In December, Lurie ordered departments (opens in new tab) to come up with $400 million in reductions, including eliminating discretionary programs, restructuring departments, reducing citywide work orders by 10%, centralizing duplicative expenses, and proposing near-term investments to save money in the long term.
The mayor’s office gave each department a “reduction target.” While some departments have bowed to the mayor’s demands and hit their marks, others are refusing to go along and are articulating their reasons in writing.
In City Hall bureaucratese, they’re essentially telling Lurie to go kick rocks.
Resistors include the San Francisco Fire Department, which argued in its budget submission that meeting the mayor’s mandates would harm emergency response time. The department is asking for $385.6 million — $11 million more than its target and $7 million more than it was allotted last year.
“Any reduction of that scale would have material impact to the front-line emergency services that the department is responsible for,” the department wrote.
The police are asking for $693.7 million — $11.3 million over the target — though SFPD staff noted that ongoing negotiations with the police union may change the financial landscape.
The pushback on budget cuts by the fire and police departments is not necessarily surprising considering the mayor’s priority of funding public safety agencies. But they’re not alone.
Departments that haven’t fully hacked away at their budgets include the Agency for Human Rights, Ethics Commission, Human Services Agency, and War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.
Mayor’s ofice spokesperson Kate Poltrack said federal budget cuts are driving the city’s deficit to historic levels.
“Our office will work collaboratively” with departments and others, she said, “to deliver a responsible budget that prioritizes core service.”
Turning in budgets that don’t do as the mayor asks is a common tactic by city departments, and last year such maneuvers bore fruit: The district attorney’s office and other public safety agencies were spared cuts after playing chicken with Lurie.
Not every department saw success with the strategy, though: After departments like Homelessness and Supportive Housing refused his order, Lurie seized control of their budgets and slashed them anyway. — J.F.R. and G.G.
Got tips? Send to us at [email protected]. Programming note: Power Play will be off Sunday.
PROTESTER VS. PRESSER: A Wednesday press conference called by Lurie, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, and the Building & Construction Trades Council’s Rudy Gonzalez saw 10 protesters chanting “Tax the rich” throughout. The half-hour briefing was supposed to celebrate a proposal to spur development.
But the chant took a darker turn. During Gonzalez’s speech, a woman was heard yelling “Tax the Jews” and “Tax Israel,” a video obtained by Power Play shows. While the video does not show the protesters, the antisemitic shouts can be heard coming from a single person.
“Suggesting that Jews are wealthy is a tired trope, and targeting our community at an event focused on creating economic opportunity for San Franciscans is decidedly antisemitic,” Lurie said afterward. “I will never accept hate directed at the Jewish community or any community in our city. Those are not San Francisco values — we’re better than that.”
San Francisco’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, whose members were part of the protest, said in a statement that the culprit was not affiliated with their group: “DSA members and other protesters asked her to stop, but she refused. We want to be clear that whatever hate she holds isn’t shared by DSA members, and we categorically reject antisemitism.” (DSA has been highly critical of the U.S. government’s support for Israel.)
Christin Evans, a small-business owner who attended the protest, told Power Play that the woman who made the remarks was a passerby. — G.G.
The Democratic County Central Committee is revealing its endorsements for the June election. | Source: Manuel Orbegozo for The Standard
DCCC ENDORSEMENT: San Francisco’s political establishment revealed its preferences Wednesday night for the June election, as the Democratic County Central Committee issued its coveted endorsements.
On the June ballot: supervisor races in Districts 2 and 4, a school board seat, a judicial contest, and two ballot measures: an earthquake safety bond and one that would strengthen term limits.
Three incumbents — Supervisors Stephen Sherrill and Alan Wong, along with school board President Phil Kim — secured the DCCC’s endorsement. Since 2024, the governing body of the local Democratic Party has shifted from a progressive majority to a more moderate and YIMBY-aligned body, and both Sherrill and Wong have been given the stamp of approval for supporting Lurie’s upzoning plan.
Sherrill’s main challenger in District 2, Lori Brooke, drew some support, including from former supervisor and DCCC member Michela Alioto-Pier. In District 4, Wong’s opponents, Natalie Gee and Albert Chow, won backing from some members. But Wong’s incumbency, along with Lurie’s influence, had solidified his path to endorsement.
In the judicial race, prosecutor Phoebe Maffei received the nod over public defender Alexandra Pray.
Both of the ballot measures sailed through with “yes” endorsements, but the controversial term-limit charter amendment resulted in a closer vote. — H.L.
LOVE ME NOT: Speaking of the west side’s electoral slugfest: Wong, Gee and Chow will duke it out Thursday at a District 4 candidate forum hosted by Sunset United Neighbors. Other candidates are getting the cold shoulder: David Lee, the San Francisco State University politics professor and theater performer Jeremy Greco.
Greco is a newcomer, so that’s not a surprise. But Lee has run for both state Assembly and for supervisor of the Richmond. He has raised more than $31,000. While it’s not as much as Wong’s $72,000 or Gee’s $143,000, once he receives public financing, he will be on even footing.
So why exclude him?
Insiders note that moderate Democrats think of Lee as a spoiler, pulling attention, donations, and other resources away from his fellow moderate-aligned District 1 candidate Marjan Philhour, and contributing to their collective loss in 2020 against Supervisor Connie Chan. There’s speculation that moderate-aligned groups may be afraid Lee will play spoiler for Wong, with whom he’d naturally share votes.
Selena Chu, a board member of SUN, told Power Play there’s a simple reason for excluding other candidates: The group polled its members on who they wanted to see at their forum, and Lee polled at 2%. While Chu declined to provide numbers for the other candidates, she said Wong, Gee, and Chow polled far higher.
Ultimately, Chu said, the group wanted to ensure that working families aren’t stuck at a political event for hours.
“How early do D4 people sleep? Quite early. We want to be respectful to our membership. We hope [Lee] understands,” she said. — J.F.R.
Source: Great Highway for Everyone campaign
Source: Sunset Dunes supporters
DESIGN BATTLE: The never-ending saga over the Great Highway is entering its final, farcical phase. Supporters of reopening the roadway to cars have filed paperwork seeking another ballot measure, launching a campaign called “Great Highway for everyone.” They’ve rolled out a logo (opens in new tab) featuring a family of four strolling along the beach at sunset, seemingly enjoying the coastline.
Backers of Sunset Dunes say the imagery only helps their cause. “It appears that even Sunset Dunes opponents recognize that San Franciscans love our coastal park free of car pollution and danger,” said Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Sunset Dunes. “Please give them our thanks for designing a campaign graphic for us.”
But the trolling didn’t stop there.
Lux and his supporters quickly unveiled a redesigned, AI-generated version of the logo — depicting a traffic-choked roadway lined with cars and exhaust fumes. “Here’s one they can use that shows what they’re actually advocating for,” Lux said. The text at the bottom of the AI-altered logo: “Are we seriously still talking about this?”
Jamie Hughes, the campaign spokesperson, said Lux should get his eyes checked, noting that the family in the original image is on the beach, not in the park. “As seen with the ‘Sunset Dunes project,’ clearly their only focus continues to be making a mockery of our beautiful coast.” — H.L.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly included Public Works in a list of departments that did not meet its budget target from the mayor last year.