San Francisco\u2019s Democratic Party is axles up in a ditch. <\/p>\n
Chair Nancy Tung\u2019s party supporters say she\u2019s navigated the party into this place with \u201cintegrity and vision.\u201d Good to know: Insofar as there\u2019s a way out, it will be Tung who\u2019s behind the wheel. <\/p>\n
It has, indeed, been a rough road of late for the county Democratic Party. <\/p>\n
The local party reversed its own bylaws so it could in August<\/a> buck the California Democratic Party and oppose Prop. 40, the \u201cBillionaire Tax.\u201d Last month, the local party voted handily<\/a> to spurn attempts to mitigate the city\u2019s contract with controversial surveillance camera outfit Flock \u2014 not one week before Mayor Daniel Lurie enacted attempts to do just that. <\/p>\n Complicating matters, Tung in August accepted a $10,000 donation<\/a> from crypto billionaire Chris Larsen; she used some of that money to pay for airfare to an Atlanta confab put on by Flock. <\/p>\n Larsen is a major contributor to the massive-dollar effort to sink Prop. 40 and has put millions of dollars into installing Flock cameras throughout San Francisco. Tung told the San Francisco Standard that the donation had \u201cno bearing whatsoever\u201d on her actions. <\/p>\n Also in August, the San Francisco Democratic Party endorsed Manny Yekutiel<\/a> for District 8 supervisor, despite an on-the-record allegation of sexual assault by Brad Chapin. This came after a five-week \u201cinvestigation\u201d into that allegation.<\/p>\n On the very day of the vote, party members were delivered a half-page letter<\/a> tersely noting that the accusation against Yekutiel did not come under the aegis of the party\u2019s anti-harassment policy and its \u201cinvestigation\u201d could neither confirm nor deny whether an assault occurred. <\/p>\n As the party policy only covers actions undertaken at party-linked events, and Chapin alleges he was assaulted at a private home, it should have been rapidly determined that the Democratic Party could not take this matter up. Instead, the \u201cinvestigation\u201d was allowed to drag on for weeks and, in the end, its non-findings were used to buttress the endorsement of the party\u2019s preferred candidate. <\/p>\n And then: Axles up in a ditch. <\/p>\n Following the party\u2019s endorsement of Yekutiel, Mayor Lurie also backed him, adding that he believed Yekutiel\u2019s account that Chapin was not telling the truth. This, it seems, led directly to two more men this month coming forward to accuse Yekutiel of sexual misconduct<\/a>. It warrants mentioning that Lurie appears to have, counter-intuitively sunk Yekutiel\u2019s chances by endorsing him. <\/p>\n The party will hold an emergency meeting on Oct. 11 to reconsider its District 8 endorsement. It promises to be a fraught affair. <\/p>\n Tung has since apologized for this outcome and this process<\/a>. But not before her detractors have called for her to do more \u2014 and step down. A planned Wednesday Richmond District press conference intended to bolster Tung in the face of this criticism was abruptly canceled, leaving befuddled members of the media to instead interview anti-Tung protesters. <\/p>\n As it has done regarding contentious issues in the past \u2014 see here<\/a> and here<\/a> \u2014 Mission Local asked virtually every San Francisco elected official to go on the record. Our question: <\/p>\n \u201cShould Nancy Tung resign from the DCCC and\/or step down as San Francisco Democratic Party chair? Why or why not?\u201d<\/p>\n Respondents who simply answered \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d were urged to explain their answers. Some did. Most did not. <\/p>\n