By Evan Ward
Daniel Lurie took the oath as San Francisco’s 46th mayor Wednesday. In his first act, he promised swift action in the city’s fight against fentanyl, homelessness, and public safety woes. Lurie laid out his 100-day roadmap to recovery in a speech heavy on accountability and urgency.
“This city has hit rock bottom,” Lurie said, recounting a sobering visit to San Francisco General Hospital’s neonatal unit. There, he saw babies fighting to recover from fentanyl exposure.
“Standing in that nursery, surrounded by tiny lives already burdened by our failures, I made a promise: We will turn this city around,” he said. Lurie announced a package of Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinances to make drug enforcement a round-the-clock priority. “The fentanyl crisis doesn’t clock out at 5 p.m., and neither will we.”
The San Francisco Police Department and Sheriff’s Department will redirect resources to tackle open-air drug markets, and a 24/7 “Drop Off Center” will open in spring, offering alternatives to jail or hospital for those battling addiction and mental health crises.
Homelessness in San Francisco, with nearly 8,000 people on the streets, is “a moral failing,” Lurie said. “Tolerance doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to suffering or letting safety slip away.”
He committed to streamlining city services with a single Street Conditions Dashboard to coordinate responses. Behavioral health specialists will join first-responder units. Lurie’s administration also plans to bolster nonprofit service providers and expand programs like The Journey Home, which reconnects homeless individuals with support systems outside the city.
“This isn’t about good intentions. It’s about results,” he said. “The era of scattered efforts is over.”
Lurie pledged to rejuvenate the city’s downtown core, launching a Hospitality Zone Task Force to keep Union Square, Market Street, and Moscone Center safe and vibrant year-round. “Not just when a conference is in town. Every single day.”
Small businesses will see relief with fewer bureaucratic hurdles. “The days of a new restaurant navigating 40 inspections and 50 answers are over,” he said.
Faced with the city’s largest-ever budget deficit, Lurie promised tough choices. Essential services—police, EMTs, firefighters—will see no cuts, but every dollar spent will be scrutinized. “We’ve been living beyond our means. That stops now.”
Lurie spoke of San Francisco as a beacon for human rights but acknowledged rising hate crimes and threats to LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities. “This city must remain a safe haven. We’ll stand firm against discrimination and fight for dignity for all.”
Borrowing Harvey Milk’s words, Lurie closed with a rallying cry: “You have to give people hope. But hope alone isn’t enough. Now is the time to act.”
San Francisco’s comeback, he said, “begins now.”
