It’s a novel concept: San Francisco, clean.
Not just during Dreamforce. Not just when international leaders come to town. And not just because City Hall wants a neighborhood to look pretty for the cameras.
In his first remarks after taking office, Mayor Daniel Lurie announced a bevy of plans to tackle San Francisco’s visible sidewalk ills.
A slate of emergency declarations around fentanyl. A new “police-friendly” drop-off center that provides an alternative to jail. A “hospitality zone” for police and other city agencies to concentrate and coordinate efforts to revive downtown.
Addressing a crowd of roughly 2,600 dignitaries and government apparatchiks, and hundreds of onlookers, Lurie pledged to expand the Journey Home program that buses people living on San Francisco streets to loved ones in other cities. Additionally, he promised, police and 911 personnel will be fully staffed under his administration.
“Recovery is possible, but it needs to be more than a possibility in San Francisco — it must be our mission,” Lurie told the crowd. “Together, we can all get better, do better, and return San Francisco to its rightful place as the greatest city in the world.”
Lurie appears to be trying to thread the needle of changing street conditions while acting humanely. Perhaps to the surprise of some, the details for his plans show a recognition of the need to respect the unhoused.
For example, the crisis drop-off zone is aimed at people who need a behavioral health specialist rather than treatment in an emergency room — or jail. The initial capacity for the drop-off center will be 16 beds, and it is expected to serve 9,000 people annually. If the pilot concept works, the administration is primed to expand it.
Lurie’s plans for a fentanyl state of emergency, which he promised on the campaign trail, would free up resources and cut red tape, allowing city officials to act more quickly. A single contract can take up to six months for approval, Lurie said.
If there was a theme in Lurie’s speech, it was “accountability.” He used some variation of the word six times.
“You voted for accountability and change — a clear mandate that my administration will work to fulfill every single day,” he vowed.
One word that wasn’t in the speech was “Trump.”
Lurie touched on the threat to immigrants and LGTBQ+ rights in a single moment, saying San Francisco must be a city where everyone feels safe and valued. But for all his plans for cleaning streets — he promised a safe and welcoming environment “not just when there’s a conference in town” — Lurie provided scant information on how he’ll protect San Franciscans from the president-elect, who could threaten the city’s budget and target undocumented immigrants.
Another test is the Board of Supervisors, which has five new members. They’ll need to approve Lurie’s fentanyl ordinances, which may be the first demonstration of their relationship with the mayor.
“As you can see that it’s a very diverse group of people coming together,” said Supervisor Connie Chan, smiling for a photo. “It’s a new day in San Francisco, and I’m ready for it.”
The board will also need to approve Lurie’s plans to open the floodgates to philanthropic donations to fund city government initiatives.
Government staff are barred from raising private funds for these causes, a practice known as “behested payments.” Lurie plans to seek a waiver for behested payments, much like former Mayor London Breed did to raise private funding for a panda enclosure at the zoo.
Lurie called private money a “critical requirement” to fund his policy initiatives.
At other points during his speech, Lurie alluded to the city’s dire fiscal outlook while offering few specifics on how he plans to close the budget.
He said San Francisco needs to make “painful decisions” and “stop spending more than we can afford,” perhaps foreshadowing plans to make cuts in an effort to plug the estimated $876 million two-year deficit. To the small-business community, he pledged that “the era” of a restaurant going through 40 city inspections and netting 50 confusing answers “is over.”
Whatever his answers will be, Lurie gave hints that some of them may not be flashy.
“Better coordination between departments may not sound sexy, but it’s going to be a hallmark of this administration,” Lurie said.
To many San Franciscans, that’s probably fine — as long as the solutions actually work.