One of the heirs to the Levi Strauss blue jeans fortune is reportedly considering a campaign for mayor of San Francisco, challenging incumbent London Breed.
Daniel Lurie, 45, has not yet announced his candidacy or filed paperwork to run, but his intention to seek the mayor’s office is an ‘open secret’ in the city’s political circles, the San Francisco Standard reported, citing a half-dozen sources.
‘I don’t think there’s a lot of stealth happening at the moment,’ one source told the outlet of Lurie’s outreach to build support for a campaign.
Lurie, a San Francisco native, is the founder and chair of anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community, a charity focused on providing services related to early childhood, education, housing, and employment in the Bay Area.
Earlier this month, he shared a story on Twitter about San Francisco’s drug problem, calling it a ‘must read’ to understand ‘the chaotic/violent open air drug dealing that has exploded here.’
Lurie and his non-profit did not immediately respond to requests for comment from DailyMail.com on Tuesday.
Lurie has been outspoken his philanthropy efforts to help tackle poverty and homelessness in San Francisco, but it’s unclear what his message or platform would be in a potential mayoral run.
His step-father was Peter Haas, the great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, who died in 1902 without any children and left his fortune to four nephews and other relatives.
The overall family fortune was estimated at $5.6 billion by Bloomberg in 2019, though that wealth is divided among many heirs, and Lurie’s personal net worth is unclear.
In 2021 Lurie bought a $15.5 million mansion in Malibu’s coveted Point Dume neighborhood, according to real estate news outlet The Dirt.
San Fran’s incumbent mayor, London Breed, took office in 2018 after winning a special election to fill the office following the death of Mayor Ed Lee, and will seek another four-year term next year.
Breed, a Democrat, is considered a moderate in the context of San Francisco’s ultra woke local politics, and has clashed with more progressive opponents.
As the city’s top official, Breed has faced backlash over crime and quality-of-life issues that have plagued San Francisco following the pandemic.
A slew of retailers have shuttered their stores in downtown San Francisco following the pandemic, citing reduced foot traffic and safety issues.
Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city’s Union Square area, just 107 are still operating – a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years.
Data shows that San Fran’s downtown is having a harder time than most. A study of 63 North American urban centers by the University of Toronto ranked the city dead last in a return to pre-pandemic activity, garnering only 32 percent of its 2019 traffic.
Hotel revenues are stuck at 73 percent of pre-pandemic levels, weekly office attendance remains below 50 percent and commuter rail travel to downtown is at 33 percent, according to a recent economic report by the city.
Office vacancy rates in San Francisco were 24.8 percent in the first quarter, more than five times higher than pre-pandemic levels and well above the average rate of 18.5 percent for the nation’s top 10 cities, according to CBRE, a commercial real estate services company.
As a result, tax receipts for the city of San Francisco are suffering.
The revenue loss to the city caused by decreased property taxes could reach $196 million per year by 2028, according to modelling published in November by the San Francisco Controller’s Office.
The best-case scenario from the modelling expects the cost will be nearer to $100 million per year.
That will contribute in part to a $1.3 billion budget shortfall by 2028, according to forecasts from the Controller’s Office. A report published in March cites ‘lower revenue projections’ as a factor.
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