San Francisco Mayor-Elect Plans to Declare Fentanyl Emergency on Day 1

San Francisco Mayor-Elect Plans to Declare Fentanyl Emergency on Day 1

Daniel Lurie held his first news conference since Mayor London Breed conceded the mayoral race this week.

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By Heather Knight

Reporting from San Francisco

Daniel Lurie is a man in a hurry.

He said in his first speech as San Francisco’s mayor-elect on Friday that he would declare a state of emergency on fentanyl on his first day in office in January.

In brief, clipped remarks, he said he intended to shut down the open-air fentanyl markets that had proliferated in the city’s Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods and had infuriated many residents.

“We are going to get tough on those that are dealing drugs, and we are going to be compassionate, but tough, about the conditions of our streets, as well,” Mr. Lurie, 47, said at a gathering in Chinatown that lasted just a few minutes.

Fentanyl, a cheap opioid, is responsible for most of the 3,300 drug deaths that have occurred in San Francisco since 2020, killing far more people in the city than Covid-19, homicides and car crashes combined.

Mr. Lurie, a 47-year-old heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who has never held elected office, appealed to an electorate that was tired of rampant drug use and property crime in the city and was looking for a mayor who could revitalize the struggling downtown area. He was effective in getting his message out to voters, spending $8.6 million of his own money on his campaign and receiving another $1 million from his mother, the billionaire Mimi Haas.

Mr. Lurie, a Democrat, addressed reporters the morning after Mayor London Breed, also a Democrat, called him to concede. He did not provide additional details about what his emergency declaration would do.

Any mayor seeking to declare an emergency must get approval from the city attorney. Traditionally, such orders are used after sudden, unforeseen events, such as major earthquakes and the Covid-19 pandemic, to bypass bureaucratic rules and quickly spend money or hire staff.

Ms. Breed in 2021 declared an emergency in the Tenderloin and used it to quickly establish a service center for people addicted to drugs. But she ended the effort after facing criticism for allowing individuals to use a patio to smoke fentanyl under supervision.

Mr. Lurie vowed during his campaign to build 1,500 new shelter beds in his first six months in office, make drug treatment available to anyone who wants it and use ankle monitors to track first-time drug dealers.

He also said he would allow individuals detained for using drugs in public to choose between treatment or jail.

Mr. Lurie said on Friday that he would place his assets into a blind trust and forgo taking a $383,000 salary.

Mr. Lurie was asked repeatedly on Friday about how he would stand up to President-elect Donald J. Trump when it comes to protecting transgender people, gay people and immigrants. He said he would “have their backs” but that his focus would be on running the city.

Breaking with San Francisco political tradition, Mr. Lurie began his remarks right on time and ended them minutes later, with some guests arriving late, only to find the event was already over. That included Larry Baer, the president of the San Francisco Giants, who caught up with Mr. Lurie to ask him to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day.

Mr. Lurie darted around Chinatown, greeting merchants over the course of many blocks after focusing much of his campaign outreach on Chinese American voters. Shop owners thrust bouquets and melons at him in congratulations.

About 40 minutes after the event started, it was over. Mr. Lurie was whisked off in a city-issued black Chevrolet Tahoe S.U.V. for the first time.