Thousands of city employees can squeeze out a few extra months of work-from-home time after Monday’s news, first reported by The Standard, that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s return-to-the-office order will be pushed from late April to August. 

The delay is the culmination of simmering discontent among union members who claimed that Lurie’s order, announced in February, was rolled out haphazardly. They argued that the April deadline was unfriendly to workers with families, and there has been concern about whether there is enough physical space at city offices to accommodate the returning WFH crowd. (Lurie’s order did offer accommodations for workers under certain circumstances.)

Union leadership hesitated to push back, figuring they would save their political capital for the coming budget deliberations.

However, unions had a stroke of luck after labor groups in Sacramento filed charges against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s similar return-to-office mandate for state employees. Last week, a top attorney on the state’s labor board said the governor may have violated the law with his order, according to The Sacramento Bee.

A source familiar with the negotiations told Power Play that the Sacramento dust-up left San Francisco officials worried they may face similar challenges from the city’s unions, leading them to the bargaining table. The agreement left city officials satisfied they could avoid an immediate legal showdown, and union leaders were able to appease unhappy members. 

Monday’s news meant the city and its unions avoided a direct tussle — for now.

Got tips? Send us an email at powerplay@sfstandard.com or text/call (415) 408-7504. 

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF: Change is in the air at the Parks Alliance, the well-connected nonprofit known for supporting parks and open spaces. Drew Becher, who was CEO for eight years, quietly showed himself the door at the end of February, Power Play has learned. 

An email to donors sent Wednesday described declining revenues — particularly from city grants. The nonprofit didn’t cut costs quickly enough, according to the email, and is scaling back costly new projects, reassessing its fiscal sponsorships, and launching a fundraising push. Layoffs began last June, and the nonprofit continued to reduce staff as recently as this month.

“This transition was in the works for a few months with the Board leadership,” Becher wrote in a text message. “I wish nothing but the best for S.F. parks and the alliance and am proud of all we accomplished over 8 years.” 

Robert Ogilvie, who formerly worked at Lighthouse Public Affairs and founded SPUR's Oakland office, is interim CEO.

SITTING PRETTY? With less than a month left to gather 10,000 signatures, the effort to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio appears close to reaching that goal, sources tell Power Play.

Vin Budhai, who leads the recall campaign, said the team is “comfortable with 30 days left.” He declined to share numbers but said the signature gathering is “definitely close.”

The recall campaign is aiming for at least 20% more signatures than required to ensure a safe margin. The Department of Elections will use a random sampling method to validate the signatures; this could take up to 60 business days.

Engardio’s anti-recall campaign was skeptical. “If they're as close as they say they are, why don't they come out and say what the number is?” spokesperson Jason Galisatus said.

NORTH BEACH HUDDLE: A heated debate over whether to make North Beach a historic district came to a head Wednesday morning in negotiations at City Hall.

North Beach Supervisor Danny Sauter, Chief of Housing and Economic Development Ned Segal, and Planning Director Rich Hillis represented the city. Supporters of the historic district included Sauter’s predecessor, Aaron Peskin, historic preservationist Katherine Petrin, and Woody LaBounty of San Francisco Heritage. 

At stake is a state-level historic designation that would cover 625 buildings. YIMBYs claim the label would all but stop housing development in the district, but proponents call those fears hyperbolic and say it would protect important sites. An analysis from the city attorney and planning offices, released last week, says it would still be possible to build under the designation, but the plan would stop developers from taking advantage of certain laws that allow for the streamlining of housing projects. 

At Wednesday’s meeting, the city proposed a scaled-back version of the plan that would cover less of the neighborhood and remove properties such as parking garages from the historic designation. 

Folks on both sides of the issue said they’re eager for a compromise. “We’ve tried to really look at this and figure out a historic district that honors the history of this neighborhood but also is not overly prohibitive and is not too large of an area,” Sauter told Power Play. “I’m hopeful that we can strike that balance.” Petrin concurred: “We feel confident with the district as proposed; otherwise, we wouldn’t have proposed it that way. But understanding that it is not palatable to certain political factions, we’d like to see something adopted.”

While the parties said they would try to reach an agreement by Friday, they have until May 9, when the State Historical Resources Commission reviews the plan. 

DEM PARTY MOVES: A longtime political activist is set to join the local Democratic Party’s leadership board at a time when it’s facing criticism over a lack of Latino representation.

At Wednesday night’s Democratic County Central Committee meeting, labor leader Joshua Arce is set to replace Carrie Barnes, who resigned after moving out of the eastern district. Arce, who was a candidate for Mission district supervisor in 2016, comes with Latino community ties and strong political connections, having served as a top staffer in City Hall and now as vice president of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

Arce told Power Play he’s grateful to party chair Nancy Tung for the appointment. “My Latino heritage is who I am, and I’m proud to represent the community at the party,” Arce said, noting that he’s the grandson of an immigrant farmworker from Mexico.

The Latinx Democratic Club quit the party last month, ostensibly to protest SF Democrats’ alleged failure to back up the Latino community. When asked whether Arce’s appointment was a response to the Latinx club’s criticism, Tung said, “Absolutely not.”

In other DCCC news, Tung has (finally!) decided to abandon the widely hated Milton Marks Auditorium, a windowless basement devoid of reliable internet service, where the party has held meetings for some time. The committee will now rotate meeting locations throughout the city,  starting with SoMa in April, Visitacion Valley in May, the Castro in June, and Chinatown in July. 

Emma Heiken, DCCC’s vice chair, called the old space disconnected: “Talk about out of touch with the reality of our vibrant diverse Democratic community.” Tung added that the committee could use AI to interpret meetings in real time for monolingual immigrant residents.

Similarly, Republican Party chair Bill Jackson confirmed that the board has relocated its meetings from Milton Marks to the United Irish Cultural Center in the Sunset.

‘IT’S T-R-U-M-P’: During what was supposed to be a comeback year for San Francisco tourism, President Donald Trump’s draconian border policies and widespread safety concerns are souring international travelers on the City by the Bay.

MARKET STREET FEUD: Uber is threatening to sue San Francisco after Lurie announced that Waymo robotaxis would be given near-exclusive access to Market Street. The rideshare firm accused Lurie of playing favorites, calling the deal “legally unacceptable.” 

SO LONG, SAKS: Less than a year after shifting to an appointment-only model, Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square is closing, the company announced Wednesday. Its final day will be May 10. 

—Edited by Annie Gaus