Petrelis Files

SF Pride Meeting: Faggot Family Feud & Gayja Vu

It was gayja vu all over again. Last night's SF Pride meeting at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center in the Castro suffered from the same lack of simple communication at the disastrous May 7 board meeting. While more than 100 people gathered in the street half an hour before the May meeting, the board sent no one down from their office to explain how they would conduct a meeting in a room that holds about 40 people. That meeting was cut short due to poor planning.

I got to the rec center shortly after the announced start time of 7 pm, saw the new board members behind a table intently looking at laptops and mobile devices and maybe thirty members waiting for the meeting to start. No board member told us why the meeting was delayed or when it would commence.

About 7:15 pm I took to the floor and asked when we'd get started, and chairman and my friend Gary Virginia said they were waiting for latecomers to arrive and to get their devices ready for me to just chill.

Moments later, Gary stood up and made a pitch for a raffle basket of goodies we could win by purchasing tickets and that money raised would go toward Transgender Day of Remembrance. Sure, a worthy cause, but what did it have to with Pride's meeting?

At 7:35 pm Pat, a member, said a young lesbian and very new member named Jennifer had arrived at 7 ready for the meeting and Jennifer expressed frustration that we were all just sitting there waiting.

We finally got started and Gary gave us a history of recent controversies and such leading up to a reform slate of candidates taking over the board, and Pat looked at her agenda, made motions asking what this had to do with the evening agenda. I stood up yet again and asked what agenda item was being discussed and who was keeping time.

Board member Jesse Oliver Sanford said they had to wait for latecomers and that so few people were there at 7 pm. He asked that more folks arrive on time. In my view, there were enough folks present to get the meeting going by 7:10 and it was very disrespectful to the folks who did arrive by then to have us wait and wait.

The meeting more or less proceeded according to the printed agenda until Marilyn made a motion to have (old) board members Lou Fischer and David Currie removed from their positions. Procedural questions and answers ensued, until we got to public comment. More procedural matters considered before Gary announced at 8:20 pm or so that we had to be out of the room by 9:00 pm.

Why the hell didn't the board have it's act together at 7-ish to get the show moving when they knew we had only two-hours of meeting time and couldn't go past 9:00 pm, and why didn't they explain the cut-off hour when they finally started more than thirty-minutes late?

For the last forty minutes of the meeting, other folks expressed anger with the new board about problems from their last meeting (which I wasn't at) and the dissatisfaction and frustration hung thick in the air.

What was accomplished? Much clarification about procedural questions, a vote for Pride to cosponsor a local fundraiser for WikiLeak heroine Chelsea Manning and a commitment to hold a public forum about military recruitment at the Pride Celebration in Civic Center.

It's plain to me that Pride, regardless of who's on the board or serving as executive director, is cursed with poor facilitation and communication skills at meetings. Yes, for Pride, well-run meetings that deliver on set goals and keep the temperature from heating up to uncomfortable levels are rocket science and beyond our grasp, right now.

Last night was another episode of Faggot Family Feud and I doubt many or anyone left the meeting feeling satisfied and that our time was well-spent.

I have these big requests for Pride leaders and the November meetings. Please engage with the folks who show up at 7 pm by 7:10 pm about what ever is happening with starting the meeting, talk about housekeeping items like when we must vacate the room or who will be time-keeper, write the agenda on an easel that all can see, and clue us in.