About 20,000 San Francisco residents, mostly in the Richmond and Presidio, were still without power Monday, with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announcing on social media that he is “pushing PG&E hard” for an indication when power will be fully restored.
While it’s unlikely voters will hold Lurie accountable for the power company’s failures, a massive power outage was an early Christmas present to columnists looking for an easy metaphor.
Lurie’s year had some pretty big wins ($15.9 billion budget passed; no federal troops) and some self-inflicted losses (a poorly made D4 pick; the OpenGov contract).
Here, a rundown of the highs and lows of the mayor’s first year in office.
2025 WINS
Board of Supervisors: Lurie’s main win that made many of others possible was the working relationship he established with the Board of Supervisors. San Francisco State University associate professor of political science Jason McDaniel, who has analyzed generations of San Francisco mayors and supervisors, pointed to Lurie’s relationship with Supervisor Rafael Mandelman in particular. The two have hardly been unified on every issue, yet Lurie hasn’t held it against Mandelman, even when the District 8 supervisor voted against Lurie’s interests. Lurie shouted out Mandelman for the supervisor’s budget negotiations; the camaraderie was evident at a recent Hanukkah celebration where Mandelman gushed about the mayor. “He’s got pretty much a functional, working majority on the Board,” McDaniel said. “That’s huge, and it wasn’t guaranteed.”
Family Zoning: What Lurie refers to as “family zoning,” others call “upzoning.” Critics call it Miami Beach. By any name, it’s Lurie’s signature achievement of the year. Passed in a 7-4 vote by the Board of Supervisors earlier this month, the plan allows for taller, denser residential construction, especially around transit corridors and the western and northern sides of the city. Tens of thousands of parcels stand to be rezoned, including in the Sunset and Richmond, in the plan Lurie hailed as a “generational roadmap” for San Francisco.
Deterring Trump: In June, the president sent thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles to crush mostly peaceful protests of his immigration raids. Deployments in Chicago and Portland followed, and by October, Trump declared San Francisco was next. Though Lurie didn’t violate his own policy of not mentioning Trump by name, the mayor not only took a stand, but spoke to Trump on the phone and said he dissuaded the president from sending troops to San Francisco.
Without doubt, San Francisco has continued to suffer dearly because of the president’s policies, but Lurie’s negotiation with Trump (legal or not) was a decisive win, even if it can be attributed to a handful of tech CEOS.
2025 LOSSES
OpenGov contract: In October, the San Francisco Standard revealed that Ned Segal, Lurie’s chief of housing and economic development, overrode recommendations from city employees to steer a $5.9 million contract to OpenGov. The company was selected to review the city’s permitting system for new businesses. Reforming the process is a foundation of PermitSF, Lurie’s campaign promise to streamline it. The Standard’s Gabe Greschler and Josh Koehn found that OpenGov executives had contributed to Lurie’s nonprofit, and that Lurie held an indirect investment in the company, exposing a big potential vulnerability: a perception of the mayor as, per McDaniel, “a rich white guy who is favoring insiders and friends.”
The controversy triggered an inquiry by the city’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee, forcing the mayor to face the issue again early in 2026. Staff for Supervisor Jackie Fielder, a member of the committee, confirmed to Gazetteer SF that a hearing will be held in January or February.
Family Zoning: Just as Lurie’s Family Zoning plan may be considered a win, it could also prove to be a stinging loss. Many residents on the west side of the city, especially in the Sunset, and those involved in the recall of former Supervisor Joel Engardio, objected to the plan and are upset about its passage. While Lurie can tout the plan as a political win now, the mayor’s progressive opponents will hang the Family Zoning plan on him, McDaniel said, and are certain to mobilize around it in future elections.
Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz: Lurie’s biggest error by far this year was his appointment of Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz to replace Joel Engardio as District 4 Supervisor. His pick was quickly undone by embarrassing revelations of dead animals in Alcaraz’s former pet supply store, followed by Mission Local’s reporting that she paid her workers under the table. At first blush, the choice exposed a shocking lack of care in Lurie’s vetting process. A deeper look points to a longer term problem. Lurie’s second pick, Alan Wong, seems to have satisfied the mayor’s needs for a governing partner in District 4. McDaniel thinks the Alcaraz debacle may set up Natalie Gee to replace him, which could signal a return of progressive influence on the Board of Supervisors, especially if progressives can use the Family Zoning plan, and Lurie’s choice of Alcaraz, to appeal to the critical Chinese American community. This could cause an “earthquake” in the city’s politics, McDaniel says, converting a group that has been a reliable source of votes for moderate candidates. “It could get worse if Alan Wong turns out to not be the kind of person who can get reelected,” McDaniel said. “But we’re going to see how that goes.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct Jason McDaniel’s academic affiliation.
