How SF Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie's diverse transition team hopes to lay groundwork for change
"It's a great blend of people."
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A group of leaders from the tech industry, nonprofit world, and former government officials are hoping their diverse set of experiences will help set up San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie for success before he is sworn into office in January.
On Monday, Lurie announced his new transition team consisting of co-chairs and advisors - with heavy hitters like Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, and former San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
Hayes-White told ABC7 News that she is excited about the coalition Lurie was able to put together.
"It's a great blend of people and I'm sure there will be some pretty interesting exchanges," she said. "We'll take direction from the boss, and I'm sure he'll set out what his goals and priorities are and we'll fill in the blanks for him and offer recommendations and advice. I think what I bring is a commitment as a lifelong San Franciscan to really getting the city back on track, hitting reset, if you will."
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Lurie - who previously founded and ran an anti-poverty nonprofit - said improving public safety will be his number one priority, followed by addressing the behavioral health crisis of the unhoused and revitalizing downtown attractions and business.
With a career in public safety spanning nearly three decades, Hayes-White said she hopes to help Lurie achieve these goals, especially when it comes to addressing the fentanyl epidemic on the streets. The mayor-elect has said that on his first day in office, he will declare a "fentanyl state of emergency."
"We've seen some improvements under Mayor Breed just this last month. I know the fentanyl deaths were down quite significantly, but still way too many. So I think one of the things that we're really going to look at, and that I'm going to recommend looking at, is this crossover that needs to exist between departments instead of working in a silo," Hayes-White said. "Take a look at that, those relationships and see if there's something that we can do a little bit more efficiently."
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Another co-chair Michael Tubbs, became one of the youngest mayors in the country when he was elected as Stockton's mayor in 2016. He said it is one of Lurie's strengths, not weaknesses, that he will be entering City Hall with a fresh perspective as a government outsider. Tubbs said he'll be encouraging Lurie to question why things operate a certain way and not shy away from seeking innovative solutions.
"I think, in fact, the best leaders are the ones who are the most curious, the ones who are most inquisitive," Tubbs said. "It's really a matter of embracing what you don't know, embracing being new, embracing being able to ask questions, because I think a lot of things people take for granted."
The team will have its first meeting on Wednesday. There's no timeline yet of when Lurie's team will announce full-time senior positions like chief of staff.
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Who is on his transition team?
Daniel Lurie's transition team, co-chairs:
- Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI
- Joanne Hayes-White, former SFFD Fire Chief
- José A. Quiñonez, founding CEO of Mission Asset Fund
- Ned Segal, former CFO of Twitter and co-chair of Lurie's mayoral campaign
- Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton
- Nancy Tung, San Francisco prosecutor and chair of SF Democratic Party
- Paul Yep, retired SFPD police commander
Advisors:
- Sara Fenske Bahat: Transition Director
- Ann O'Leary: Transition Counsel
- Ben Rosenfield: Senior Advisor
Lurie is succeeding incumbent Mayor London Breed, who conceded to Lurie on Nov. 7, after election results showed Lurie receiving more first-place ranked-choice votes than Breed.
It is the first time since 1991 that an incumbent mayor has been unseated.
