The mayor of San Francisco Daniel Luri wants to bring his city back to his glory days. And he is convinced that technology leaders – who often put the utopian ideals of their own – can help him deliver.
“I am a mayor getting the phone and I call on Managing Directors,” Lurie said during TechCrunch’s Strictlyvc on Thursday night. “I call the entrepreneurs and say, ‘How can we keep you here? “Or” How can we take you back? “
The first step to win these people back, he said, is addressing the ruthless crisis of drugs and homeless people who pushed many business leaders outside the city. Lurie has spent many of his first 100 days in the office walking the city’s most problematic neighborhoods. This week, Returned a long -term program in which San Francisco gave free pipes, foil and straws used to swallow drugs, such as fentanyl.
Lurie’s “common sense policies”, as he called them during the 2024 Town Hall campaign, are largely supported by technology leaders. As Ryan Petersen, FlexPort’s chief executive, left the scene at Strictlyvc, while the mayor of San Francisco walked, shouted to Lurie:
“Thanks for clearing the city a little bit.”
In addition to the public security initiative, Lurie stressed the need to facilitate “building” in San Francisco – referring to the construction of houses and the creation of businesses.
The city recently introduced a new initiative, SF licensewhich will reduce the amount of bureaucracy that newly formed businesses must pass to operate in San Francisco.
On Thursday, the mayor also introduced a New planning proposal This would allow taller buildings-and so more housing-in neighborhoods that traditionally only allowed lower detached houses. If passed, it could be San Francisco’s first review since 1970.
“We want our entrepreneurs to start businesses and then stay here,” Lurie said. “This means rationalizing the license, facilitating the start of a restaurant, a bar or start.”
“What we need most is the people who meet and are … practical. We lost this here in San Francisco,” Lurie said. “I believe that the business community left here, which has not left, understands our values and we will attract businesses back in the coming years.”
Creating a AI node
As part of this effort, Lurie said she wanted to get “competitive on the tax front”, suggesting that she is willing to give tax relief to city companies. The mayor of San Francisco said he has already worked with the city’s leading companies to build more offices and hold more conferences in the city.
For example, Lurie said he persuaded Databricks to hold the AI conference in San Francisco by 2030, instead of moving to Las Vegas, as the company was originally planned. Last month, the mayor also watched the ribbon cutting for a new Openai office.
While these AI companies can receive tax cuts, the mayor wants to invest in San Francisco in other ways. Specifically, he wants the Managing Director of Openai Sam Altman to “get loud” for their investment in San Francisco’s art and culture scenes, which the company has already made quiet.
But Lurie doesn’t just want the dollars of the technology industry – it’s after their ideas. The city recently announced the partnership for San Francisco, a consortium of business leaders, including the owner of the Atlantic and the widow of Laurene Powell Jobs, Apple, Jony Ive and Altman – to give businesses a clear channel to talk to the town hall.
Romaia in SF
But some as Franciscans are worried that the technology industry is promoting other communities. This tension recently exploded when Waymo tried to obtain permission to map SFO Airport, allowing his robe to carry riders to and from the airport.
Waymo has successfully received SFO mapping license, but came with a strict joy to ensure that Waymo will not move commercial goods to and from the airport. Thanks to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, tradition guides have great power at the San Francisco City Hall.
Lurie said he worked the agreements with labor unions to get Waymo’s SFO license, but clarified that “Waymo is not going anywhere”.
The mayor said he was convinced that autonomous vehicles are “where the future goes”, and that he spoke with other companies about the biggest presence in the city. Lurie also did not exclude the construction of the city’s infrastructure to accommodate more autonomous vehicles.
While much of the innovation of the Technology Industry has historically happened to Silicon Valley, about 40 miles south of the city, the Ai Boom looks steadily focused on San Francisco. Lurie says that the city has been given some momentum to truly bring the innovation back.
“When we are done, everyone will be like, ‘I have to be in San Francisco. Otherwise I miss it. ” We go there, “Lurie said.
