Mayor Daniel Lurie recently took time out of his own busy Instagram schedule to appear on an influencer's account (@uptin). In a break from longstanding City policy, he spoke against expanding rent control. “We will not be expanding rent control” were his exact words. So for the many San Francisco renters who don’t have protections of rent control, this Mayor thinks that is just fine.
Mayor Daniel Lurie’s opposition to expanding rent control is out of step with even the most conservative SF Supervisors. As recently as October 2024, the entire board of supervisors voted to expand rent control if given the opportunity by the state. The ordinance passed unanimously, stating “The People of the City and County of San Francisco declare that it is essential to extend rent control to more units in San Francisco, so that the City can replenish its aging rent-controlled housing, and tenants in newer housing can enjoy the same protections as those in older housing.” Every supervisor agreed to this, even those aligned with the real estate industry and the landlord lobby.
Mysteriously, the Lurie video was quickly hidden from the influencer’s page and not shared by the Mayor. Perhaps Lurie’s superfunded PR team realized this was a major unforced error that would alienate San Francisco tenants.
But before it disappeared off the grid, PUML found it, and shared it to our page. You can watch it here.
There has long been a tension between cities and the state when it comes to rent control. The realtor/landlord lobby wrote a state law (Costa Hawkins) that passed in 1995 and severely restricts local rent control laws. Buildings built after 1979 in San Francisco have no local rent control protections. The City has repeatedly supported efforts to scale back the state preemption so the city could update our rent control law and expand rent control to units that currently lack local protections from evictions and rent hikes.
Median rent in SF has risen 18% since Lurie came into office, the fastest rise in the nation. The city is in the midst of a generational affordability crisis, and the Mayor just said that he won't even consider expanding the one policy proven to give working people relief.
The Mayor of San Francisco, a city that strongly supports rent control, has come out against rent control for all, and the story suddenly disappeared from social media. There has been no mainstream media coverage of this concerning development.
