San Francisco Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie Taps OpenAI Founder for Transition Team

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie is bringing on big names to help transition City Hall leadership, ranging from OpenAI founder Sam Altman to former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs.

A political newcomer who ran against what he called “City Hall insiders,” Lurie’s win marked a shift for San Francisco leadership. The nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir was the only leading candidate with no government experience and campaigned on rooting out corruption and citywide issues like public safety, affordability and homelessness.

“I’m excited to introduce this talented and diverse team who will help guide our transition and lay the groundwork for the change San Franciscans demand,” Mayor-elect Lurie said in a statement. “Every one of these incredible leaders brings a track record of shaking up the status quo to deliver results.”

The team gives us a first look at what a Lurie administration might prioritize. They will advise the mayor-elect as he assembles his official leadership team and sketches out plans for his first 100 days in office.

Government and nonprofit veteran Sara Fenske Bahat, who helped steer 9/11 recovery projects in New York City, will lead the transition team. Until recently she served as the interim CEO of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, but resigned in March in the wake of pro-Palestinian protests and calls to boycott the museum. To help navigate the city’s complex bureaucracy, Lurie recruited several seasoned city staffers, such as former City Controller Ben Rosenfield, retired SFPD Commander Paul Yep and former Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.

Nancy Tung, San Francisco Democratic Party chair, also joined the team. Others on the team include José A. Quiñonez, CEO of Mission Asset Fund, attorney and former Chief of Staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Ann O’Leary, and Ned Segal, the former CFO at Twitter who co-chaired Lurie’s campaign.

On the campaign trail, Lurie promised voters he would usher in a new era of accountability in City Hall in the form of increased audits of nonprofits and other contracted work and tighter scrutiny for department heads.

“My transition co-chairs share my commitment to building an accountable, effective government to tackle the many challenges confronting our great city,” Lurie said.

He’ll face many of the same challenges incumbent Mayor London Breed did, including a nearly $800 million budget deficit and the need to collaborate with the Board of Supervisors and other city agencies.

He’ll have the added challenge of leading the city during Donald Trump’s second term as President, something city and state leaders have already started to gear up legal defenses for.

“I have serious disagreements with President Donald Trump,” Lurie told a crowd of reporters earlier this month at his first press conference as mayor-elect. “But I will never let those disagreements get in the way of addressing the problems facing San Francisco.”