Daniel Lurie takes aim at San Francisco's current administration, presenting his vision for a safer, more accountable city. Amid campaign controversies, Lurie’s plans for public safety and governance reforms aim to lead San Francisco through its toughest challenges toward a brighter future.
As early as 2017, there were stories about you running for mayor. Do you regret not having run earlier?
Daniel Lurie: I thought about it for a few weeks. But I was also excited as we talked about raising my young daughter for her to see a woman leading our city. It was a proud moment for me. And so, no, I don't regret it. But what I regret is the fact that we've had five and a half years of leadership that has not gotten the job done. This mayor has had her opportunity.
Prior to the campaign, what was your relationship like with Mayor Breed?
I've worked with her on issues of homelessness and getting housing built in The City. I had monthly meetings with her department, and I've worked with every mayor since Gavin Newsom.
Does it feel different to you now than in other times when San Francisco has had big city problems?
I’ve never seen anything like this. People are upset, they're frustrated, they see that we have a $14.6 billion budget. Every single department under this current mayor's leadership has a bigger budget today than they did five and a half years ago. And yet, our outcomes are worse.
You've been critical that Mayor Breed doesn’t work with all sides. How would you do it differently?
The power of the mayor is that you can bring people together. At every step of my career, I've brought people together to get big things done. And as mayor, you have to bring the supervisors along. You are not going to agree with him on everything. It's a constant blame game and it's starting from the top. It's either the district attorney's fault or it's the police chief's fault, or the supervisors’ fault.
Is it London Breed’s fault?
The power in this city rests mostly in the mayor's hands. This mayor has appointed two district attorneys, three or four supervisors, three school board members, the city attorney, the head of the PUC (Public Utilities Commission), and has the power to appoint four out of seven commissioners on the majority of commissions. The (current) mayor blames everybody else.
Why can't we just raise money from private sources and use it to recruit and staff more police?
We need a mayor that prioritizes public safety. And during an election year, this mayor announced that she was defunding the police, and that has repercussions. We cut training academy classes for a couple of years, and now we're playing catch up. I do understand the dynamics back then, but it has left a scar and it has set us back years. We have the resources. We have the money. We need to spend it better.
You formed a committee to support Proposition E on the March ballot, which was Mayor Breed’s idea. Mayor Breed’s campaign said that Daniel Lurie doesn’t have any original ideas. What is your response?
I'm not shy about supporting good ideas, wherever they come from. That's how I will lead as mayor. Public safety shouldn't be a political issue. Now this should have been done five years ago. This could have been done with the Board of Supervisors.
People have been talking about how one million dollars was donated by your mom, Mimi Haas, to support your run for mayor. There’s a portion of the city that believes we don’t need billionaires to save us. How does this type of donation fuel that perception?
I'm incredibly proud of my parents. My stepfather, as you mentioned, is part of the Levi Strauss family, is no longer with us. My mom focused on early childhood education for the last 30 years here in San Francisco. My dad is a rabbi. My values are very clear, and it's about service and it's about community. I had nothing to do with who my mom married and how I was raised in terms of the financial resources that were available to me. I had every opportunity. And what I’m going to ask the voters in November is look at the choices that I've made with my life. If someone wants to come after me because of the money that I have, that's coming. I understand that. That's fair game.
I've heard you mentioned that on day one as mayor, you'd get all of the department heads in a room to justify their budget. How would that meeting work?
I would start with my top 15 department heads, and we'd have a weekly staff meeting of those 15 heads. The idea that that is not happening now should shock everybody. These departments are running their own fiefdoms.
Is San Francisco’s city government corrupt?
There's a lot of corruption in City Hall. I've heard supervisors say it and the mayor has said it. Going back to holding people accountable, I don't think there are many people who have lost their jobs due to just firing. There have been people who have been walked away in handcuffs during these last five and a half years. And that seems to be the only way you lose your job.
The Head of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru, was caught accepting bribes from Recology. Recology also overbilled San Francisco residents by tens of millions of dollars. Despite this, we still grant Recology a residential trash monopoly. Would you change that?
I'm not getting into a specific company. But what I will say is we need to shine a light on all the city contracting.
What’s your view of Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin?
He's smart. He knows where all the bodies are buried. And I heard him say he's afraid of winning (the mayor’s race). He's obviously got a very wry sense of humor. So I'll give them that.
What is something surprising about Daniel Lurie that people would not expect?
I think what people are starting to understand because they see me everywhere is that I don't stop. I will outwork everyone. I am committed to winning this race. We're going to have the resources to win this race. I'm going to go out and earn everybody's vote. And so what people might not know about me, but they will by the time they vote, is that I’m tireless.
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