SAN FRANCISCO – The end of the year brings an end to the Breed administration in San Francisco.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed served the city for six years and said she’s proud of the work she’s done. 

Breed is spending the last weeks of her administration much the same way she has the last six years, serving as the city’s biggest advocate, now reflecting on her time in office.

A term that started in the turmoil following the death of her predecessor, Ed Lee.

Then-president of the board of supervisors, Breed briefly served as acting mayor and was elected to serve the remainder of Lee’s term, guiding the city through its grief. 

“Along with trying to process it myself, I had to roll up my sleeves and just reassure the public that the business of the city will continue, that you do have a leader, but that we are also mourning and help the city get through that grief,” said Breed.

Breed served San Francisco through the COVID-19 pandemic, taking decisive action early to shut down the city, a move she said saved lives. 

“San Francisco is one of the densest cities anywhere in the country,” said Breed. “We had one of the lowest death rates of any major city. We didn’t have our hospitals overflowing, our morgue overflowing.”

Because of the pandemic, Breed said she grappled with a new economic reality, trying to reshape the city in the post-pandemic era.

Breed said among her proudest accomplishments is cutting the red tape, transforming a city that was slow to change to a city of “yes.” 

“So, getting to ‘yes,’ providing more flexible uses and making downtown a 24/7 neighborhood, that’s what starting to happen now,” said Breed. 

“Removing the restrictions is important. So I believe that during my time, doing all this work, we have set San Francisco up for what is possible.”

That post-pandemic period also saw a marked increase in crime. 

Breed said she brought on a new district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, to make sure there was accountability and consequences for those who broke the law, including drug dealers and users, as the city struggled with a surge in fentanyl use.

Breed also said she’s worked to change the sometimes distorted image of San Francisco to make it a destination for police officer recruitment and helped usher in new technology, all of which she says are responsible for the city’s declining crime rate. 

“We have the tools,” Breed said. “We’ve changed the laws, we’ve built the capacity to address it a lot differently than we did when we came out of the pandemic. That is what led to these remarkable results that we’re starting to see, and it’s only going to get better.”

The mayor said she also worked hard to find a solution to the homelessness crisis that spilled out into the streets. 

“I really focused in on the issues that, now, have changed for the better,” said Breed. “More to do, of course, not where they need to be, but, we have helped over 20,000 people exit homelessness permanently.”

As for her plans going forward, Breed is not offering a lot of details. 

“I’m looking forward to what the future holds,” said Breed. “I gotta say, just being mayor of San Francisco has just really been the honor of my life. It’s been a joy. Yes, it has had its challenges. Its up and its downs, but this is one of the most incredible cities in the world. I’m so proud that I have had the privilege to serve as the mayor of San Francisco.”

The mayor did say that for now, her focus is on continuing to serve the city until Jan. 8 when a new mayor is sworn in.

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The market is spooked by an inflation-concerned Fed not smashing the pedal down to slash rates and appease bullish investors.

The vibe is not lost on San Francisco Fed president Mary Daly, seen often as a policy dove who’s a voting member on the FOMC this year.

“Well, it was a close call, frankly, and it took a lot of deliberation as it often does with myself and my team, and then also with the FOMC participants. Ultimately, I decided that it was appropriate to reduce [interest rates] 25 basis points — that will be 100 basis points of recalibration. And I see that as right-sizing the policy rate level to the economy,” Daly said on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast (video above).

Added Daly, “So I see the recalibration period now as completed. We now are back to the time we can make our decisions more slowly. Data-dependent, using the data to affect the incoming forecast and, you know, determine how many rate cuts we’ll ultimately do next year. We’ll have to be agile and data-dependent.”

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. It marked the Fed’s third straight rate cut of 2024, which began with a blast — a 50 basis point reduction on Sept. 18.

Daly voted for the reduction in interest rates. The lone dissenting vote — a rarity under the Jerome Powell-led Federal Reserve — was newly appointed Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack.

Hammack preferred not to cut interest rates.

“I mean, we might get really positive inflation news and we’ll react to that if we do. But I do think that we want to make sure we finish the job,” said Daly, who noted getting inflation to 2% helps build trust and credibility for the Fed.

“So we are resolute to get that job done and that will mean restricted policy through the year [in 2025] in all likelihood.”

But what spooked a market that has been bidding up Big Tech stocks such as Apple (AAPL) and Meta (META) with reckless abandon in December was the Fed not committing to aggressive rate cutting in 2025.

The consensus among Fed officials is now for two rate cuts next year, down from the four forecast in September. The outlook for inflation is further clouded by potential moves by the incoming Trump administration, such as possible tariffs on China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average promptly finished Wednesday’s session down more than 1,100 points. Stocks stabilized Thursday and Friday, with the latter supported by a slower increase than expected on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index.

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The index is off by almost 4% in December as losing stretches have begun to pile on amid renewed uncertainty on rate cuts. The S&P 500 is also off by about 3% in the month.

“After cutting rates at three straight meetings, the rate cuts anticipated over the eight meetings in 2025 will be much less frequent, as the president-elect’s plans for spending and tax cuts and tariffs associated with his pro-growth agenda risk stopping inflation’s move down to target in its tracks,” said FWDBONDS chief economist Chris Rupkey.

Daly said she would remain information-dependent and didn’t rule out a rate hike in 2025.

“I never rule out anything honestly because that’s a recipe for being behind or make mistakes,” Daly said.

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“But I can tell you where I think the most likely place will be. We could have fewer cuts than two. We could have more cuts than two depending on the data. Of course, if inflation for whatever reason started to accelerate again, then absolutely I’d be supportive of adjusting the rate upwards. But I don’t see that right now on the horizon.”

Three times each week, I drive insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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