San Francisco mayoral candidate Angela Alioto endured some intense backlash Friday after announcing earlier in the week that she would spearhead a proposed November ballot measure to eliminate sanctuary city protections for felons.

Fellow mayoral contender Mark Leno revoked his endorsement of Alioto as his No. 3 choice for mayor on the city’s ranked-choice ballot.

“I can’t support any candidate who advances the Trumpian myth that our immigrants are ‘murderers, rapists and child molesters,’” Leno said Friday. He urged Alioto to withdraw her signature-gathering campaign for the ballot measure.

Mayoral hopefuls Jane Kim and London Breed also condemned the proposed ballot measure on social media, along with a number of officials, including Mayor Mark Farrell.

Under the sanctuary law, San Francisco limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities, with the goals of promoting better ties with immigrant communities and creating safer neighborhoods.

Alioto’s proposed ballot measure would permit local law enforcement to coordinate with federal immigration officials if a suspect has committed a violent felony previously or is booked on suspicion of a violent felony. Critics said turning over undocumented immigrants not yet convicted of any crime violates their right to due process. Alioto said she supports the spirit of the sanctuary law and that it’s “common sense” to not extend such protections to felons.

“I don’t understand why Mark Leno would want to protect felons,” Alioto said. “The intent of the (sanctuary) law was never to protect felons, whether they’re immigrant felons or not,” she said.

— Dominic Fracassa

Time for change: Todd Rufo will step down as director of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development at the end of the month.

In an email to the office’s staff on Thursday, Rufo said he would be embarking on “a new adventure,” and would be joining Bloomberg Associates, a nonprofit consulting firm that works with cities.

“After more than 11 years with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, I have decided to make a change,” Rufo said in his email. “It’s been an honor to serve Mayor (Mark) Farrell, our elected leaders, our residents and our business community.” Rufo was appointed to lead the office by then-Mayor Ed Lee in 2012.

The $60 million office’s mission is to improve the city’s economy through workforce development, job training, business attraction, small business assistance and other measures. Two of the office’s deputy directors — Joaquin Torres and Ken Rich — will take on some of Rufo’s workload.

With little assurance that the next mayor will keep on any department heads, Rufo is not likely to be the last high-profile departure from City Hall before the June 5 election.

— Dominic Fracassa

New space: San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department has finalized the purchase of a nearly 20,000-square-foot South of Market parcel it intends to convert into public space.

The department bought the parcel at 11th and Natoma streets for $9.7 million from its open space acquisition fund. The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase last year.

A cluster of five buildings now sits on the site. The last leases for the current tenants will expire in 2021.

Rec and Park is just beginning to craft what the future park would look like, said Connie Chan, a department spokeswoman.

“We look forward to the planning and design process in the coming months,” she said.

— Dominic Fracassa

Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider @dominicfracassa