SF Board of Supervisors vows to work with Mayor Daniel Lurie
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Daniel Lurie, who has never held public office, will now work closely with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, half of which are also inexperienced lawmakers. That may not be a bad thing.
"It's a new day in San Francisco." Those were Lurie's first words when he addressed the Board of Supervisors as San Francisco's new mayor.
Lurie will need the support of most of the 11 supervisors in order to push ahead with his initiatives.
For the new five members of the Board, it will be a learning curve and each of them will need that one person to lead them.
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"They don't know how the system works. They would be well-advised to choose someone with experience," suggested former Board President Aaron Peskin.
That person is newly-elected Board President Rafael Mandelman, the most senior supervisor on the Board who is seen as someone who calls "balls and strikes" -- meaning fair among colleagues despite their political inclinations.
"After six and a half years, I have perspective. I think I am, in terms of position, somewhat in the middle of the board, and I think I'd like to try to work with the Lurie administration and my colleagues over the next two years," Mandelman told ABC7 News.
Here's what to expect over the next two years: a Trump administration that threatens to take funding away from San Francisco over immigration and other policies.
But it appears that butting heads with Mr. Trump is not on Lurie's agenda.
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"I can remember every other politician in this city constantly talking about Trump, but Daniel Lurie was not in that category. Trump needs mayors from throughout the country and if he thinks there can be at least a conversational level with some mayors, including Daniel Lurie, he'll accept that," insisted former Mayor Willie Brown.
Lurie is well-aware of San Francisco's massive budget deficit, estimated to be close to $1 billion over the next two years and cannot jeopardize federal funding.
"It is not going to be fun, it's going to come with some real consequences," projected Peskin.
While massive cuts are expected, Mayor Lurie is pushing ahead with his agenda, which includes adding new shelter beds for the unhoused and increasing the number of police officers in the name of public safety.
"I think the mayor understands that San Franciscans are demanding safety, and I think there's a majority on the Board of Supervisors that support that," anticipated Mandelman.
For the first time in more than six years, the moderate politicians will have a slight majority over the progressives. Lurie, too, is a moderate.
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Incoming supervisor Jackie Fielder, a progressive representing the Mission District, was moving into what will be her new office.
Others were leaving the old Board, which was often described as divisive.
"In general, there is just an era of wanting to get things done and putting those differences aside and the labels don't matter so much. I think there is going to be a lot of interesting decisions made and people may fit in one category one day and another in another so we'll just see what happens," said Supervisor Fielder.
That's why former Mayor Willie Brown says Lurie should ignore who is a moderate and who is a progressive and focus instead on delivering his agenda to voters.
"He's got to try to have 11 votes for everything and he has to make each one of those supervisors aware that he is the mayor, he is the head person in charge," added Brown.
