Congratulations to San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who was sworn into office Wednesday, January 8, as the city's 46th chief executive. As Lurie moves into Room 200 at City Hall, he will begin the task of trying to solve some of San Francisco's seemingly intractable issues. As he recently stated to us, "I'm building a team rooted in accountability, service, and change to tackle San Francisco's historic challenges."
Below, we offer unsolicited advice for Lurie on some key areas affecting the LGBTQ community.
Harvey Milk Plaza
The good news, as we've reported, is that voters passed the $390 million infrastructure bond in November's election that included $25 million for the renovation project at Harvey Milk Plaza. The bad news is that the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, which is spearheading the reimagining, must come up with about $7 to $8 million — and it could be as much as $15 million — to fully fund the project before the bond money will be released by the city. Brian Springfield, a gay man who's executive director of the friends group, told us last month that it is committed to raising nearly $8 million of the remaining funds, working off a figure of $10 million. The city should make up that $2 million difference.
We know that the next couple of years will be challenging budget-wise, but Lurie should see the value of investing a couple of million dollars for a project that will greatly improve the area. The plaza, which sits above the Castro Muni station at Market and Castro streets, is considered the front door to the city's iconic LGBTQ neighborhood. As part of the approval plans for the plaza, a new spiral podium feature is to be built at the entrance by the intersection in a nod to its history as a gathering place for protests and rallies. Among other features, a new enclosed space below street level will be used for a museum-like installation telling Milk's story and that of the city's LGBTQ community.
More importantly, once the second floor space at 2280 Market Street is occupied by the GLBT Historical Society and the Castro Theatre renovation is completed, people arriving to Harvey Milk Plaza via the subway station will see the reimagined theater across the street and will have only a short walk to the society's LGBTQ history museum. Both have the potential to greatly enhance the neighborhood. Under former mayor London Breed, the city purchased the building for the museum last year, and the historical society is now in the process of finalizing a lease agreement with the city and the Community Arts Stabilization Trust.
Appointments
We anticipate that Lurie, who has already named some LGBTQ people to his administration, will continue the practice of appointing qualified queer people to the city's various boards and commissions and to other senior positions in government. Unlike the corporations that are rolling back diversity, inclusion, and equity policies in an effort to curry favor with the Trump administration and other MAGA conservatives, we firmly believe that San Francisco's values include representation by all communities on the city's advisory bodies. The city is stronger when every community has a seat at the table, and that includes the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities.
Trans homelessness
One of Breed's signature efforts was her investments in programs to end trans homelessness by 2027. We would like to see the Lurie administration keep those resources on track to accomplish that goal. Transgender people are much more likely to experience homelessness and that, of course, also leads into other issues, like employment and health care. Housing stability is also crucial for people living with HIV/AIDS, a concern that also affects the trans community.
On Tuesday, Lurie, the former CEO of Tipping Point Community anti-poverty nonprofit, announced that Kunal Modi will be his chief of health, homelessness, and family services. Modi has served on the board of Larkin Street Youth Services, which provides services to young people, including many queer and trans youth. Longtime CEO Sherilyn Adams, a lesbian, praised Modi's selection, stating that she has "witnessed first hand his deep commitment to understanding solutions that will truly end homelessness." Maintaining the city's commitment to end trans homelessness should be part of his portfolio.
Stand up to Trump
Since the November election, which also saw former President Donald Trump win a second term, many tech billionaires have donated millions of dollars to his inaugural fund, including Sam Altman, a gay man who's CEO of OpenAI and served as a leader on Lurie's transition team. After the election, Lurie said he would work with the incoming Trump administration to help address issues when appropriate.
"I have serious disagreements with President-elect Donald Trump, but I will never let those disagreements get in the way of addressing the problems facing our city," Lurie said. "I will also say I have everybody's back here in San Francisco."
We are deeply concerned about how some wealthy CEOs are working to curry favor with Trump either by the aforementioned donations or developing policies that smack of "anticipatory obedience." Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision this week to do away with fact checkers for Facebook, Instagram, and Threads in favor of "community notes" is just the latest example. So are all those corporations backtracking on DEI policies. We certainly don't want political leaders like Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, falling into this trap. If Trump does indeed launch his massive deportation scheme, we want San Francisco to adhere to its sanctuary city policy, and the same goes for any anti-LGBTQ moves Trump makes. San Francisco declared itself a transgender sanctuary city last summer.
As mayor, Lurie must stand up for all San Franciscans, especially those who are most vulnerable, in the face of potentially dire federal actions.
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