Levi Strauss Heir Files Paperwork to Enter the San Francisco Mayoral Race
It's a situation that invites conflict of interest.
Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie filed paperwork last week to run for mayor of San Francisco. With rising property and violent crime, residents fleeing, businesses shuttering and the downtown area struggling, the city certainly could use new leadership.
Current Mayor London Breed has her share of critics. 2/3s of San Francisco voters disapprove of her job performance, with top concerns listed as the city’s drug crisis and overall public safety. Open air fentanyl markets, record high overdoses on the streets, tent camps packing downtown where a bustling shopping and work culture used to be, and more than 7% of the city’s residents having left for greener, less drug infested pastures during 2020-2021 presents an opening for a new mayor.
But is Lurie the guy? I’d argue no. And at the top of my list for reasons why: it appears unclear whether it is possible to put a bright line between the Levi’s business — headquartered in San Francisco — and the city’s governance. Having a mayor who is also one of the largest shareholders of the company is a situation ripe for conflict of interest.
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