Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Okay, so let's go to some of the necessary efficiencies.
Speaker 2: Let's call it you. So, you can't cut your way
Speaker 2: out of this, but you are doing a reorganization, particularly
Speaker 2: of your role in the administration. How does that look like?
Speaker 2: What does that achieve?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: No, just to be clear, we can't only cut our
Speaker 1: way out of this, but we have to make sure
Speaker 1: that we get efficient We need our departments talking to
Speaker 1: each other, communicating, collaborating, making sure that we do get
Speaker 1: efficiencies across departments. We have fifty six different departments here
Speaker 1: in San Francisco that report up into one chief of staff. Yesterday,
Speaker 1: I announced that we are going to be changing the
Speaker 1: Office of the Mayor's governing structure. We're going to have
Speaker 1: four chiefs that will help organize and make sure that
Speaker 1: those departments are run more effectively, more efficiently, and that
Speaker 1: we cut out the waste.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about the growth then. Is it about getting
Speaker 2: workers back in the offices five days a week. How
Speaker 2: do you galvanize people spending in the city.
Speaker 1: Well, listen, I have said that my office and all
Speaker 1: the employees that I oversee at city Hall, we are
Speaker 1: going back five days a week. Now, I am not
Speaker 1: a mayor that is going to dictate to private industry
Speaker 1: what they should do.
Speaker 3: I would, of course.
Speaker 1: Encourage companies to come back as many days a week
Speaker 1: as possible, whether that's four or five days a week.
Speaker 1: We're going to be working with companies starting on January
Speaker 1: eighth to ask them to bring their employees back downtown.
Speaker 1: But that's incumbent on me then, to make sure that
Speaker 1: public safety is at the core of everything that we
Speaker 1: do here, especially in downtown, that we get people off
Speaker 1: the street that are suffering from mental health issues or
Speaker 1: drug addiction into the treatment.
Speaker 3: That they need.
Speaker 1: We need to be better for those that are suffering
Speaker 1: on our streets. Once we create the conditions, we believe
Speaker 1: that people.
Speaker 3: Will want to be back downtown. That's what we need
Speaker 3: to do.
Speaker 1: I'm here in your beautiful San Francisco office on the
Speaker 1: Pier Ferry Building. Is here when things are moving here
Speaker 1: in San Francisco, when the sun is shining here in
Speaker 1: the city, there is no better place to come to
Speaker 1: work than downtown San Francisco.
Speaker 3: It hasn't been that way, but we will get back
Speaker 3: to it.
Speaker 2: What's interesting is you have actually brought back tourists and
Speaker 2: that's almost akin to pre COVID levels. But why aren't
Speaker 2: hotel taxes back to where they used to be. How
Speaker 2: can you ensure that that part is running more efficiently,
Speaker 2: more effectively, more growth.
Speaker 3: Well, it's a great, great point.
Speaker 1: Tourism is our number one industry and we need to
Speaker 1: invite the tours back from Asia, from Europe. We have
Speaker 1: seen an uptick. Listen, San Francisco is on its way back.
Speaker 1: There's not a question in my mind. But we have
Speaker 1: to be inviting to people and we have to tell
Speaker 1: our story of safety and security for those that come here.
Speaker 1: The story is out there that you know San Francisco
Speaker 1: is down on its luck. We have to change that
Speaker 1: narrative and we will.
Speaker 3: Jenerator.
Speaker 2: AI has changed a lot of narratives. And you're like
Speaker 2: in Epicenter, how of you bringing on board Sam Altman,
Speaker 2: for example, open AI leader and you're having him advise you.
Speaker 2: What are some of his arguments for what you should
Speaker 2: be doing?
Speaker 1: Well, Listen, Sam Altman has been great as a transition
Speaker 1: code chair. We are committed to leaning into being the
Speaker 1: home of AI. We have historic investments already here in
Speaker 1: San Francisco.
Speaker 3: We're going to continue to lean.
Speaker 1: In not only AI, not only technology, but really once
Speaker 1: again being the epicenter for business again. There is no
Speaker 1: better place to do business on the globe than San Francisco.
Speaker 1: When we're at our best, we have to get back
Speaker 1: to that. It does not have to be complicated. So
Speaker 1: this is what I'm calling CEOs around the country and saying,
Speaker 1: we want your business back here in San Francisco. We
Speaker 1: want you to bring your conferences here. But it's not
Speaker 1: just about business. It's about bringing our arts and culture
Speaker 1: back to San Francisco, because that's where people.
Speaker 3: When people think of San Francisco, they.
Speaker 1: Think of culture, they think that everything starts here. Yes,
Speaker 1: AI started here and we wanted to grow here, but
Speaker 1: we kind of want the best of everything coming back
Speaker 1: to San Francisco. Had a great conversation with Jamie Diamond
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago. We had a conversation with
Speaker 1: the NBA Conditioner Commissioner Adam Silver about the NBA All
Speaker 1: Star Game coming here in February.
Speaker 3: We have so much to look forward to.
Speaker 1: We just have to get that story out there, and
Speaker 1: that's what I plan to do.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're someone who knows well how to make
Speaker 2: cultural events bound together, Big cultural movement benefit concert raise
Speaker 2: seventeen million dollars. You've done other philanthropic work, but you're
Speaker 2: also from a business dynasty of Levi and what parts
Speaker 2: of industry do you want to cultivate here? You just
Speaker 2: mentioned financial services, there, you mentioned sports, but it's got
Speaker 2: to be broader than that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we are calling healthcare executives, biotech ai. We want
Speaker 1: real estate thinking that San Francisco is a place that
Speaker 1: they want to invest in again. Because when you get
Speaker 1: these business leaders back, what that tells me is that
Speaker 1: we get the small businesses back to San Francisco back
Speaker 1: thriving again. Our small businesses have been dying on the
Speaker 1: vine here in San Francisco for a variety of reasons,
Speaker 1: but most of on most of which we talked about earlier,
Speaker 1: and that is that people are not coming downtown like
Speaker 1: we'd like them to be.
Speaker 3: We invite these companies back.
Speaker 1: That's good for our small business community, it's good for
Speaker 1: our arts and culture institutions. It's a flywheel that we
Speaker 1: have to get going again. We're seeing green shoots and
Speaker 1: I'm telling you San Francisco is on its way back,
Speaker 1: and there is no better place to be if you
Speaker 1: are a big business or a small business than San Francisco.
Speaker 3: I promise you that.
Speaker 2: Do you think you can align the new administration from
Speaker 2: the White House on that as well? Because in the
Speaker 2: Mayor's budget summary it says that Trump's policies will have
Speaker 2: quote unknown future impacts.
Speaker 1: Listen, you know the current mayor has put out a
Speaker 1: guidance to department heads. What I got elected on with
Speaker 1: a mandate was to get results for the people of
Speaker 1: San Francisco. It wasn't to you know, start talking about
Speaker 1: national politics. We have our own issues right here in
Speaker 1: San Francisco. They are solvable. That's what people elected me
Speaker 1: to do, and that's what I'm doing right now during
Speaker 1: this transition period, and I'm telling everyone here in San
Speaker 1: Francisco that I am going to be laser focused on
Speaker 1: making sure that we get our budget under control, that
Speaker 1: we grow our economy, that we keep people sick, and
Speaker 1: that we get results for the people of San Francisco.
Speaker 2: Once again, do you think, though, that as a new
Speaker 2: kid on the block in the world of mayors, you
Speaker 2: will be able to have a more positive relationship with
Speaker 2: the next administration than perhaps some are factoring in.
Speaker 1: Listen, I plan where we can find a common ground
Speaker 1: to work with anybody, and that's my focus. That's why
Speaker 1: I plan just here locally. We have eleven supervisors and
Speaker 1: there is usually a tendency to try to divide politicians
Speaker 1: and elected officials here here in San Francisco, and I've
Speaker 1: told everybody I plan to work with all eleven supervisors,
Speaker 1: no matter where they fall on the political spectrum. I
Speaker 1: need to bring people together during this time. There is
Speaker 1: so many people that want to divide us. But when
Speaker 1: San Franciscan's work together, we can get big things done.
Speaker 2: Daniel Luri joy to have you. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3: Indeed, San Francisco, thank you for having me.