Summary: One of the people most surprised by San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White’s announcement that she was retiring on May 5 was Mayor London Breed. For weeks, Room 200 and Hayes-White had been holding talks on the date of the long-standing chief’s exit. And the two sides were far from a deal. The chief initially wanted to stay on until January 2020 to coincide with the end of her good friend, the late Mayor Ed Lee’s, second term.
