Meet the District 8 candidates: Should bike lanes be expanded even if parking is removed?

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.

District 8 is home to some of San Francisco’s most iconic, well-trafficked bike routes, including the Wiggle, a winding route that connects the east and west sides of the city. 

But many street safety advocates feel that the city could be doing more to make biking safe. They would like to see more protections on streets with existing bike lanes, like 17th Street, as well as an expansion of the bike lane network across the city. 

In 2025, SFMTA adopted a “Biking and Rolling Plan” that aims to build a bike lane within a quarter mile of every resident over the next 10 to 15 years. 

Space on the street is limited, though, and projects to expand bike lanes typically require removing driving lanes or parking spots, often to the dismay of neighbors and small-business owners concerned about parking difficulties, traffic, and access to storefronts (remember the whole Valencia bike lane debate?).

This week’s question: Where in the district, if anywhere, do you think bike lanes should be expanded or improved? Would you support those projects even if they required removing a significant number of parking spots?

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.

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

District 8 should have a connected network of protected bike lanes and slow streets so people can get around safely and joyously.

We need to repave the bike lanes through Upper Market; implement the better 17th Street plan; improve the Wiggle, especially at Sanchez and Steiner; adopt the Safe School Zones within the SFMTA’s Biking and Rolling Plan; and build better connections between Slow Page, Noe, Sanchez, and Arlington streets. 

Where removing parking is necessary to make those routes genuinely safe, I would support it while working with neighbors and small businesses to make sure changes are thoughtful and well designed.

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

I support extending the 17th Street protected bike lane to Jane Warner Plaza in the Castro with the Safer, Better 17th proposal, even though it removes parking. 

We also need to quickly deliver District 8’s segments of the Biking and Rolling Plan so riders aren’t dropped into fast, dangerous traffic. 

From my work on pedestrian and bicycle safety improvement projects at the Recreation & Parks Department and with the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee, I’ve learned we have to bring neighbors, the disability community, and our local merchants in early, so we’re balancing parking needs thoughtfully along the way.

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

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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

Yes, I would support these projects. 17th Street between Castro and Valencia streets is my top priority, and I’m proud to support the Safer, Better 17th Street Campaign. I’d also make Wiggle Plaza permanent, with Sanchez and Steiner as slow streets. 

I believe in striving for solutions that create real balance between parking and protected bike lanes, but when we have to choose, I choose people over cars. Safe streets save lives, and D8 has lost too many neighbors to traffic violence. I’ll keep pushing these projects forward, even when it means having tough conversations about parking.

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

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

Church, 17th, and Dolores streets. High-injury streets and the flat connected routes near them that people will actually ride — the Wiggle zigzags for a reason! — need protected lanes with physical barriers. I’d make the Street Safety Act binding, so safety and related traffic abatement upgrades are included with repaving. 

Where parking must be removed, I’d sequence changes based on curb dependency: Preserve accessible spaces and commercial loading, and start where realistic alternatives exist. 

Hoboken has gone almost a decade without a single traffic death by systematically daylighting corners and redesigning streets. If Hoboken can do it, San Francisco can, too.

Endorsed by: N/A

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.