Democrat mayor blasted for sneaking through reparations plan 'in dark of night' that could see city's black residents handed $5m each
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie quietly approved the plan on December 23 in a move that has enraged centrists in the City by the Bay.
By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER and SONYA GUGLIARA, US REPORTER
Published: 20:55 GMT, 31 December 2025 | Updated: 21:01 GMT, 31 December 2025
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has been slammed for quietly approving a reparations bill that may grant eligible black residents $5 million in reparations just days before Christmas.
Lurie quietly signed the incredibly divisive Reparations Bill on December 23, which establishes a reparations fund, as recommended by the city's African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC) in its 2023 report.
The legislation merely establishes the fund but does not allocate any money to it - setting up the framework for any future contributions, whether they be through the city or privately donated.
San Francisco journalist Erica Sandberg was among the first to highlight what Mayor Lurie had done on her Substack page that chronicles the woke city.
Sandberg told the Daily Mail that the most shocking part of Lurie's move was that he signed the bill 'in the dark of night' and without any real input from the community.
'This was done covertly. It was not done with the approval of the constituents, San Franciscans were not polled. Nobody was asked,' she said.
'This was not taken to community forums and groups, nothing. It was done basically in the dark of night. They didn't warn people that this was essentially going to happen.'
Sandberg explained that San Francisco is a diverse city filled with recent migrants who should not have to contribute towards a reparations fund to remedy past ills.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has been slammed for discreetly approving a reparations bill two days before Christmas
Lurie previously admitted to the Daily Mail that San Francisco (pictured) does not have the money for the fund, but signed it anyways
'It doesn't make sense in many ways. San Francisco is extremely diverse. We are a city of immigrants, many of whom are recent immigrants,' the journalist said.
'The idea that people who have just come here would be on the hook for somebody else's past issues is absurd.
'It's very divisive. There's no reason for it, it doesn't create unity, it creates resentment and bafflement.'
Lurie was inaugurated in January 2025 and promised to run San Francisco in a common-sense, centrist way after years of woke excesses saw quality of life slump.