On June 30, District 8 supervisor candidate Manny Yekutiel was publicly accused of sexual assault by former Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club board member Brad Chapin. Although Yekutiel has denied the claim in the press and on social media, the accusation has put at least one key supporter on the fence.
District 5 supervisor Bilal Mahmood, one of two active city elected officials who are endorsing Yekutiel, told Gazetteer SF that he will rescind his endorsement “if the complaint is affirmed” in an independent investigation by the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, the governing body of the local Democratic Party.
In December 2024, the DCCC adopted new policies to review reports of sexual misconduct and investigate potential wrongdoing by local politicos, including DCCC members, members of chartered Democratic clubs, and candidates seeking a DCCC endorsement.
Any accusation of misconduct reported to the DCCC’s Special Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment is considered by an independent ombudsperson, followed by a fact-finding process by an investigator, SF-based law firm Gibson Dunn, then an assessment by a neutral three-person “adjudication panel” that makes a final determination, according to the DCCC’s code of conduct policy.
Mahmood, a member of the DCCC, told Gazetteer that he and other members are completely “walled off” from the investigation process until the adjudication panel makes its decision. Because all reports are pseudonymized by investigators, per the conduct policy, they only know that the report involves Yekutiel and Chapin because the latter went public, Mahmood said.
Mahmood said he does not know when the final determination will be released.
“Because we’re walled off, we don’t know what stage the investigation is in. I believe we should have some news before we have to make [Democratic Party] endorsement decisions this summer,” Mahmood said.
Nancy Tung, chair of the DCCC, told Gazetteer that she has "deferred the party endorsement of the D8 supervisor race to our August meeting because of the allegations against one of the candidates as reported in the press."
She also pointed to a general statement confirming that the DCCC has thus far "not received any data from the Ombudsperson" regarding the complaint.
The fact-finding process is to take no longer than two months “unless the facts and circumstances merit a longer inquiry,” according to DCCC’s policy. A final determination can come in three forms: The accusation is substantiated, partially substantiated, or unsubstantiated.
Mahmood did not respond to a follow-up question about whether he would rescind his endorsement if the accusation is partially substantiated.
Meanwhile, the other supervisor to endorse Yekutiel, District 8’s Rafael Mandelman, affirmed his support in a phone call with Gazetteer.
“I can confirm that I continue to support Manny Yekutiel and I have not seen anything to cause me to change that support. If new information emerges, I will consider that, but I don’t see how a DCCC investigation is likely to shed additional light on the situation,” Mandelman said.
The accusation has already led to District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar and California Attorney General Rob Bonta pulling their endorsements. In a July 7 statement on Instagram, Yekutiel deemed the accusation an “attempt to assassinate my character” and emphasized that the police investigated the claim before they “decided not to pursue it further.”
Yekutiel, who owns the Mission cafe and venue space Manny’s and co-founded the nonprofit Civic Joy Fund, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
