Rafael Mandelman

Rafael Mandelman (born October 17, 1973) is an American attorney and politician currently serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 8.

Early life
Mandelman grew up in Laguna Beach, California with his mother. His parents divorced when he was three. His mother had various mental disorders and was regularly in and out of the hospital. At 11 years old, his relatives convinced Mandelman to move to San Francisco, where his paternal grandmother was. But she was too old to take care of him so he lived between homes. Mandelman attended Brandeis Hillel Day School and Lick-Wilmerding High School.

Mandelman earned a B.A. in History from Yale College, a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. from UC Berkeley’s School of Law.

Political career
Mandelman ran to represent District 8 in the 2010 San Francisco Board of Supervisors election, placing second against Scott Wiener.

Mandelman was elected to the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees in 2012.

San Francisco Supervisor
Mandelman defeated incumbent Jeff Sheehy to represent District 8 in the June 2018 San Francisco Board of Supervisors special election, replacing Sheehy for the duration of the term. Mandelman went on to win in the November general election.

In 2019, he authored an ordinance to create the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District; the ordinance was passed unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Positions on housing
Mandelman supported a resolution that expressed opposition to California Senate Bill 50, which mandates that localities allow denser housing near "job-rich" areas and transit hubs in California. In 2021, Mandelman proposed to allow construction of fourplexes on single lots in San Francisco. Mandelman's aide explained that the bill was intended to preempt California HOME Act (California Senate Bill 9, which was a new version of California Senate Bill 50), which Mandelman opposed. In 2022, the Board of Supervisors passed Mandelman's bill. Mayor London Breed vetoed the legislation, saying that the bill was intended to sidestep California state legislation to increase housing and that Mandelman's bill included provisions that would make it harder, not easier, to build more housing.

In 2021, Mandelman opposed the construction of a 500-unit apartment complex on a Nordstrom's valet parking lot. He endorsed David Campos for California Assembly District 17. The San Francisco Chronicle tied this endorsement to Mandelman's vote to block the 500-unit housing construction project in Supervisor Matt Haney's district in San Francisco; Haney was running for the same district seat as Campos. According to the Chronicle, it is unusual for supervisors to block projects in the district of another supervisor if that supervisor approves of the project.

In 2018, Mandelman co-authored a bill increasing fines for the illegal demolition of homes in order to preserve rent-controlled housing and curb the loss of residential housing. He called for reform of the Ellis Act in 2018 to protect certain tenants from evictions. In 2018, Mandelman sponsored a resolution declaring public support for Proposition 10, which would repeal the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act and thus allow local jurisdictions to create their own rent control rules.

In 2024, Mandelman voted to override Mayor London Breed's veto of anti-housing legislation that imposed height and density restrictions on housing in the northeast waterfront and Jackson Square.

Mental health and homelessness
Mandelman introduced legislation in 2018 to streamline the opening of more residential care facilities by removing the requirement that such facilities need to obtain conditional use permits if they are serving seven or more residents in several zoning districts, but not those zoned for single-family or two-family homes.

In 2019, Mandelman authored legislation implementing the housing conservatorship program created by Scott Wiener's SB 1045 for unhoused individuals suffering from severe mental illness and substance use disorder. Mandelman has repeatedly pushed for expansion of the City’s use of its existing conservatorship tools, and of State laws restricting eligibility for conservatorships.

In 2022, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an expanded version of Mandelman's 2020 “A Place for All” ordinance, making it the policy of the City and County of San Francisco to offer all people experiencing homelessness in the City a safe place to sleep.

Support of labor
Shortly after his 2018 election, Mandelman, alongside former supervisor John Avalos, was arrested for blocking a street outside Marriott's Westin St. Francis hotel during a Labor Day protest, organized by UNITE HERE Local 2, against Marriott's wages. In 2019, the Board's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee held a hearing on "worker rights in the gig economy" called by Mandelman. In November 2020, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance authored by Mandelman and Supervisor Shamann Walton requiring San Francisco International Airport airlines and contractors to expand health care benefits for employees.

Personal life
Mandelman came out as gay while at Yale University.