San Mateo supervisors unanimously boot scandal-plagued Sheriff Christina Corpus

<div class="content-grid article-content"><div class="Metadata_container__fxAzw"><div class="Metadata_metadata__W_0LF">By <a class="" href="https://sfstandard.com/author/kevin-truong/">Kevin Truong</a><time datetime="2025-10-14T19:54:25.784Z">Published Oct. 14, 2025 • 12:54pm</time></div></div><div class="floats">A meeting of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is not typically the hottest ticket in town. Still, Tuesday morning’s special session drew a crowd eager to witness the ousting of Sheriff Christina Corpus firsthand.The board voted 5-0 to remove the first-term sheriff from office, marking the end of a scandal-fueled, mudslinging ordeal that turned the typically staid county into tabloid fodder.Corpus was elected sheriff in 2022 on a platform of reforming the department’s culture and directly criticizing her predecessor for turning detainees over to federal immigration officials.</div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats">But after her victory three years ago — which unseated an incumbent with his own penchant for drama — her tenure has largely been a drip-drip of scandals that grew into a flood of negative headlines, investigative reports, and no-confidence votes.An incomplete list of the scandals involving Corpus includes:</div><ul class="list-block ListBlock_List__NF3JL article-body"><li>Accusations of nepotism, including elevating her alleged lover, Victor Aenlle, to chief of staff, then rehiring him in a reserve position after he was fired by the Board of Supervisors.</li></ul><ul class="list-block ListBlock_List__NF3JL article-body"><li>The arrest of the Sheriff’s Deputies Association president, Carlos Tapia, on timecard fraud charges that were later dropped. Tapia has since filed suit against the county, claiming the arrest was retaliatory.</li></ul><ul class="list-block ListBlock_List__NF3JL article-body"><li>The alleged use of homophobic and racist slurs in reference to political opponents.</li></ul><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats">Through it all, Corpus refused to resign. She and her supporters have characterized the campaign against her as retaliation for her efforts to dismantle the department’s “good ol’ boys club” culture and curb excessive overtime spending. She sued the county for $10 million in January, claiming she was the victim of discrimination as a Latinx woman.Her refusal to step down has come despite a growing chorus of opposition to her leadership of the sheriff’s office.The cities of San Carlos and Millbrae, the deputies union, and even her command staff have approved no-confidence votes and called for her resignation.But perhaps the most decisive no-confidence vote came from the public itself. In March, San Mateo County voters approved Proposition A, granting the Board of Supervisors the authority to remove a sitting sheriff. The measure passed with 84% of the vote.On Tuesday, the board exercised that power, making Corpus the first sheriff to be removed from office in the county’s history. Dozens of residents spoke during the public comment period, with the majority urging Corpus’s removal.In a final display of defiance — or delusion — Corpus spoke passionately in her own defense for what was basically a foregone conclusion. “You may remove me from office, but you will not erase the truth,” Corpus said at the meeting. “I may lose my title, but I will never, ever lose my purpose.”</div></div>

WTF is going on with South Lake Tahoe’s politicians?

<div class="content-grid article-content"><div class="Metadata_container__fxAzw"><div class="Metadata_metadata__W_0LF">By <a class="" href="https://sfstandard.com/author/garrett-leahy/">Garrett Leahy</a>Additional reporting by <a class="" href="https://sfstandard.com/author/george-kelly/">George Kelly</a><time datetime="2025-10-07T17:36:00.491Z">Updated Oct. 07, 2025 • 10:36am</time><time datetime="2025-10-07T15:55:58.736Z">Published Oct. 07, 2025 • 8:55am</time></div></div><div class="floats">Lake Tahoe is known for its clear, sapphire waters, but the landscape is dark and murky in the halls of power on the alpine oasis’ south side.South Lake Tahoe this week got hit with a one-two punch of revelations and scandal. Mayor Tamara Wallace admitted to, and is being criminally investigated for, embezzling funds from a local church. In a stunning letter she published Sunday, Wallace also divulged that she had attempted suicide on Sept. 11, her birthday.The day after Wallace exposed her pain and transgressions, news broke that Mayor Pro Tem Cody Bass had been arrested after allegedly assaulting a restaurant employee.</div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats">It’s unclear what happens next for the lakeside community’s elected officials. Wallace and Bass retain their seats and plan to attend the Oct. 21 City Council meeting, according to city spokesperson Sheree Juarez. Wallace unburdened herself in a letter that was published in the <a href="https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/mayor-tamara-wallace-confessions-wrongdoings-challenges-in-tell-all-letter-to-south-lake-tahoe-community/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tahoe Daily Tribune (opens in new tab)</a> and <a href="https://southtahoenow.com/10/05/2025/mayor-tamara-wallace-unveils-all-to-the-south-lake-tahoe-community" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">South Tahoe Now (opens in new tab)</a>. It’s unclear how much money she pilfered from a Presbyterian church, but she said it had been undetected. The scheme had no impact on city coffers, she claimed. But guilt drove her to try to end her life, she wrote. “I was so filled with guilt, shame, and grief that I experienced a mental health crisis that made suicide seem to be the best solution,” she wrote. “It was only by the grace of God that I failed.”</div><div class="!p-0 !m-0"></div><div class="floats">Since then, she has spent 18 days in a mental health facility and is taking medication and enrolled in “intense, all-day, every-day group and individual counseling sessions.”Wallace’s letter pointed to past trauma, including childhood abuse, the death of her son Christopher from fentanyl poisoning, and death threats while working as a city councilmember.“These things may be reasons, but not an excuse for my behavior,” Wallace wrote.</div><div class=""></div><div class="floats">“Rather than be like many public servants and individuals who try to lie, hide, and delay the consequences of something they have done, I am taking a different path,” the letter said. “I am telling the truth and admitting what I have done.”The funds she allegedly embezzled have not damaged the city financially, and the matter is being investigated by the El Dorado County district attorney’s office, Juarez said.Then there’s the ordeal of Bass. The pro tem mayor was arrested Sept. 26 around 1 a.m. at a bar and restaurant in Stateline, Nevada, on misdemeanor charges of assault, trespassing, and threats/harassment, according to a statement Monday from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and DA. Deputies were summoned to Aleworx around midnight after Bass got into a confrontation with an employee, <a href="https://mynews4.com/news/local/south-lake-tahoe-mayor-pro-tem-arrested-on-assault-charges-in-bar-incident" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to KRNV (opens in new tab)</a> in Reno. Bass complained that he had been kicked and threatened that he “was going to have people kill” the employee of the establishment, from which he had previously been banned, KRNV reported. Video of the incident, however, led deputies to conclude Bass was the aggressor, the TV station reported.He was booked into the county jail and released a few hours later, according to the <a href="https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/district-attorney-formally-charges-bass/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tahoe Daily Tribune (opens in new tab)</a>.El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson filed misdemeanor trespassing and harassment charges, the statement said.Wallace declined to comment. Bass did not respond to a request for comment. “The incidents were a surprise to all of us and the news is still sinking in,” said South Lake Tahoe City Council Member David Jinkins in an email. “City government continues to operate under professional management and all services remain intact and unaffected by recent events.” The city said it is “aware” of the criminal investigation against the Wallace and the arrest of Bass. Since both city leaders remain in office, the Oct. 21 council meeting could be … interesting. If the city keeps to its usual procedure, a livestream of the meeting will be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@cityofsouthlaketahoeYT/streams" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">on YouTube (opens in new tab)</a>.If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text “988" any time, day or night, to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or <a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chat online (opens in new tab)</a><a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">. (opens in new tab)</a></div></div>

Making ‘liberals’ heads explode’: Explaining the California GOP’s Trump 2028 obsession

Gavin got gifted a gun. Getting it home to California will be tricky

In his six years as governor, Gavin Newsom has signed some of the nation’s <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/priorities-and-progress/priorities/public-safety/">strongest gun control</a> laws.



It was a surprise to some, then, when Newsom accepted a Sig Sauer P365-Xmacro pistol from the conservative podcast host Shawn Ryan while the two recorded a four-hour <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BBq3Q_fHSU">episode</a> last week in Tennessee. 



“Everybody gets a gift,” Ryan said, before presenting the governor with the gun.



“Brother, this is fabulous,” Newsom responded. “The last thing people would expect is that I respect this gift.”&nbsp;



“Really?” Ryan asked.&nbsp;



“Yeah, man. I’m not anti-gun at all,” Newsom said.&nbsp;



The gun, which is legal to own in California, will be the first firearm registered in Newsom’s name, his spokesperson Izzy Gardon confirmed. The pistol typically retails for around $700; state ethics rules <a href="https://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/public-officials-and-employees-rules-/gifts-and-honoraria.html">limit the value of gifts</a> politicians can accept at $630. Gardon said Newsom will pay Ryan the difference.&nbsp;



But transporting the gun from Tennessee back to California is a logistically — and politically — tricky process, and one that gun rights advocates say will show the governor firsthand how difficult it has become to own firearms in the Golden State.&nbsp;



“King Newsom is going to have to go through everything that all of the subjects of California, the plebeians, have to go through,” Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said in an interview.&nbsp;



Here’s the <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/cfl2021.pdf">checklist</a> that Newsom would generally have to follow to receive the gun:&nbsp;



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Ryan would have to bring the pistol to a licensed dealer in Tennessee to be transported to an authorized dealer in California.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Once the gun arrives, Newsom would have to fill out forms, including a <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/firearms/pubfaqs">Dealer Record of Sale</a> document, for the dealer to submit to the California Department of Justice.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Newsom would have to wait 10 days before he could receive the gun. During that time, the DOJ would run a background check to ensure he is not banned from possessing firearms. (California <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/firearms/forms/prohibcatmisd.pdf">generally bars</a> former felons from owning guns, as well as those convicted of certain domestic violence crimes and those subject to restraining and other protective orders.)&nbsp;</li>



<li>The governor would have to obtain a Firearm Safety Certificate, which requires a 75% score on a written test “pertaining to firearm laws and safety requirements” administered by a certified instructor from the DOJ. State law additionally requires a gun owner to perform a “safe handling demonstration” at the dealership before taking possession of the firearm.&nbsp;</li>



<li>If Newsom does not own one, he would have to purchase a <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/firearms/fsdcertlist">certified lock box or other DOJ-approved safety device</a> to store his gun.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Once satisfying those requirements, Newsom could take the gun home. But he would have to start a separate licensing and training process in Marin County, <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/15/gavin-newsom-buys-marin-mansion/">where he lives</a>, with the sheriff’s department if he wanted to obtain a concealed-carry license.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>



Gardon did not confirm whether Newsom had started the process of transferring the gun to California or if it had already arrived.&nbsp;



During his conversation with Ryan, Newsom defended California’s gun laws, arguing that they have earned the state one of the country’s <a href="https://giffords.org/lawcenter/resources/scorecard/?scorecard=CA">lowest rates of gun-related deaths</a>. In contrast, Republican-run states, including Tennessee, typically have the highest rates.



But 2nd Amendment activists have long argued that California’s restrictions have made it onerous to own firearms in the state. Paredes called Newsom’s acceptance of the gift “the height of hypocrisy.”&nbsp;



“He is the chameleon governor who is now changing his stripes and is excited about receiving a gun, where he has done absolutely nothing but travesties against the 2nd Amendment as governor,” Paredes said.&nbsp;



Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said Newsom’s foray into gun ownership is likely part of a broader effort to “break down his national image as an unabashed progressive on every policy” ahead of a <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/08/newsom-president-campaign-tracker/">likely 2028 presidential run</a>.&nbsp;



“By accepting that gun … he may have tried to send the message that gun control is about stopping people from having assault weapons and not opposition to any licensed gun ownership,” Kousser said. “He’s both trying to change his image and trying to kind of create a new image for what a progressive today stands for.”&nbsp;



Gun control advocates who have worked with Newsom to tighten California’s rules said they see no problem with the governor’s new weapon.&nbsp;



“Gun owners make our movement stronger,” Monisha Henley, senior vice president for government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. “From tackling ghost guns to taking the gun industry head on, Gov. Newsom has shown his commitment to gun safety.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Encino who has written several of California’s restrictive gun laws, said he doesn’t “see any contradiction between responsible gun ownership and supporting strong, commonsense gun safety laws.”



“In fact, many of the most passionate and engaged gun safety advocates we’ve worked with are themselves gun owners — because they understand that commonsense laws can protect communities without infringing on 2nd Amendment rights,” Gabriel said.&nbsp;



In his conversation with Ryan, Newsom said he spent Mother’s Day shooting skeet with his kids and wife. Newsom noted that his father-in-law, a staunch conservative who has donated to Republican political campaigns, gifted his young son his first rifle.&nbsp;



But he also said he was “challenged by large-capacity magazine clips in urban centers” and the proliferation of “weapons of war.” California’s rules around background checks, age requirements for gun ownership, and restrictions around those deemed unsafe from possessing firearms have contributed to a safer state, he argued.&nbsp;



“But otherwise, man,” Newsom said, “people have the right to bear arms.”&nbsp;

Attorney General Pam Bondi tells SF jails to hand over list of noncitizen inmates

The Department of Justice has requested a list of all noncitizen inmates in San Francisco&#8217;s jails and has threatened to &#8220;pursue all available means&#8221; if the sheriff does not cooperate. If the San Francisco Sheriff&#8217;s Department, which runs the jails, hands over the data, it will be in violation of the city&#8217;s sanctuary laws.



The request was also made to other California counties, including Los Angeles, in the form of a statement released Thursday morning. “Removing criminal illegal aliens is this administration’s highest priority,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the press release. “I look forward to cooperating with California’s county sheriffs to accomplish our shared duty of keeping Californians and all Americans safe and secure.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1667" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg?w=2500" alt="A woman in a blue suit sits between two men in suits. She looks intently at one of them, who is blurred and speaking. The background features a flag." class="wp-image-419872" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg 5574w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg?resize=2500,1667 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/gettyimages-2223516433.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Attorney General Pam Bondi with President Donald Trump during a July 8 Cabinet meeting.</figcaption></figure>



The SF Sheriff&#8217;s Department said it had not received an official request from the DOJ.



“In the absence of formal communication, we will review the information referenced in the DOJ’s press release and provide a response forthwith,&#8221; a sheriff&#8217;s spokesperson said.



San Francisco passed its <a href="https://www.sf.gov/information--sanctuary-city-ordinance">sanctuary law</a> in 1989 and has updated it multiple times since. One of its main intents is to allow immigrants to report crime and other issues to authorities without fear of being reported to immigration officials. 



A spokesperson for Mayor Daniel Lurie said his administration defended the city&#8217;s long-standing sanctuary laws.



“Under San Francisco and California’s longstanding policies, local law enforcement does not participate in federal immigration enforcement. Mayor Lurie is committed to upholding those policies, and so are our city’s public safety leaders,&#8221; said Charles Lutvak. The request for inmate information is the latest move by federal authorities to ramp up mass deportations, which have been on the rise in San Francisco and across the country and have faced legal pushback and protests. Just this week, President Donald Trump&#8217;s border czar, Tom Homan, again threatened to double down on immigration enforcement in sanctuary cities. Since Jan. 1, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have sent the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department 353 detainer requests, according to department data. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p8x3B29TLs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">department&#8217;s policy</a> is to only honor requests regarding individuals convicted of certain serious or violent felonies. It also considers whether the person poses a risk to public safety. Since April 1, the department has honored one detainer request, its spokesperson said. 



Sheriff Paul Miyamoto released a statement Thursday, saying his &#8220;priority is public safety—not politics—and we will not foster fear in immigrant communities by acting as an arm of immigration enforcement.&#8221;



&#8220;The [SFSO] does not participate in civil immigration enforcement. The federal government already knows the identity and has the fingerprints of every inmate in San Francisco’s jails,&#8221; Miyamoto said. &#8220;If the federal government has a legal reason to arrest someone, they can do so by obtaining a criminal warrant or a court order. The Sheriff will respond to any request for information consistent with local, state, and federal law and the Sheriff has and will continue to honor judicial warrants.&#8221;



Bondi was in <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/17/pelosi-alcatraz-prison-trump/">San Francisco on Thursday to visit Alcatraz</a>, where she was expected to announce plans to reopen the federal prison on the island. A prison there closed in 1963 and has been a popular tourist destination since 1973, attracting more than 1 million visitors a year.



Editor&#8217;s note: In an earlier version of this story, San Francisco Sheriff&#8217;s Department officials inaccurately cited 706 detainer requests received from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since Jan. 1. The correct number is 353.

City Hall’s ‘incredibly hard’ budget is done. Here are the winners and losers

Following months of tough negotiations at City Hall, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-daniel-lurie-deficit-proposal/">$15.9 billion budget</a>, which required major belt-tightening to close a historic $782 million deficit.&nbsp;



The financial plan reflects <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-screwed-lurie/">some of the most significant cuts</a> to San Francisco’s budget in nearly two decades, when the Great Recession decimated City Hall’s coffers. Lurie, a political neophyte who rose to power on promises to curb irresponsible spending, slashed nonprofit contracts, department budgets, and some city jobs.&nbsp;



The Board of Supervisors, which added several politically moderate members after last year’s election, navigated tricky waters in an effort to avoid the most painful cuts. Unions and community groups fought back against the austerity measures — to limited success.



Several of the board’s progressive members joined forces with moderates in a 10-1 vote to approve the budget. Lurie has until Aug. 1 to sign it.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1668" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?w=2500" alt="A woman with long dark hair and gold hoop earrings is seated in a formal setting, looking to the side attentively. A gold thermos and sanitizer are visible." class="wp-image-353124" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg 7433w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=2500,1668 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/supervisors-fighting-for-presidency-a-black-horse-wins_aar_28.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Supervisor Jackie Fielder emerged as a vocal critic of the mayor&#8217;s budget proposal.</figcaption></figure>



Supervisor Connie Chan, who received accolades from the board and Lurie’s office for steering the negotiations as budget chair, said during the vote that the spending plan is not “something we all can fully celebrate.”&nbsp;



“But we must acknowledge how we have come together despite our differences to meet this moment,” Chan said.



Supervisor Jackie Fielder, a freshman lawmaker who has emerged as the board’s progressive leader, cast the sole “no” vote against the budget, saying it&nbsp;included cuts to programs that&nbsp;serve the city’s most vulnerable.



&#8220;For all these reasons, I cannot in good conscience vote in support of this budget,&#8221; Fielder said. &#8220;And I will be voting no — with disappointment, with frustration, but also with clarity about the kind of city we are fighting to become. We owe our residents more than austerity. We owe them dignity.&#8221;



Here’s a look at the winners and losers.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-winner-with-caveats-mayor-daniel-lurie">Winner (with caveats): Mayor Daniel Lurie</h2>



Lurie entered the mayor’s office as budget <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/23/daniel-lurie-san-francisco-mayor-budget-cuts/">cutter-in-chief</a>. He didn’t get everything he wanted in the final budget deal, but the reduced spending is undoubtedly a small win for the mayor.



Lurie’s trims mean less funding for the network of <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/05/daniel-lurie-budget-cuts-san-francisco-nonprofit-grants/">nonprofits</a> that provide a variety of services to San Franciscans. In a hard-fought battle, the mayor successfully <a href="https://link.sfstandard.com/view/65c28f2e664d5a5d7e0849a8o1rqy.2h1/aba0897b">diverted some money</a> from a 2018 voter-approved proposition intended for homeless services to instead fund his goal of building shelter beds. Lurie was able to <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/26/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-layoffs-negotiation-budget/">get some of his requested layoffs into the budget amid pushback</a> from certain supervisors and unions.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1667" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?w=2500" alt="The image shows two people seated at a conference table with laptops and microphones. The focus is on a woman, appearing attentive, with blurred screens in the foreground." class="wp-image-363859" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg 6414w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=2500,1667 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250205_8393232314_budgethearing_asd_1.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Supervisor Connie Chan helped shuttle City Hall through the budget process this year.</figcaption></figure>



The mayor continues to face difficult budget years ahead. This year’s blueprint addresses only a portion of San Francisco’s long-standing structural deficit.&nbsp;



“So, this budget year was incredibly hard,” Lurie’s planning chief, Sarah Dennis Phillips, said in a hearing last week. “Future budget years, probably for the next two years, will continue to be hard.”&nbsp;



San Francisco’s budget could worsen if President Donald Trump <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/04/10/san-francisco-lurie-budget-trump-2-billion/">follows through on promises to cut billions of dollars in federal funding</a> to sanctuary cities.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-winner-law-enforcement">Winner: Law enforcement </h2>



The biggest winner of this budget season? <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/27/san-francisco-budget-cuts-district-attorney-public-defender/">The cops</a>.&nbsp;



Lurie followed through on his campaign promise to prioritize public safety by bumping the budgets of several agencies. The San Francisco Police Department received a roughly 3% funding boost to $849 million. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, which provides security for the city’s courts and runs jails, received a 7% bump to $345 million. The district attorney’s office got a 3% boost to $96 million.



Those increases prompted Fielder to rip into the mayor at Tuesday’s hearing over his decision to keep law enforcement funding intact while cutting community services.&nbsp;



&#8220;While programs serving immigrants, families, BIPOC and LGBTQ communities were gutted, law enforcement walked away with more money,&#8221; Fielder said.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1668" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?w=2500" alt="A line of police officers in riot gear, wearing helmets and face shields, stands against a building. They appear alert, holding batons, with focus on one officer." class="wp-image-408648" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg 6481w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=2500,1668 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/9334360850_icemissionprotest_053.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Law enforcement saw budget increases under Lurie, who campaigned on prioritizing public safety.</figcaption></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-losers-some-commissions-and-departments">Losers: Some commissions and departments</h2>



Other departments did not fare as well as those related to public safety.



Notably, the <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/sf-status-of-women-human-rights-commission-budget/">scandal-ridden Human Rights Commission</a> saw its budget hollowed out by more than a third, to $27.9 million. The Department of Police Accountability saw a drop of 5% to $9 million.



Among others that lost significant chunks of their budgets: San Francisco Homelessness and Supportive Housing, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and the Ethics Commission.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-partial-losers-unions-and-nonprofits">Partial losers: Unions and nonprofits</h2>



One of the fiercest fights to erupt during the budget negotiations was <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/28/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-budget-layoffs/">over Lurie’s proposed layoffs</a>. The mayor’s initial budget proposal cut roughly 100 filled positions and more than 1,000 unfilled roles from the city’s payroll —&nbsp;<a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/26/san-francisco-budget-government-population-daniel-lurie/">a sliver of the total workforce of 34,800</a>.



The unions came out in force over the last several weeks to defend their workers. Late last month, the board restored funding for 57 filled positions, meaning 40 workers will get pink slips. Roughly 1,300 unfilled positions will be axed.



Nonprofits <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/05/daniel-lurie-budget-cuts-san-francisco-nonprofit-grants/">didn’t fare well</a> in the budget, which reduced city contracts by around $180 million. The cuts will affect numerous departments, including Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Economic and Workforce Development, and the Department on the Status of Women, all responsible for doling out grants to a vast network of local nonprofits.

San Francisco balances on thin blue line with Trump ICE arrests

After violent clashes last week between U.S. immigration officers and protesters led to an officer drawing his gun and <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/08/ice-van-video-san-francisco-immigration-court/">a woman being flung from the hood of a speeding federal vehicle</a>, San Francisco police face a thorny question: to intervene or not to intervene.&nbsp;



One San Francisco Police Department deputy chief has weighed in, committing to more aggressively defend federal officers in confrontations with the public. But few in city leadership are willing to discuss how far police might go in blocking people from protesting the arrest of undocumented immigrants — or whether these actions could violate First and Fourth Amendment rights and sanctuary city policies.



The <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/05/san-francisco-ice-arrests-mothers-children/">surge in immigration enforcement</a> under President Donald Trump has fanned out across California and has been most pronounced in Los Angeles, where raids have met fierce resistance and led to rioting. In response, the Los Angeles Police Department <a href="https://www.police1.com/law-enforcement-policies/new-lapd-policy-requires-officers-to-verify-identities-of-ice-agents-during-responses">issued public guidelines</a> on how its officers intend to engage with masked federal immigration officers, while Mayor Karen Bass has personally confronted federal agents and criticized the Trump administration.



San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, by contrast, appears to be taking a wait — and wait, and wait — and see approach. In interviews, he has repeated the talking point that he will keep San Franciscans “safe” without going into detail or mentioning Trump directly.&nbsp;



Lurie declined to comment. His spokesperson Charles Lutvak cited the mayor’s efforts to fund legal efforts in defending immigrants. Part of that funding was restored after The Standard reported that Lurie was <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/13/san-francisco-ice-arrests-daniel-lurie-budget-cuts/">cutting the budget for immigrant services</a>.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="953" height="635" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20241108_mayorlurieannouncement_jason_-0702.jpg?w=953" alt="A group of people stand closely together, with two men in suits prominently in the foreground. One man speaks at a microphone, while the other looks on attentively." class="wp-image-349866" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20241108_mayorlurieannouncement_jason_-0702.jpg 953w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20241108_mayorlurieannouncement_jason_-0702.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20241108_mayorlurieannouncement_jason_-0702.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 953px) 100vw, 953px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mayor Daniel Lurie and interim SFPD Chief Paul Yep may take a tougher stand on protesters following violent clashes last week.</figcaption></figure>



The issue of how San Francisco intends to deal with an escalation in immigration enforcement, and corresponding protests, has gained greater attention after SFPD Deputy Chief Derrick Lew made surprising comments last week at a town hall in the Castro. According to <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/07/sfpd-ice-protesters/">a report by Mission Local</a>, Lew said the department is focused on keeping the public safe and allowing for peaceful protests, but officers will equally prioritize the welfare of agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies.



“We can’t just sit by and watch our fellow law enforcement agent or officer get hurt,” Lew reportedly said.



The comments raised the hackles of Supervisor Jackie Fielder and immigrant rights advocates, who have called on Lurie to take a more forceful stance in support of the immigrant community. Fielder, who represents the Mission, responded in a fiery fashion Monday, accusing ICE of being a &#8220;fascist agency” and demanding answers on local law enforcement activities in a letter of inquiry sent to Lurie, the controller’s office, and the SFPD and Sheriff’s Department. She noted that ICE has the manpower and legal authority to make arrests on its own if necessary.



“It’s baffling that SFPD leadership would equate unarmed protestors with Trump’s armed ICE agents,” Fielder said in a statement. “They can protect themselves with their pepper spray, their guns, their vehicles, and their armor, as they did so readily last Tuesday.”&nbsp;



She added, “This is not a law enforcement agency upholding public safety; it is a fascist operation that is violating court orders and the rule of law to stoke fear and sow chaos.”&nbsp;



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Fielder demanded more information on how police intend to engage with protesters and ICE agents in accordance with local laws. She also questioned law enforcement agencies’ reported practice of sharing data from license-plate readers with federal authorities. An investigation by The Standard found that police in San Francisco and Oakland appear to have <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/14/oakland-san-francisco-ice-license-plate-readers/">violated laws around sharing information</a> with federal agencies.



ICE officials issued a statement Monday accusing protesters in San Francisco of attacking and obstructing federal officers July 8 outside of the federal immigration court on Sansome Street. Federal officials said the violence is part of a trend of assaults on ICE officers, including an alleged coordinated attack on an ICE facility in Texas that led to an officer being shot.



“These violent individuals have zero respect for the rule of law and casually violate it,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security wrote in an email.



Evan Sernoffsky, director of communications for the SFPD, said Lew’s town hall comments did not run afoul of local policies and state law, which forbid police from working with ICE on immigration-related enforcement. Sources have told The Standard that Lew is a strong candidate to take over the SFPD after the recent <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/07/police-chief-bill-scott-announces-resignation/">resignation of Chief Bill Scott</a>.&nbsp;Paul Yep is currently serving as interim chief.



Police officers would have intervened in last week’s chaos, Sernoffsky said, but none arrived&nbsp; until after the violent clashes. This account was disputed by Mission Local, which reported that officers were present at the time of the incidents.



Sernoffsky said officers intervening in physical confrontations should not be seen as assisting ICE in the same way that making immigration-related arrests or providing information to the federal agency would violate local laws.



“If any person in the city comes under a violent attack, it’s the police department’s responsibility to protect public safety,” Sernoffsky said. “It has nothing to do with ICE or anybody else — that is uniform for everybody.”



Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, who helped moderate last week’s town hall, said San Francisco’s leaders might be wise to consider following in the footsteps of those in Los Angeles, who have issued clear guidance on how police intend to comply with federal immigration actions and how to confirm that masked officers are, in fact, genuine law enforcement officers.



“I think this is a hard question, and the police need to do what they can to maintain order and protect San Franciscans,” Mandelman said. “How they respond to ICE officers and protesters raises challenging questions.”

SF officials convene emergency meeting as Trump deploys soldiers to L.A.

Mayor Daniel Lurie has diligently <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/22/donald-trump-san-francisco-fight-mayor-daniel-lurie/">resisted talking about President Donald Trump</a> in public since taking office. The last week may require a change in that strategy.



On Sunday, Trump <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/live/national-guard-troops-la-immigration-ice-clashes-paramount">deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles</a> after days of raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sparked protests and physical confrontations with federal agents. Escalating tensions over the weekend included rocks being thrown at federal law enforcement vehicles, federal agents deploying flash-bang grenades and tear gas, and protesters setting Waymos on fire as thousands took to the streets.



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By Sunday night, <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/08/anti-ice-protest-s/">the unrest had spread to San Francisco</a>. At a protest outside ICE&#8217;s local headquarters on Sansome Street, protesters hurled hammers and other objects at the building and got into shoving matches with police in riot gear, who used metal barricades to push them back. About 60 people were arrested.



Days earlier in San Francisco, roughly 15 people — including <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/05/san-francisco-ice-arrests-mothers-children/">women and children as young as 3</a> — were taken into custody during check-in appointments at a downtown ICE office. One woman and her children, ages 5 and 10, were reportedly forced to sleep on the floor overnight and were not given food. As of Sunday, the woman had been shipped to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/06/texas-dilley-immigration-detention-center-families-reopen/">a detention center in South Texas</a>, according to ICE’s locator system.



On Sunday morning, organized labor in San Francisco convened an emergency meeting to discuss the effects of the escalation in immigration enforcement. Those in attendance at Sunday’s meeting included Lurie, labor leaders, the mayor, City Attorney David Chiu, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, state Sen. Scott Weiner, and local Democratic Party chair Nancy Tung. Officials met to strategize on how to educate residents on their rights and encourage peaceful protests.&nbsp;



Lurie apparently told those in attendance he was there to listen to their concerns and expressed that the safety of the immigrant community is a priority. A source said the mayor’s words were appreciated, but his public silence on Trump has been frustrating.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1666" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg?w=2500" alt="A man in a dark suit and light blue tie gazes pensively, set against a blurred outdoor background with soft lighting." class="wp-image-360280" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg 3236w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg?resize=2500,1666 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ap25008806454603.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Mayor Daniel Lurie has stuck to the script when talking about immigration detentions and arrests in San Francisco.</figcaption></figure>



Unlike Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Supervisor Jackie Fielder, both of whom quickly condemned ICE’s actions in San Francisco, Lurie waited until Friday afternoon to issue a statement about the arrests after being contacted multiple times by The Standard.



“These efforts to target members of our community who contribute to our city, support our economy, and raise their families here are meant to do the exact opposite and make San Francisco less safe,” Lurie said. “Holding children and families for extended periods without meeting basic needs is particularly cruel.”



The mayor added that he is in regular contact with immigrant advocates who organize the SF Rapid Response Network to act on ICE tips. But few individuals involved in those efforts said they had heard from Lurie’s office about Wednesday’s arrests as of Friday afternoon.



Gabriel Medina, executive director of La Raza Community Resource Center, said his team heard nothing from the Lurie administration.



“I think the mayor is trying to not make too much of a blip on the Trump radar,” Medina said. “What I would hope for is more communication internally that’s not public. I’m not seeing it looking at my channels now.”



Laura Valdéz, executive director of Mission Action, told The Standard she spoke with Lurie on Friday morning and she explained to the mayor the need to step up more forcefully in the face of Trump’s aggressive enforcement tactics.



“We need him to unequivocally condemn the actions of ICE and this unjust and inhumane immigration strategy,” Valdéz said.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2441" height="1953" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img_6366.jpg?w=2441" alt="ICE agent detains immigrant" class="wp-image-405730" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img_6366.jpg 2441w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img_6366.jpg?resize=300,240 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img_6366.jpg?resize=768,614 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img_6366.jpg?resize=1536,1229 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/img_6366.jpg?resize=2048,1639 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2441px) 100vw, 2441px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Plainclothes ICE agents detain an immigrant May 27 at San Francisco Immigration Court.</figcaption></figure>



Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the Lurie administration had reached out to people in the community after the ICE arrests, but he declined to provide details about when or with whom these conversations occurred.



Immigrant advocates say they have had productive conversations with San Francisco police, and Evan Sernoffsky, an SFPD spokesperson, issued a statement saying there is an interagency plan with the Sheriff’s Office to ensure people can peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights. However, he added, violence, property destruction, and other criminal activity will not be tolerated.&nbsp;



“Under longstanding city policy, local law enforcement officers are generally prohibited from assisting in the enforcement of federal immigration laws — that policy keeps our city safer, and we will continue to uphold it,” Sernoffsky said.



It’s unclear what role soldiers in Los Angeles have served beyond sowing fear and stoking protests, but the public outcry by state Democratic leaders has been swift and stern. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the troops a “spectacle” and “a serious breach of state sovereignty,” while Wiener, who represents San Francisco, called the use of federal forces to put down dissent “a core manifestation of fascism.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="730" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/gettyimages-2219219057.jpg?w=1024" alt="Police officers in riot gear confront protesters on a street. One officer wields a baton, while protesters appear to struggle. Tension is evident." class="wp-image-407976" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/gettyimages-2219219057.jpg 1024w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/gettyimages-2219219057.jpg?resize=300,214 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/gettyimages-2219219057.jpg?resize=768,548 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The National Guard, police, and protesters clash Sunday outside a jail in downtown Los Angeles following two days of protests over immigration raids.</figcaption></figure>



It wasn’t until late Sunday night that <a href="https://x.com/daniellurie/status/1931957300828524682?s=46&amp;t=pyd4Acn73VWtIC6nuFy7LA">Lurie broke his silence, on social media, about ICE activities</a>. He did not directly address the women and children who were rounded up in San Francisco or Trump’s deployment of troops in Los Angeles, focusing mostly on the vandalism and clashes with police that led to arrests. Lurie ended the post by recycling past statements about his commitment to helping immigrants. It was a measured response, but it was at least something after other weekend Instagram posts about his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/danielluriesf/3650564812106372083/?hl=en">frequent coffee consumption</a> and attending <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKnWsISBr--/?hl=en">a Giants game on Pride Day</a>.



The closest Lurie has come to sparring with Trump was when the mayor noted that the president’s absurd idea to <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/04/trump-alcatraz-prison-again/">convert Alcatraz back to a prison</a> was “not a serious proposal.” But as anxieties mount about Trump&#8217;s actions in California, Lurie&#8217;s ducking and weaving on what is causing the unrest may no longer be viable.



On Friday, the mayor’s office noted in an email to The Standard that it believed none of the people whom ICE arrested last week are San Francisco residents. If and when that changes, maybe it will be the time Lurie feels bold enough to talk directly about he who will not be named.



Editor’s note: This story has been updated after Mission Action officials learned that the organization’s executive director spoke with Lurie on Friday.

SF nonprofits brace for bloodbath as Lurie slashes grant funding

When she first came to San Francisco roughly a decade ago, Ermei Wu landed a job in a Chinatown restaurant to support her three kids. Like many monolingual immigrants, she didn’t have anyone explaining wage laws to her in the language she speaks, Cantonese.&nbsp;



She never knew to challenge her boss for what she later discovered was wage theft, until she joined the Chinese Progressive Association’s program, the Workers Rights Community Collaborative. 



“I knew I had rights as a worker, that I had paid sick leave, that there was minimum wage, that there was overtime,” Wu said through a translator. She pays it forward: “I tell all the people around me about what rights they have as a worker.”



In her next restaurant job, Wu was paid what she was owed. Last year, however, the Office of Labor and Standards Enforcement scaled back the workers&#8217; rights program by nearly $400,000, roughly half its budget. This year, the program is set to lose the other half and shutter entirely.



It&#8217;s not the only one. The pot of money funding San Francisco’s legion of do-good organizations is about to shrink.



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Mayor Daniel Lurie’s <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-daniel-lurie-deficit-proposal/">budget would cut</a> roughly $154 million, or 9%, from the city’s grant programming next year, according to an analysis by The Standard.



Nonprofits are waiting in the dark to find out what will happen to their finances, as the mayor’s budget doesn’t contain line-item details to easily discern contract cuts. The Standard’s analysis offers a first view at just how devastating those trims will be.



Joe Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Hospitality House, said Lurie’s proposal to gut grant funding may have disturbing consequences. Lurie has repeatedly pressed on the need for public safety, but when nonprofits providing food, shelter, and jobs are cut, people get desperate.



In Lurie’s budget proposal, Hospitality House lost funding from the Office of Economic and Workforce Development that pays for a program on Treasure Island to help 500 job seekers, Wilson said.&nbsp;



“When there are fewer community-based health options, fewer community-based employment options, fewer community-based housing options, the city pays that cost, and it&#8217;s much more costly than the investments we&#8217;re already making,” Wilson said.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1668" width="2500" src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg?w=2500" alt="Three people stand on a dimly lit street corner at night. One person has a bicycle. They are next to a blue building with bags and a bucket nearby." class="wp-image-406800" srcset="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg 3000w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg?resize=2500,1668 2500w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20240126_homelesscountwewent_-2399_28da2458-c16a-11ee-bc93-fad3dbc5ec97.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Grant funding for nonprofit work, including from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, will drop next year.</figcaption></figure>



Lurie has repeatedly characterized the city’s spending as excessive, saying San Francisco must make structural cuts to resolve a staggering $782 million deficit. In his budget plan, public safety agencies like the San Francisco Police Department and district attorney’s office maintained their budgets.&nbsp;



The Standard’s analysis found:&nbsp;



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Funding to the City Grant Program, a primary funding pool for nonprofits, will decrease next year for 17 of the 24 departments that have that as a budget line item.</li>



<li>Three departments are losing all grant program funding: the Department on the Status of Women, Building Inspection, and Elections.</li>



<li>The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is facing the biggest reduction to its grant program, $83.5 million, though a portion of that is due to Our City, Our Home funding, which will be spent over five years, but was only reflected in last year’s budget.&nbsp;</li>



<li>At No. 2 is Economic and Workforce Development, which will lose $58.6 million. A portion of that is the movement of some major contracts to another department.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



Some of the department-level reductions are straight-up cuts by Lurie. But in some cases, grants moved from one department to another. In others, the grant reductions are because federal or state funds dried up. During previous years, the city elected to shore up the loss of some state funding with local funding, but in this climate, that generosity is hard to find.



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<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Some nonprofit contracts fall under &#8220;non-personnel services,&#8221; a spending category for facilities management, insurance fees, and other expenditures. Non-personnel services spending will increase next year by 2%, or $69 million.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Twenty-five departments will get reductions in non-personnel services. Those include Juvenile Probation (a 75% cut), Ethics Commission (46%), Sheriff’s Department (24%), Public Works (36%), and Human Rights Commission (40%).</li>
</ul>



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In <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/23/daniel-lurie-san-francisco-mayor-budget-cuts/">a January memo</a> to city department heads, Lurie directed them to cut grants from the “least effective” organizations. But Sarah Wan, director of the Community Youth Center, said even outcomes that are difficult to measure can have real impacts.&nbsp;



CYC started its Bayview Services program in 2011. It provides connections to city and neighborhood services for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the Bayview but also offers bridge-building programs between Black and Asian neighbors, such as joint Lunar New Year and Black History Month celebrations, local history bus tours, and translators to help bridge the divide.&nbsp;



CYC is facing a $1.5 million budget reduction. The Bayview CYC location may shutter.&nbsp;



“It took us like 15 years to do that, to build that partnership,” she said. “I think we definitely helped build bridges across communities. It&#8217;s how to ensure everyone feels safe.”



A full accounting of how many organizations would be affected by the mayor’s budget is not available, as it contains only top-line numbers, not the line-item detail necessary to discern what programs may be axed. The People’s Budget coalition, a collective of more than 150 organizations, rallied Wednesday at City Hall to protest the coming cuts.



Despite the unknowns, one thing is certain: Nonprofits are expecting a bloodbath.

Lurie campaigned as an ethics crusader. Now he’s gutting SF’s top watchdog

On the campaign trail, Daniel Lurie vowed to vanquish City Hall corruption, promising to fully fund the city’s governance watchdog, the Ethics Commission.



Now, as mayor, Lurie just blew a gaping hole in the department’s budget, sparking an outcry from its leader.



“We need to spend money on the front end, before they become big problems,” said Patrick Ford, executive director of the Ethics Commission. “In that sense, an investment in ethics is a cost saver in the long run. Our department is tiny. And it is money well spent.”



The cuts may include axing the roles of four staffers in the 28-person department who identify loopholes in ethics rules and train city officials on the law. They are crucial to curbing corruption before it takes hold, Ford said.



In his proposed budget, <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-daniel-lurie-deficit-proposal/">released Friday</a>, Lurie called for belt-tightening across city departments as part of an effort <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2025/05/30/san-francisco-budget-screwed-lurie/">to close a $782 million budget shortfall</a>. The Public Health Department, Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and Public Works, among others, are earmarked for budget cuts. Public safety agencies — the San Francisco Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, district attorney’s office, and public defender’s office — were mostly preserved.



Lurie’s budget requires approval by the Board of Supervisors; the deadline for reaching a deal is July 1. Supervisor Jackie Fielder said a robust Ethics Commission is key as Lurie steps up reliance on wealthy donors to fund city efforts around homelessness and the drug crisis.



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“This drastic budget reduction to the commission severely undermines the city’s ability to investigate misconduct, enforce transparency, and hold public officials accountable,” Fielder said in a statement. “As the city increasingly turns to wealthy individuals and foundations to fill budget gaps, the need for robust oversight and accountability has never been more urgent.”



The Ethics Commission’s workforce expanded from 21 to 28 in the wake of a major scandal in 2020, in which former Public Works director Mohammed Nuru was <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2022/01/06/mohammed-nuru-key-figure-in-sf-corruption-scandal-formally-pleads-guilty/">found guilty</a> of taking bribes from contractors, including a Rolex watch and a tractor.



More department heads were implicated as the scandal unfolded, leading then-Mayor London Breed to hire more Ethics Commission staffers to train officials in good governance — and to catch them when they ran afoul of the law.



In 2023, <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2023/06/05/san-francisco-ethics-watchdog-decries-severe-cuts-under-mayors-budget/https://sfstandard.com/2023/06/05/san-francisco-ethics-watchdog-decries-severe-cuts-under-mayors-budget/">she tried to cut the commission’s budget</a>, a move Lurie called out last year on the campaign trail.



&#8220;While the current mayor attempted to defund the Ethics Commission, I commit to fully funding it,” Lurie said in August.



<figure class="wp-block-video"><video controls src="https://content.sfstandard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1000033044.mp4" playsinline></video></figure>



Soon after, Lurie’s campaign sent out a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GHWzFiY3Nt0x9qB2eixwhhEC4CXgVFC425mehYnGSxM/edit?tab=t.0">press release</a> defining “fully funding” — essentially arguing that he meant he would fund certain divisions within the Ethics Commission, not the department as a whole.



&#8220;Mayor Lurie committed to fully funding the Ethics Commission by ensuring that the Enforcement and Audit Divisions had the staff and resources necessary to conduct investigations and audits,” the mayor’s spokesperson, Charles Lutvak, said Monday, citing the August press release. “Even facing an historic $800 million budget deficit, that’s exactly what this budget does.&#8221;



The four positions Lurie has proposed to eliminate — three of which are layoffs — are especially impactful considering the Ethics Commission’s tiny size relative to other city agencies, Ford argues. An analysis of staffing levels from the mayor’s proposed budget shows that the Ethics Commission may face a 14% cut to its workforce budget.



That’s the fourth-largest cut out of 53 city departments; by comparison, Recreation and Parks, which is budgeted for nearly 1,000 workers, faces a 0.3% cut to its staffing budget. Not all proposed reductions are to salaries and workers; some city departments may see steep reductions in grants and contracts.



One Ethics Commission position flagged for elimination is a policy analyst, who updates the city’s ethics laws and researches Board of Supervisors legislation in an effort to tighten the rules. Two other positions, senior program administrators, educate the roughly 6,000 city staffers who have to comply with financial disclosure requirements.



“If we don&#8217;t have the staff to create trainings and answer questions, you&#8217;re going to see people not fully understanding how to follow ethics rules, which can, over time, snowball into the kinds of major issues we&#8217;ve seen in recent years,” Ford said.



Lurie’s budget includes other funding that can tackle bad governance, including an inspector general, a position created via ballot measure last year that is tasked with rooting out government fraud.



When a Standard reporter asked Lurie about Ethics Commission cuts during a press conference Friday, the mayor deferred to his staff but added that he is “fully focused on ethics with this budget.”

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