Mayor Daniel Lurie: ‘San Francisco Needs to Save Itself’

The new mayor discusses his plans for restoring the city’s quality of life and getting the budget under control. He may have some lessons for New York

By Max Raskin. Mr. Raskin is a co-founder and managing director of Uris Acquisitions and an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law. Excerpts:

"public safety is Mr. Lurie’s top priority. He praises District Attorney Brooke Jenkins: “She believes like I do that, if you commit a crime, there needs to be consequences. I know that that might be shocking to say, but we weren’t doing that before.” Ms. Jenkins has been censured by both the state bar and a state appellate court for overzealous prosecutions—a notable change from her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, the Weather Underground scion who was recalled from office in 2022 for barely prosecuting at all."

"He endorsed Proposition 36, a ballot initiative that passed in November, which increased punishment and allows felony charges for more drug and theft crimes, including recriminalization of shoplifting items worth $950 or less."

"“If you are going to walk into a store and you are going to steal things, there are going to be consequences now in San Francisco and in the state of California.”"

"The mayor has made police hiring a priority. The city is understaffed by about 500 officers below the minimum recommended level of 2,000. One of his policy commitments is to close this gap."

"“Property crime is down 30%. Violent crime is down 20% year-over-year. Car break-ins are at a 22-year low.”"

"“I saw good management when I was living in New York under [Mayor Mike] Bloomberg.” Mr. Lurie’s governing style borrows liberally from the billionaire, who served 12 years starting in 2002."

"In a break with previous administrations that were wary of the technology industry, Mr. Lurie regularly attends tech conferences"

"Whereas Mr. Mamdani castigates billionaires, Mr. Lurie courts them. Everyone from Laurene Powell Jobs to Jony Ive is getting involved in partnerships Mr. Lurie and his head of economic development, Ned Segal (a former CFO of Twitter), are establishing."

"It is unusual to hear a Democrat declare, “The era of soaring city budgets and deteriorating street conditions is over.”"

"A former nonprofit executive, Mr. Lurie proposed cutting nonprofit contracting by $185 million"

"He prefers a technocratic future to a socialistic one, and he wants San Francisco to be its capital."