Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie announces his first plan of reform to restructure Office of the Mayor

SAN FRANCISCO — Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie announced his first plan to reform the city government by restructuring his Office of the Mayor. In his plan, Lurie will add four policy chiefs and a budget director as a level of Chief of Staff to help him manage city issues in four major areas.

Those four specific issue areas that the policy chiefs will oversee and directly report to Luire are public safety; housing and economic development; infrastructure, climate and mobility; as well as public health and wellbeing.

Lurie announced appointments of his 10-member transition team including seven co-chairs and three advisors on November 18. Four weeks later on December 11, Lurie unveiled his first plan to reform city hall by reorganizing the structure of his office, Office of the Mayor.

Lurie also announced this latest plan to restructure his Mayor's Office on social media. "As your mayor, I'm excited to share with you how we are going to deliver results for all of you. We are going to restructure my office and there will no longer just be a single point of contact for 56 different department heads. That's what happens right now. They all go through one Chief [Chief of Staff]," said Lurie.

"In my administration, we're going to have a Chief of Staff and have four Policy Chiefs overseeing and coordinating with departments around specific issue areas which you will see on your screen right now. 1. public safety, 2. Housing and Economic Development, 3. Infrastructure, Climate and Mobility, 4. Public health and wellbeing," Lurie continued.

"This is going to help us break down silence. Make sure that we have better collaboration, cooperation, and communication. We are going to be able to deliver results for all of you. Make sure that we get the most out of taxpayer dollars going forward," Lurie announced.

Lurie will be sworn into office on January 8. The reorganization will enable Lurie to deliver on his commitment to creating an administration rooted in accountability, service, and change, according to Lurie's transition office.

“The current way of doing business at City Hall is outdated, ineffective, and lacks focus on outcomes,” Lurie wrote in a statement to announce his first reform. “I am restructuring the Office of the Mayor so that your government is coordinated and accountable in delivering clean and safe streets, tackling the fentanyl crisis, rapidly building housing and ensuring a full economic recovery. The changes we’re making at the top will help break down barriers to effective governance that impact every San Franciscan.”

Under current Mayor London Breed's administration since she took office six years ago, the heads of 56 city departments and agencies are required to first go through the Chief of Staff, with a centralized Policy Director at City Hall, before speaking to Breed.

Lurie’s newly-announced structure changes of the Mayor's Office will have one Chief of Staff and four more Policy Chiefs as well as a Budget Director who will report to Lurie directly.

All 56 city agencies will be overseen by either one of the four Policy Chiefs. "Each Chief will work with a portfolio of agencies representing between $2 and $6 billion in public spending," stated Lurie's transition office.

Each Policy Chief will provide strategic alignment across a number of city departments, working as a partner to department heads. The City Administrator will also work closely with Policy Chiefs to align city departments that are under the supervision of the City Administrator’s Office.