignity is at the forefront of the operation. “When he saw someone who was experiencing a fentanyl overdose, he was there with them, asking ‘What do you need? How can I help you?’” said Howe.
However, workers at drug treatment facilities expressed outrage this April when he imposed strict restrictions on all city-funded drug treatment programs due to a rise in overdose deaths in the last several months. “[Lurie’s plan is] moronic and antithetical to what we know works,” Laura Guzman, who works at the National Harm Reduction Coalition, said. She stated that government regulation on treatment services limits the number of patients nonprofits are able to help.
Of all the mayoral candidates, only Lurie could speak on non-mayoral past action. “I’m the only candidate that’s housed nearly 40,000 people,” he said in the official election guide. This may have appealed to voters who were tired of empty promises and reflects the shared sentiment that City Hall politics are stagnant. Lurie wielded this frustration by villainizing “insider” politicians: “The City Hall insiders who created this mess are not the ones to get us out.” In working with Lurie, Rosenfield also noted his unique background: “The five [mayors] I’ve worked with all had political roots, either in City Hall or in Sacramento state government, and he came from outside of it,” he said.
When it comes to downtown, he is focusing on revitalizing the empty malls and streets formerly bustling with commerce. He is aiming to both improve transparency and make tax cuts on businesses. So far, many corporations, like Zara, have opened new locations downtown.
While many agree that tech and AI companies are key to revamping the downtown employment landscape, Lurie believes that San Francisco is the perfect breeding ground for a climate tech revolution. His Downtown Climate Innovation Hub has opened its first location on California Street.
The detailed plans for action are rolling out, but they are being produced without the perspective of the communities that will be affected the most. “One concern I have is that he’s trying to have all the fast action, but he isn’t concentrating on how policy making is actually equitable and fair, because his plan involves concentrating shelters in poor and historically Black neighborhoods,” Howe said.
It is too early to tell whether Lurie’s mayorship will leave behind a long-term legacy. “He just got in there. Let’s see how he keeps progressing,” Bree Cruz, a San Franciscan, said. It is difficult to balance an active government with care for—and input from—all those affected, especially with nearly a million residents in the city. The public is optimistic: “He’s doing good work so far,” Cruz said.
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