Welcome back to our “Meet the Candidates” series, where District 8 supervisor candidates respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published every Wednesday.

District 8 includes neighborhoods in the center of the city, including the Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park, Twin Peaks, Duboce Triangle, Dolores Heights, Parnassus Heights, Ashbury Heights, Corona Heights and Diamond Heights.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has proposed almost 40 new historic landmarks in District 8 during his time in office. But he’s not done. He’s now working with Mayor Daniel Lurie to create even more. 

Their legislative package includes resources for doing a citywide survey of historic properties, streamlining the landmark designation process, and a letter to the state requesting that San Francisco’s historic landmarks be included on the state’s list. 

All in all, Mandelman and Lurie expect that their policies could create around 2,500 new landmarks, a significant increase — there are currently around 2,200.

Though Mandelman and Lurie think landmarking is important for protecting what makes San Francisco special, one group is not enthused: YIMBYs. 

As they see it, landmark designations could be used to block new housing because landmarks are typically exempt from state and local laws encouraging development. 

Some YIMBYs have pushed for the city to figure out how much housing could be built on the site of each new landmark and then, if setting that lot aside for historic preservation, increase building height limits in other areas of the city to make up the difference.

This week’s question: Do you support Supervisor Mandelman and Mayor Lurie’s legislative package to increase the number of designated landmarks in the city? 

Mission Local color codes the answers to yes/no questions. A green background means the candidate answered yes, a red background means no, and a yellow background means that the candidate dodged the question.

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Michael Nguyen

Job: Patent attorney

Age: 44

Residency: Renter, has lived in District 8 since 2006

Transportation: Driving, public transit and walking

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Southwestern University, law degree from University of California Law, San Francisco

Languages: English, some Spanish, some Vietnamese

I support this legislation. San Francisco is the place where so much of our communities’ history has been made, from the Castro to the Fillmore to the Mission, and right now we don’t even have a real inventory of what deserves protection. Less than one percent of our properties have historic designation, compared to three to five percent in cities like Boston and New York. 

Before we lose more of what makes this city special, we need to know what we have. This is a common sense step, and I’m glad to see it move forward.

Endorsed by: GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club (#2), San Francisco Green Party, former supervisor Dean Preston, UESF … see more here.

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Darshini Patel

Job: Former DoorDash employee, worked on the 2012 Obama campaign and the 2024 Harris campaign, former Obama staffer

Age: 38

Residency: Homeowner, has lived in District 8 for 10 cumulative years since 2010

Transportation: Public transit, walking and biking

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College

Languages: Gujarati, English

I’d support it with a housing guarantee attached. I have a background in economics and architecture, and both taught me that places matter because of the lives, histories, and communities they hold. The Lyon-Martin House is worth preserving because of the history made there, not simply the structure itself.

Landmarking is most valuable when protecting community and history. For every designation, the city should disclose the housing or community-space capacity it removes and demonstrate how to add that capacity back elsewhere. Our history is worth preserving, but doing so cannot close the door on our city’s next chapter.

Endorsed by: UESF

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Manny Yekutiel

Job: Founder and owner of Manny’s, co-founder and former executive director of Civic Joy Fund

Age: 36

Residency: Renter, has lived in San Francisco since 2012 and District 8 since 2013

Transportation: Driving, public transit and walking

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Williams College

Languages: English, Hebrew

While I do support protecting truly historic buildings in our city, I do not support utilizing historic preservation as a blanket tool to block new housing. Preservation and building more housing cannot be mutually exclusive. We need to protect our history while still allowing San Francisco to grow and evolve. We do that by preserving buildings with an authentic connection to our history, while simultaneously making it far easier to build. 

I’ve committed to building 10,000 new homes in District 8 over eight years, and I intend to deliver on that commitment.

Endorsed by: District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, former Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Jane Fonda, Senator Cory Booker, Grow SF, Abundant SF, San Francisco Apartment Association … see more here.

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Gary McCoy

Job: Former staffer to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and former vice president of policy and public affairs at HealthRIGHT 360

Age: 48

Residency: Renter, has lived in San Francisco for 24 years and District 8 for 15 years

Transportation: Driving, biking, public transit and walking

Education: Former City College of San Francisco student, certified phlebotomy technician from Bay Area Medical Academy

Languages: English

No. I will fight for what is genuinely historic in our neighborhoods, and I support finishing the citywide survey to identify significant historic buildings. But a plan to arbitrarily designate 2,500 landmarks by 2030, when local landmarks are exempt from zoning reform, is going to make it harder to build more housing at a time when rents are sky high and people are being pushed out of our community. 

Too often, “historic” designations make our city more expensive and exclusive, not less. As people are being priced out, we’re losing what makes our neighborhoods historic — the culture and community.

Endorsed by: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco YIMBY, San Francisco Labor Council, Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, San Francisco Tenants Union, UESF … see more here.

Candidates are ordered alphabetically and rotated each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at io@missionlocal.com.  

Election Day is on Nov. 3, 2026. You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.