Six Months In
In this episode: Lurie’s early tenure: budget “chops”, Labubus, and a surprising IG game; creative coffee drinks for actual coffee lovers1:39: A recap and assessment of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s first six months in office, based on how he’s handled the City budget, homelessness, crime, business, and communications.2:19: Lurie and the Board of Supervisors just came to terms on the City’s budget, closing a projected deficit of over $800 million. Getting there involved some speedbumps—including a protestor at a public hearing cutting off her hair in the hopes of that being “the only chop”.4:33: Lurie had previously demanded that all city departments slash their budgets by 15%, but in the version that passed, 31 of 52 departments actually got increases!5:46: On the campaign trail, Daniel Lurie’s signature campaign pledge was that he would add 1,500 shelter beds in the first six months of his term. He achieved 195 net new beds, and now, his administration says they have a good reason why his goal is being scrapped.8:50: Crime is generally down, and SFPD funding is still increasing, but Lurie’s administration has traded one area beleaguered with open-air drug use (Civic Center) for another (Mission & 16th).12:09: Decisive action is apparently coming to significantly reduce the number of RVs squatting long-term in a handful of City neighborhoods.14:00: Lurie has moved especially quickly to tackled the red tape that has snarled small businesses in the city, introducing a well-received “PermitSF” program.15:37: Lurie has lived up to expectations of being friendly to the tech industry, from convincing Databricks to recommit to SF to giving Waymo special privileges. The retail revival has been slower, but Nintendo and Pop Mart should hopefully be a shot in the arm for Union Square.17:42: Lurie doesn’t have a naturally magnetic persona, but he has been a surprisingly effective communicator via social media videos. He has emerged as the City’s “cheerleader in chief” while raising awareness of his administration’s initiatives, hyping local small businesses, and coming across as responsive and relatable.20:12: One topic he has steadfastly avoided is Donald Trump, practically treating that name like Voldemort’s.21:44: New and buzzworthy on the coffee scene are Cafe Shoji and Warriors star Jimmy Butler’s pop-up Bigface. A more established, and still massively underrated spot for creative drinks for caffeine connoisseurs is The Coffee Movement. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sfworks.substack.com
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