By Josh Koehn, Gabe Greschler, Han Li & Annie Gaus

Proposition K turned the Great Highway into a free public park, but the true cost of the ballot measure is growing as money surges in for the September recall election of Supervisor Joel Engardio, who was the lead author of the initiative.

The latest chunks of cash come from Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman and Twilio cofounder John Wolthuis, each of whom last week gave $25,000 to the anti-recall effort, according to campaign filings. Their total contributions to the fight now come to $175,000 and $100,000, respectively.

Other notable anti-recall donors include tech billionaires Ron Conway ($25,000) and Chris Larsen ($100,000), while Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan — estimated to be a humble centimillionaire — has kicked in $10,000. By the end of May, the anti-recall effort had spent more than $440,000, according to campaign filings. And that could be just the beginning.

“This recall is driven by extremists over one policy disagreement — not any wrongdoing or corruption,” said Joe Arellano, a spokesperson for the Stop the Recall committee. “It’s a colossal waste of money.”

By comparison, the recall effort — fueled by residents who say the new park has made their neighborhood commutes a nightmare — had spent almost $231,000 by the end of May, much of which went toward gathering signatures to qualify for the ballot. That effort left the campaign committee with almost $93,000 in debt and about $23,000 in cash.

“We don’t have the same big-money billionaire donors that they do,” said Jamie Hughes, the leader of the recall effort. “A lot of our money is coming from regular people here in District 4.”

Hughes added that recall supporters are confident they’ll get enough donations to break even and oust Engardio.

Engardio’s anti-recall campaign expects turnout in the special election at no more than 40% of registered voters in District 4 — about 20,000 people. That would put the current cost per vote at more than $33 — a figure that is expected to climb substantially between now and Sept. 16.

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In the pipeline

LAYOFF MALAISE: With budget fights mostly in the rearview mirror after last week’s late-night layoff negotiations, some City Hall staff are asking: Was it worth it?

To recap, Board of Supervisors budget chair Connie Chan worked out a deal to reduce the number of layoffs in Lurie’s budget plan from roughly 100 to 40. That followed a weeks-long brouhaha from unions, whose members staged a sit-in at the Board of Supervisors and were arrested while protesting Lurie’s layoff plans. The mayor’s budget office has said it’s not focused on the size of government but on avoiding willy-nilly spending.

Chan’s 57 saved jobs came from $15 million in diverted money. The jobs still on the chopping block represent a minuscule fraction — 0.1% — of the city’s workforce.

“It caused a lot of pain,” one City Hall insider said of the layoff drama. “And I don’t think it is a surprise that we were thinking, ‘Was the juice worth the squeeze?’ There are different ways to look at it. … Why not go a lot larger and a lot bigger, and truly shrink the size of government and the workforce?” The person speculated that this year’s layoffs may have been a trial balloon for the neophyte mayor’s office, so it has experience going into next year’s similarly difficult-looking budget.

Another person said that not calling for more layoffs could put Lurie in a tougher situation in 2026. If next year’s budget requires job cuts, the mayor can’t blame his predecessor.

“He should’ve done a lot more,” a City Hall source said. “Next year, it is harder.”

Others said the layoff scrum is the least of San Francisco’s problems, noting that the city’s budgetary woes could become disastrous if the Trump administration turns the screws on withholding federal funding.

ZOO HIRE: The power struggle over San Francisco Zoo entered a strange new realm late Friday as conflicting accounts emerged of zoo CEO Tanya Peterson’s job status. Sources indicated that Peterson told Lurie she would resign, prompting the mayor to release a statement urging the zoo board to “develop a plan to name a new CEO.”

Peterson was speaking metaphorically and has no plans to quit, according to a zoo spokesperson. In a call, Peterson mentioned important meetings this week with a corporate sponsor and colleagues in China.

People seeking to oust Peterson had been trying to gain the mayor’s support, sources say. That effort led to the now-disputed phone call. The details of the conversation can't be verified, but Lurie’s statement makes him the latest figure to join the push to remove Peterson, effectively increasing political pressure on the zoo’s board. Peterson has survived multiple rounds of scrutiny and recently consolidated support among board members.

Meanwhile, the zoo has tapped a new executive with plenty of experience in politics. Cassandra Costello, who was chief strategy officer at SF Travel, will be the zoo’s new chief operating officer, reporting to Peterson.

Costello is well known at City Hall. She served as a legislative aide to two supervisors more than a decade ago and later became a deputy director at the Recreation and Parks Department. Her experience navigating government and tourism is seen as helpful to the zoo, which is preparing to welcome pandas in 2026, along with a new lemur habitat in September.

Even Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who’s been sharply critical of zoo leadership, praised Costello’s hire as “fantastic news for both the zoo and the city.” Still, the supervisors are freezing part of the zoo’s annual funding to pressure the institution to comply with an ongoing audit.

FAREWELL, CHIEF SCOTT: Former Chief Bill Scott exited the San Francisco Police Department in style. Scott’s last financial disclosure form shows him basking in retirement gifts, including $120 shoes from District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, an $80 hat from Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, and a $150 jacket.

He’ll also be sipping on some fine liquors — $455 worth from three well-wishers — and munching on $144 worth of snacks from colleagues and others. And as Scott sits in his Los Angeles living room, reminiscing about busting Walgreens shoplifters, he’ll gaze fondly at his $150 book, $65 sports memorabilia, and $250 gift card.

Scott, who spent 27 years at the Los Angeles Police Department before moving to San Francisco, started his new gig running L.A. Metro’s new public safety division on Monday.