Rafael Mandelman

President, District 8, San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Presides over the Board of Supervisors; asked 29 questions at the 37 meetings where we identified them. Named Castro/Upper Market 11 times, more than any other official.

37 of 37transcribed meetings with their voice identified

29questions at the Board of Supervisors

19 of 19present at roll calls through Apr 14, 2026, from the clerk

Presides over the Board of Supervisors; sits on 4 more other bodies

See all

Five clips, newest first

HomelessnessRafael MandelmanPresident · Board of Supervisors · Jul 14, 2026 · 2:29:26The status quo is insane. The status quo in which so many folks living in permanent supportive housing developments are consigned to deal with the most outrageous behavior from their neighbors, and the managers of those buildings are unable to do anything about it because of government policy.Open the meeting at 2:29:26

Waymo and robotaxis“Of course, we are unable to regulate AVs on our roads, but I do think we are seeing Now at multiple events where we are getting pretty disturbing— well, distressing and disturbing at best, but actually dangerous traffic snarls that we need the regulators to be looking at and doing more about.”Rafael MandelmanMember · San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board · Jul 14, 2026 · 15:45 “And you have additional resources for new planting that you have not had over the last few years?”Rafael MandelmanPresident · Board of Supervisors · Sep 1, 2026 · 29:02 “But this question I was going back and forth— why doesn’t your— doesn’t AT&T’s alternative analysis also look at alternative technologies?”Rafael MandelmanPresident · Board of Supervisors · Feb 10, 2026 · 2:34:06 “Current law requires cities and counties to identify and plan for the supportive housing needs of specified target populations in their general plans as part of the housing element.”Rafael MandelmanPresident · Board of Supervisors · Jun 30, 2026 · 1:28:15

Officials only. Public speakers are counted, never named.

Issues Mandelman raised, by number of meetings

We count who raised an issue, not which side they took.

Where Mandelman sits

District 8 on the current Board of Supervisors map

Click a district to open its member’s page.

Rafael Mandelman sits for District 8. Click a district to open its member’s page.District lines: DataSF, Supervisor Districts (2022), f2zs-jevy, fetched 2026-10-30.

Every roll call, and Mandelman’s other bodies

Present at 19 of 19 roll calls at the Board of Supervisors, roll call through Apr 14, 2026

From the clerk’s own record. We don’t compare members on it.

PresentExcusedAbsentOldest first, 1 square per roll call

Absent 0. Oct 28, 2025 to Apr 14, 2026. The clerk’s record covers 19 of the 39 meetings we hold, through Apr 14, 2026.

Official roll call, from the clerk →

San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board: 0.6 min of speech a meeting, range 0.1–1.4. In the same range as seven other members.
Board of Supervisors: talk time not compared. Presides over its meetings, so isn’t compared with the members.
Rules Committee: talk time not compared. Fewer than four members can be compared fairly.
Budget and Appropriations Committee: talk time not compared. Fewer than four members can be compared fairly.
Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board: talk time not compared. Seated for only 5 meetings in 12 months.

What they talk about

Commendations, ceremonies and memorials took the largest share of Mandelman’s speech with a checked topic: 36%

By the agenda item on the floor when they spoke, at the Board of Supervisors and its committees (clerk’s agenda times). 444 of 880 minutes of their speech have a checked topic. How much they talk about it, not which side they take.

Commendations, ceremonies and memorials36%

Streets, traffic and parking2.7%

Housing and tenants2.0%

Health and behavioral health0.9%

Questions

Mandelman asked 29 questions at the 37 Board of Supervisors meetings where we identified them

At least this many: direct questions only.

…not all of your decisions were unanimous, right? In some cases, you were in the minority. Um, I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the areas where there was not unanimityBoard of Supervisors · Mar 17, 2026 · Play at 1:58:58

Of Mandelman’s 16 questions to city departments at the Board of Supervisors, 9 went to planning and zoning.

Who they question: 16 questions to a department, 1 body · Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 8, 2026.

Board of Supervisors16 questions to city departments

Board of Supervisors: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Planning and zoning		956%
Public works, streets and sanitation		319%
City attorney / law department		213%
Transportation and transit		213%

Neighborhoods Mandelman named

13 places Mandelman named in meetings

Lines where Mandelman named the place, read by two AI readers that both agree it means that place. Each dot plays the newest one; brighter means named more often.

San Francisco

Castro/Upper Market 11 times, the most of any official
Glen Park 5 times, the most of any official
South of Market 3 times
Treasure Island 3 times
Mission 2 times
Bayview Hunters Point 1 time
Excelsior 1 time
Haight Ashbury 1 time
Japantown 1 time
Marina 1 time
Mission Bay 1 time
Tenderloin 1 time

Places are drawn at the centre of their own boundary in the city’s Analysis Neighborhoods file (DataSF (City and County of San Francisco)). A dot says the place was named, not where Mandelman was or what was said about it.

Meetings

Every meeting where we identified Mandelman’s voice

77, newest first. The date opens the meeting; the time plays the video at Mandelman’s first remark.

Oct 6, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials13.7 min0:50
Sep 29, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Appointments to boards and commissions15.9 min0:54
Sep 28, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions1.5 min24:16
Sep 22, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials28.3 min0:52
Sep 15, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Budget and spending24.2 min0:51
Sep 14, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions10.2 min1:45
Sep 10, 2026Transbay Joint Powers Authority Board1.2 minVideo
Sep 1, 2026Board of SupervisorsDevelopment and land use10.7 min0:47
Jul 28, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Appointments to boards and commissions25.2 min0:46
Jul 27, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions8.4 min2:02

Show all 77Show fewer

Jul 21, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Business and economic development29.6 min0:50
Jul 20, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions3.9 min5:21
Jul 14, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Homelessness25.9 min0:50
Jul 14, 2026San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board1.7 min15:28
Jul 13, 2026Rules Committee0.7 min13:52
Jul 9, 2026Transbay Joint Powers Authority BoardPublic transit1.8 min43:44
Jul 7, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials20.0 min0:46
Jul 6, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions1.9 min13:15
Jun 30, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials17.3 min1:05
Jun 29, 2026Rules Committee0.4 min10:08
Jun 25, 2026Budget and Appropriations Committee4.6 min7:51:28
Jun 23, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials20.9 min0:53
Jun 22, 2026Rules Committee14.2 min11:55
Jun 22, 2026Budget and Appropriations CommitteeCity workforce and labor1.2 min57:59
Jun 18, 2026Budget and Appropriations CommitteeCity workforce and labor14.1 min43:55
Jun 17, 2026Budget and Appropriations Committee1.2 min1:29:59
Jun 16, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Public transit28.7 min0:52
Jun 15, 2026Rules Committee5.1 min2:38
Jun 9, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Business and economic development18.8 min0:50
Jun 9, 2026San Francisco County Transportation Authority BoardPublic transit1.9 min44:04
Jun 2, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Health and behavioral health21.6 min0:45
Jun 1, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions5.2 min1:16:12
May 19, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials18.2 min0:50
May 12, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Policing and public safety24.3 min0:46
May 11, 2026Rules CommitteeBusiness and economic development3.4 min16:38
May 5, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Schools and youth12.5 min0:51
May 4, 2026Rules Committee0.7 min14:24
Apr 28, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Development and land use15.0 min0:50
Apr 21, 2026Board of Supervisors6.2 min0:51
Apr 20, 2026Rules Committee2.7 min6:05
Apr 14, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials15.2 min0:46
Apr 13, 2026Rules Committee4.3 min2:38
Apr 7, 2026Board of SupervisorsDevelopment and land use · Commendations, ceremonies and memorials29.0 min0:49
Apr 6, 2026Rules CommitteeFire and emergency services · Appointments to boards and commissions9.7 min1:55
Mar 24, 2026Board of SupervisorsPublic transit · Commendations, ceremonies and memorials15.3 min0:50
Mar 23, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions2.1 min8:35
Mar 17, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials20.6 min0:48
Mar 16, 2026Rules Committee0.8 min7:44
Mar 10, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Development and land use16.4 min0:50
Mar 3, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Health and behavioral health22.0 min0:44
Mar 2, 2026Rules Committee0.3 min16:03
Feb 25, 2026Budget and Appropriations CommitteeBudget and spending24.5 min2:54
Feb 24, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials5.3 min0:50
Feb 23, 2026Rules Committee0.4 min10:46
Feb 23, 2026SFCTA Personnel CommitteeCity workforce and labor1.5 min1:07:50
Feb 10, 2026Board of SupervisorsBusiness and economic development39.8 min0:52
Feb 10, 2026San Francisco County Transportation Authority BoardPublic transit5.1 min27:56
Feb 9, 2026Rules Committee1.0 min5:48
Feb 3, 2026Board of SupervisorsDevelopment and land use30.5 min0:51
Feb 2, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions · Arts, culture and libraries4.3 min1:43
Jan 27, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Development and land use12.8 min0:48
Jan 26, 2026Rules Committee7.6 min20:19
Jan 13, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Health and behavioral health18.7 min19:10
Jan 6, 2026Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · Development and land use17.9 min0:46
Jan 5, 2026Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions0.7 min5:50
Dec 16, 2025Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials · City workforce and labor18.3 min1:05
Dec 15, 2025Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions1.4 min6:13
Dec 9, 2025Board of SupervisorsDevelopment and land use · Commendations, ceremonies and memorials18.7 min0:53
Dec 8, 2025Rules Committee0.5 min6:06
Dec 2, 2025Board of SupervisorsDevelopment and land use · Appointments to boards and commissions21.1 min0:50
Dec 1, 2025Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions1.5 min54:02
Nov 18, 2025Board of SupervisorsDevelopment and land use · Commendations, ceremonies and memorials19.6 min0:40
Nov 17, 2025Rules CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions1.1 min22:20
Nov 4, 2025Board of SupervisorsBudget and spending · Commendations, ceremonies and memorials15.9 min0:41
Nov 3, 2025Rules Committee5.3 min3:58
Oct 28, 2025Board of SupervisorsCommendations, ceremonies and memorials11.5 min0:47
Oct 27, 2025Rules CommitteeHousing and tenants · Appointments to boards and commissions6.8 min2:12

How we identify who is speaking · blind check, pooled across five cities: of 410 council lines drawn, 352 right, 0 wrong, 1 unclear, 57 couldn’t be judged

We identified Mandelman’s voice at 77 meetings across six bodies. A meeting missing here means we couldn’t attribute the voice, not that Mandelman was absent. Claude and Gemini each read every transcript with that day’s roster. A voice gets Rafael Mandelman’s name only when both agree and a code check finds the name said on, or just before, their turn. Voices our transcripts merge with someone else’s are never attributed, so every count here undercounts what Mandelman said. For councils and their committees, of 410 lines drawn, 352 were right, 0 wrong and 1 unclear, and the checkers couldn’t judge 57. We have since removed the voices behind 110 of those lines (0 wrong, 1 unclear, the rest we had already held for other reasons). Of the 300 lines we still publish, the checkers could judge 268: all 268 right (90% lower bound 0.99). They couldn’t judge the other 32. The check is one sample pooled across the five cities, not of Mandelman or of San Francisco alone.