Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie announced his first three hires, and while two of them were campaign staffers, his out-of-left-field pick is former Giants executive vice president Staci Slaughter as his new chief of staff.
As the Daniel Lurie mayoral administration gears up for his swearing-in on January 8, the basic outlines of his administration have been taking shape this week. On Wednesday, Lurie announced he would restructure the mayor’s office with four “deputy mayor” positions, essentially splitting the chief of staff job into four parts. It’s a system the mayor’s office utilized up until the early 1990s, though Mission Local reports that voters did away with that system because the deputy mayors seemed overpaid and ineffective.
I am thrilled to announce three hires for my administration: Staci Slaughter as Chief of Staff, Matthew Goudeau as Deputy Chief of Staff, and Han Zou as Director of Public Affairs. Their track record of results and dedication to SF will be key as we work to turn our city around. pic.twitter.com/TnYus6mcZQ
— Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) December 12, 2024
Lurie had yet to announce any actual people who would be serving on his mayoral staff, despite a splashy transition team announcement that included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on the team. But the Chronicle reports that on Thursday, Lurie named his first three administration officials, and the surprising choice of the bunch is former Giants executive vice president Staci Slaughter as Lurie’s new chief of staff.
“This is a leadership team with a proven track record of challenging the status quo and delivering meaningful results,” Lurie said in a statement. “They share my commitment to accountability, service, and change, and I’m proud to have them by my side as we tackle San Francisco’s most pressing challenges head-on.”
His two other hires are his campaign adviser Matthew Goudeau as deputy chief of staff, and his campaign manager Han Zou as director of public affairs. Those two are not a surprise, politicians at every level reward campaign staffers with top jobs when they win the office. But the former Giants executive Staci Slaughter is a surprise.
Slaughter had spent nearly 30 with the Giants organization until her retirement last year, most recently as executive vice president and senior adviser to Giants CEO Larry Baer. Prior to that she’s been with the team in communications capacities, and most notably, helped shepherd the Oracle Park construction (back in the “Pac Bell Park” days), and the Giants’ mixed-use housing development near the ballpark at Mission Rock.
“I have been on the other side of how things work at City Hall to get a major project built,” Slaughter tells the Chronicle. “What’s more, when you’re operating a baseball team, you really work with all aspects of the city, from (the) MTA on making sure that we have public transportation coming to the park to making sure that the city works effectively, not just around games but on major events.”
She had previously served as press secretary for then-SF Mayor Frank Jordan in the early- to mid-1990s.
With the mayor’s office restructuring, Slaughter will presumably have less power and responsibility than most previous chiefs of staff. Lurie’s transition teams thinks that will be more effective.
“The office can end up overwhelmed just working through the crisis of the day or of the week,” former City Controller Ben Rosenfield said to the Chronicle. “Distributing some of that day-to-day point of contact really has the potential to be very meaningful in moving forward big issues in a sustained way over a period of time to get real results.”
There has been some speculation that the well-respected Rosenfield is also in line for a position in the Lurie administration, his having worked in City Hall for 26 years. That would bring one very experienced hand to the table, in an administration that otherwise has little or no experience in SF City Hall.
Related: Daniel Lurie Plans to Create Four Deputy Positions In Mayor’s Office [SFist]
Image: @DanielLurie via Twitter