We recommend voting for Manny Yekutiel for Supervisor, District 8.

You could argue that Manny is already doing the job of Supervisor: organizing trash clean-ups, organizing street festivals, advocating for small businesses and residents, and bringing more joy to the district.

He does most of that through the Civic Joy Fund, which he co-founded with Daniel Lurie (back before he became Mayor) and which pays for 17 trash pickups a week, night markets, and public art across the city. He has also served in important roles on the Small Business Commission and the SFMTA Board of Directors where he spent nearly three years voting on Muni service, street redesigns, and the agency's budget. But you may know him from his cafe and civic gathering space, Manny's, at 16th and Valencia. He turned a vision of community and conversation into a thriving small business where leaders, authors, and artists flock to from around the world. Running his cafe and leading the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association taught him what it costs, in fees and in patience, to keep a small business open in San Francisco.

If I had to choose just one metric, it would be the number of new homes actually built.

— Manny Yekutiel, GrowSF questionnaire

Why vote for Manny Yekutiel?

1. Build 10,000 homes

Manny has the most ambitious housing agenda in this race: 10,000 new homes in District 8 within eight years. For reference, the district built just 1,212 new homes from 2015 through 2024. He will achieve this by enacting a "housing priority district" on Market Street from Castro to Octavia that strips away barriers to building new homes, which he expects to result in about 6,000 homes. Another 3,000 will come from larger sites and 1,000 from ADUs. He wants guaranteed approvals for code-compliant projects and called Mayor Lurie's Family Zoning Plan a great first step. He answered our questions like someone who has actually read the economic research.

2. Safety and treatment

He supports full SFPD staffing, civilianizing desk roles so sworn officers patrol, and regular day and night beat cops on the Castro, 24th Street, and the district's plazas. On drugs, his positions match ours: arrest and prosecute fentanyl dealers and their suppliers, end the distribution of pipes and other paraphernalia without legitimate public health benefits, and expand sober housing and treatment capacity so every enforcement contact comes with a real offer of care. He also wants the Department of Public Health empowered to treat people in mental health crisis rather than waiting for a court order.

3. Free and easy to run a small business

His small business platform is straightforward: "It should be free and easy to start and run a small business in the City." He would make a willing landlord the only approval most businesses need, whether that is a salon, a corner grocery, a restaurant, or a neighborhood office, and would end the Planning Commission hearings that a bar taking over an empty restaurant still has to sit through. He would also reduce or eliminate the annual fees that cost small operators thousands, and simplify permits for basic storefront work. His goal is to fill every vacant storefront in the district within four years.

Where Manny Yekutiel stands

McCoy refused to answer our questionnaire, so his positions above come from his campaign platform and press coverage of him. He dismissed the questionnaire, which asks candidates about specific policies, as a "litmus test." We think Gary McCoy's refusal to answer basic questions about his positions on housing, policing, and drug policy is disqualifying and disrespectful to voters.

On other issues

Homelessness: Yekutiel's goal is zero unsheltered homelessness through more shelter, transitional housing, and tiny cabin villages, paired with accountability and enforcement to keep streets clean and safe.

Transit: He backs bus-only lanes with real enforcement, a citywide protected bike lane network, and Vision Zero, while pushing Muni to earn the trust of riders with service that is safe, fast, and reliable.

Manny Yekutiel has spent a decade building things in this city: a business, a civic institution, street festivals, night markets, and cleaner streets. We can't wait to see what he can do as Supervisor.