Formation of a Special Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment in the San Francisco Political Community

April 26, 2024

Fellow Democrats,

In recent weeks, there have been startling allegations of domestic and sexual violence by a member of the San Francisco political community and more recently an allegation of sexual assault by a person in leadership of a chartered Democratic club. I want to underscore that these allegations have not been adjudicated, either in a court of law or otherwise. 

Unfortunately, some of these allegations are not new. It is important that the Party (1) understand the scope and nature of the problem; (2) support survivors in our community and the public; (3) have a policy for addressing behavior that occurs within the scope of DCCC’s functions; and (4) take affirmative steps to prevent such behavior from occurring in our political spaces.

As the Party Chair, I believe it is the DCCC’s responsibility to lead on basic issues of safety, security, and dignity in our political spaces. For far too long women’s voices have been overlooked as gender based assault and discrimination have run rampant in our country. As of today, I am creating an Special Committee on Sexual Assault and Harassment in the San Francisco Political Community and appointing the following members to the Committee: Michela Alioto-Pier, Carrie Barnes, Trevor Chandler, Emma Heiken, Lily Ho, and Bilal Mahmood. I will personally chair this Committee. All other members of the DCCC are welcome to attend Committee meetings. It is my aim to use this committee to provide appropriate space for dialogue, listening, and to provide assurance that the San Francisco Democratic Party takes action when our community experiences harm.

I want to acknowledge that the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee (SFWPC) has been at the forefront of addressing these issues within our community. In the last term (late 2021), SFWPC engaged with the Party and presented on the issue. No action was taken by the Party at that time. Recently at a Democratic club meeting I attended during a discussion about engaging younger Democrats in campaigns and field organizing, a young woman told the group that the reason that younger Dems were not participating was because they did not feel safe in these spaces. If we are to function and grow as a Democratic Party, we must address these issues now.

The first meeting of the Committee will be on May 2, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. in the Milton Marks Auditorium at the State Building.  A basic agenda is attached to this email. Since this is a Committee meeting and not a regular meeting of the entire DCCC, there are no formal quorum requirements, noticing requirements, nor requirements that it be a public meeting. In the interest of transparency, we will open parts of the Committee meeting to the public, but to the extent that there are individuals that would prefer to share information privately, we will close that part of the meeting to the public or receive that information outside of the meeting anonymously. 

This Committee is not an adjudicative body nor will it be a fact-finding body as to any individual allegation of sexual assault and harassment. The purpose of this Committee is to document the extent of sexual assault and harassment issues in our political community and to make recommendations to the full DCCC as to any action that should and will be taken both to curb this behavior, support survivors, and prevent it from happening in the future. We welcome information from the public in any form, including written statements and anonymously submitted statements. Statements marked “CONFIDENTIAL” will be kept confidential. We will have further instructions on how to submit materials confidentially and/or anonymously.

In solidarity,

Nancy Tung

Chair, San Francisco DCCC