Who Pays for San Francisco?
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie speaks during a press conference with elected and public safety officials and labor leaders in front of City Hall in San Francisco on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (Beth LaBerge via KQED)
Airdate: Tuesday, July 28, 2026 at 9 AM
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie poured almost $9 million of his personal fortune into getting elected. Now, he is finding an extraordinary amount of private money to pour into city government: His administration has secured more than $120 million in philanthropic dollars for homelessness, addiction and downtown revitalization. Meanwhile, a network of donors, many of them longtime supporters of Lurie’s former nonprofit Tipping Point, has poured millions into the candidates and ballot measures he favors, winning decisively in June. Supporters call it civic generosity. Critics, particularly progressives, worry that the amount of money is pulling the city rightward. We talk about the impact that money can have on local politics.
Guests:
- JD Morris, City Hall reporter, SF Chronicle
- Sarah Anzia, public policy and political science professor, UC Berkeley; senior fellow, the Hoover Institution
- Rob Reich, political science professor with courtesy appointments in philosophy, law and education, Stanford University; director, Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society; author (with Jeremy Weinstein and Mehran Sahami), System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Do Better