Sean Strub, Poz Mag Founder, Donates to #VotePetrelis
By Michael Petrelis

My friend Sean Strub published a memoir this year entitled "Body Counts" and he graciously mentioned my unique brand of HIV advocacy on the first page, which was an honor to be included in his personal history book.

Sean has spent decades advocating for the rights of LGBT folks and people living with AIDS, and many know him as the founder of Poz magazine. We met back during the dark plague years when we both were members of ACT UP/New York.

Today he made a generous contribution to our DIY Democracy campaign of $100, as a show of support for me individually and the ideal of more HIV positive people running for elective office.

It's my hope that you'll be inspired by his donation and today make a contribution to my campaign for District 8 Supervisor. All the info you need to do this is in the About box on the left of this Facebook page.

There are only three weeks left until Election Day and a donation of any amount from $5 to the maximum allowed of $500, would go a long way toward assisting me in garnering votes. Please give today.

And thank you, Sean, for the monetary support and friendship!

12 Reasons to #VotePetrelis
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

A District 8 voter asked recently us why he should vote for Michael, now that he's received his vote-by-mail ballot and wants to send it back to the Department of Elections.

We reeled off several reasons he should use his first ranked-choice vote for us, starting with he's not pleased with the politics of the incumbent Supervisor.

Then we provided him with a few accomplishments we brought about this year that he should consider as cause to vote for us:

1. Persuaded the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to repaint white bike lane stripes protecting riders near the dangerous Market and Octavia Street intersection at the ramp to the highway. The repainting was done in August.

2. Succeeded in getting the Department of Public Works to steam clean hazardous pigeon poop from surfaces at the 16th Street BART Plaza, while also nudging the Department of Public Health, the SFMTA and BART to expand pigeon proofing and other measures to increase sanitary conditions at this transit hub. This multi-agency advocacy project transpired over June and July.

3. Obtained emails from the City Attorney Dennis Herrera's staff revealing that this office provided extensive public relations assistance, using taxpayer-funded infrastructure including organizing an author meet-and-greet inside the City Attorney's City Hall office, to assist promoting a book about Prop 8 that showcases Herrera in a favorable light. This act of civic transparency and accountability was in May.

4. Requested and received the names and demographics on all city residents killed by members of the San Francisco Police Department, in officer-involved-shootings. For the first time ever, we had a central list of all 168 such fatal shootings stretching back to 1939. The SFPD released this info in April.

5. Posted on the web in May, for the first time, a similar list of all BART police officer-involved fatal shootings.

6. After seven years of lobbying, in March convinced the DPH's director Barbara Garcia and the Health Commission to broadcast their bi-monthly meetings on SF Gov TV, bringing much-needed transparency to the DPH and its decision-making process.

7. Revealed that Protocol Chief Charlotte Shultz has a nonprofit group that receives $250,000 annually in taxpayer funds to host soirees and she's violated the sunshine law requiring the nonprofit's board to hold two public meetings each year. It took six months of public records requests to hold Shultz accountable and follow the city dollars that she uses for parties with her friends.

8. Showed that Mayor Ed Lee and his staff hadn't sent a condolence note to Alex Nieto's family and friends after he was fatally shot by an SFPD office, to express condolences over his death. This info came to light after a public records act request was made in September.

9. Obtained the list of all attendees at Mayor Ed Lee's invitation-only meeting with tech firms and executives, where current and future city policies related to the tech industry were discussed, providing sunshine over whom the Mayor meets with behind closed doors. The list was posted on the web in January.

10. Organized a picket and press conference in July at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's pharmacy in the Castro to protest their unscientific opposition to using Truvada as a method to prevent HIV transmission to negative individuals.

11. Asked for and received monthly calendars from nine of the eleven members of the Board of Supervisors, along with the calendars from the Clerk of Board, and in January shared them on the web while calling on the Supervisors to voluntarily post their monthly calendars on their-city funded web sites.

12. For the first time, making the full audio of Dan White's bone-chilling confession to murdering George Moscone and Harvey Milk available on the web, after requesting a copy of it from the city archive at the San Francisco Public Library back in April. There can never be too much multi-media LGBT history on the web.

Just a few reasons why District 8 voters should make Petrelis their number one choice on their ballots in the remaining three weeks before Election Day.

Here's a photo of Petrelis with his friend and endorser Veronika Fimbres.

#VotePetrelis Posters Now Up on District 8 Streets
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Our fabulous DIY Democracy campaign posters went up on October 10th on select utility poles around District 8 and we're hoping they attract the eyeballs of voters.

Several posters were taped up near pedestrian crosswalks, where people may spend a few extra moments reading the posters before crossing the street.

If you wish to donate money to increase the number of posters we can display with just over three-weeks left before Election Day, please do so using PayPal or sending a check to our post office box.

Thanks, to all our donors who made this signage possible!

Armistead Maupin, Scott Wiener & Me on Castro Street 
By Michael Petrelis
 

While out campaigning on Castro Street near Walgreens at approximately 3:30 pm on Saturday, October 11, I ran into "Tales of The City" author Armistead Maupin with whom I am acquainted because of my decades of HIV and LGBT activism.

When I asked for his endorsement in the District 8 race for Supervisor, Armistead said his policy is not to endorse any candidate.

But when I requested a photo of us together, he readily agreed to pose for my camera and we stopped a young woman walking by to snap a picture of us two happy homosexuals.

Barely a minute after we checked the images on my camera, none other than the incumbent, Scott Wiener, came striding up Castro Street and for perhaps two or three seconds we looked at each other.

He kept on walking up toward Market Street, Armistead and I finished our conversation, and I resumed campaigning giving out cards and buttons.

You never know who will cross your path when you're on the streets of District 8 soliciting votes and pushing visibility for the #VotePetrelis effort!

Wiener Accepted Gilead's Medical Affairs VP's Donation 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Last month, District 8 incumbent Supervisor Scott Wiener generated lots of media attention after disclosing he's taking Truvada as part of a PrEP regimen to avert contracting HIV.

The disclosure was made in advance of a hearing he and Supervisor David Campos held at City Hall, looking at a supplemental budget allocation to the Department of Public Health in order to investigate educational and cost issues related to Truvada for use for pre-exposure prophylaxis reasons.

We wondered why these gay Supervisors waited more than two-years since the FDA approved Truvada for prevention purposes and how many sexually-transmitted HIV infections occurred in San Francisco in this period that could have been averted if the at-risk individuals had access to PrEP.

A story in the Bay Area Reporter by longtime LGBT health writer Liz Highleyman on the hearing generated a comment from John Steen asking if either Supervisor had received donations from Gilead. Steen seems unaware that such info is a few clicks away.

The SF Ethics Commission's contributions search engine (http://tinyurl.com/SF-Ethics-search-engine),shows that Wiener in 2010 during his first run for Supervisor, received $125 from Hans Reiser who is Gilead's vice president for medical affairs.

We seriously doubt that donation played any role in Wiener pushing for the DPH to receive the Truvada educational allocation, but in the interests of providing transparency between the incumbent and Gilead we're sharing the info since it was omitted from the tremendous coverage last month.

Diverse Crowd at Yes on G Office Opening
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Momentum for Prop G, the anti-speculation housing tax measure, and the #VotePetrelis campaign gained steam at last week's party for the Yes on G office.

A beautifully diverse group of folks - Hispanics, LGBT people, artists, low and moderate income renters, blacks and whites, musicians, Asians - showed up to learn more about Yes on G.

We handed out lots of our cards and union-made buttons, and received heartfelt wishes of good luck in our District 8 Supervisorial effort from everyone we spoke with.

There were a few very short speeches encouraging everyone to display Yes on G signs in their home windows and talk with our friends and neighbors about voting yes on this prop. A good time was had by all.

We lobbied people to follow the https://twitter.com/YesOnG_SF feed and to spread the hashtag #YesonG far and wide on Twitter.

Here are our photos from the party.

Early Voting Happening Now at City Hall
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

This video was made recently to educate District 8 and all San Francisco voters that early voting started on Monday, October 6th down at the Department of Elections inside City Hall.

Everyone on the #VotePetrelis team urges you to vote early, make sure you're registered to vote and if you haven't signed up to vote yet or you've moved, you have until October 20th to register.

For more information about everything to do with this year's election, please visit the department's web site: http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=599.

Like every other SF Giants fan, we're very happy our team won its long game the other night in Washington, DC, against the Nationals. After 18 innings of play, it now enters the history books as the longest postseason game on record.

Check out the colorful video which includes a shoutout to the Giants.

#VotePetrelis is Top Listing on November Ballot

By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

The Department of Elections has posted the sample ballot for District 8 voters and in the Supervisorial race we're at the top of the list.

Until we looked at the sample ballot today, we had no idea the random lottery that determines the line up made us the first name out of all the candidates.

Let's hope this ranking gets us a few extra votes this election season.

All District 8 voters who are voting for Petrelis should consider this strategy to make their vote carry as much weight as possible in our ranked-choice voting system.

Make Petrelis your number one choice and leave your second and third choice columns completely blank, and you'll be giving an extra boost to us.

Given that the incumbent, barring a miraculous upset that is highly unlikely, will get 50% plus 1 of the first round of votes, the Department of Elections won't be counting second or third choices.

Whether voting by mail, at City Hall or at your local polling station, really make your vote for Petrelis count this election and vote only for us in the first column.

We'd appreciate it if you'd do us this important act of exercising your right to vote and using that vote to send a powerful message of dissatisfaction with the incumbent and his policies and legislative agenda.

Our Campaign Signs Look Fab in Home Windows 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

The heatwave San Francisco is suffering through is not stopping #VotePetrelis voters and donors in District 8 from showing their support in their home windows.

Our friend Paul Isaacs requested a few of our union-made window signs and buttons last week, and he's now displaying three of the signs facing the street for voters to see.

Paul is such a sweetie. Not only has he made a generous donation to our DIY Democracy effort, publicly shown his backing from his home on 14th Street, he's also posted a few photos here: http://tinyurl.com/PaulIsaacs-FB-page.

We extend a hearty thank you to him, and also wish to point out how well our campaign signs accentuate the lavender color scheme of his home's exterior!

Sheriff: 300 Inmate Voters Need Campaign Materials 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Without question, this email from Nicholas Gregoratos of the San Francisco Sheriff's Department's division of legal services for prisoners, is the most fascinating one to hit our campaign in-box since we qualified for the ballot:

"Every election the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department registers and facilitates vote-by-mail voting for all eligible voters in our county jails. [...] If your campaign would like to reach out to these voters with campaign materials you will need to deliver the materials to our office no later than the close of business Tuesday October 14, 2014.

"Please note that we are unsure of the exact number of inmate voters at this time, and cannot tell you which voters are registered in which supervisorial or assembly district. For this reason we recommend that you deliver enough campaign materials for at least 300 voters."

The #VotePetrelis team will deliver hundreds of our campaign business cards to the sheriff for the inmates who are eligible to vote, and we hope a robust number of them are District 8 voters and will make Petrelis their number choice on their ballots.

You may recall that in August, we noted felons have the right to vote in California (http://tinyurl.com/Petrelis-felons-voting-rights), once they are no longer incarcerated and have completed parole. Former felons on probation are allowed to cast ballots in elections.

We laud the sheriff for this voter registration program for inmates and for the outreach to our DIY Democracy campaign.

425K Voter Guides Snail-Mailed by Elections Department
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Now that paper version of the voter guide has been sent via the U.S. Postal Service by the Department of Elections, it truly feels like election season here. Early voting begins on Monday, October 6th at City Hall.

We're quite curious how many of the 425,000 pamphlets the department stated were sent this week, will be read by voters and what influence candidate statements have on how ballots are cast.

Needless to say, we hope our statement swings a robust number of ballots in our direction.

In the Merrigan-Petrelis household, we generally read the guide together one morning over breakfast and try not to get into too heavy a political discussion. Merrigan looks at it again when he fills out his mail-in ballot.

On the other hand, Petrelis clips the pages of most interest about ballot measures and takes them with him on election day when he votes at his polling station.

You can read the full 209-page voter information pamphlet here:http://tinyurl.com/SF-2014-voter-guide. And remember to #VotePetrelis!

Milk Club: Yes to Pies & No Debates
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

There's no argument that Harvey Milk passionately believed in debating challengers such as homo-hater John Briggs, and was known for offering his endorsement or taking a stand during an election season.

The #VotePetrelis team wishes the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club lived up to those ideals of his this fall, but leaders of the club have opted to not hold any debates in the District 8 Supervisor's race while taking the no endorsement route.

Does anyone really believe Harvey, during a time of great displacement and gentrification and evictions and after four years of complaining about the incumbent, would not engage District 8 voters with debates and at least nudge voters unhappy with the status quo to vote for the best protest candidate?

This week, we received an invitation from the Milk Club's director of events and fundraising, Steven Torres, to help the club at last Sunday's Castro Street Fair:

"In light of the state's desperate water crisis, however, we thought that Harvey might agree that a dunk tank, although fun, wouldn't be responsible or sensitive choice. Instead, we thought he might enjoy our back-up plan which is a pie throwing booth, since he himself, was so fond of getting pied, not to mention throwing them. We are lining up a pretty decent cast to take the hot seat this year and would be so grateful and honored if, like Harvey, you took it on the chin with a pie tin."

If the club had multiple ways of engaging candidates with voters from the serious to the silly, we might be interested in this pie toss. However, given their apathy about District 8 debates and no endorsement position in the Supervisor contest, we're declining this invitation.

By the way, the New York Times offered no endorsement in the Empire State's governor's race, but the paper still urged voters to use their votes for change:

"Those who want to register their disappointment with Mr. Cuomo's record on changing the culture of Albany may well decide that the best way to do that is to vote for Ms. Teachout, Despite our reservations about her, that impulse could send a powerful message."

Might Milk Club leaders, in the month left before the election, follow the lead of the Times, and push folks to use their votes as a form of protest? Would be nice.

Here's a screen-grab from the movie "Milk" with Sean Penn on the right as Harvey, during a debate scene over the Prop 6 Briggs Initiative, just to remind us all of the power of debates and how vital they are to democracy.

Alex Nieto's 'Brother' Ely Flores Backs Castro Sweep Vigil 
by Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Tonight we met a 20-year-old Latino man named Ely Flores, pictured, who described himself as a very close personal friend and chosen brother of Alex Nieto, the young guy killed by a member of the SFPD back in March.

Ely introduced himself by asking if we were at the police commission meeting in March in the Tenderloin, where the commissioners irrationally kept the angry public upset with Nieto's officer-involved-death waiting for hours while the cops put on a dog-and-pony show.

Yes, we were there (http://tinyurl.com/Petrelis-SFPD-Mtg-Pix), and it's quite gratifying to know someone from Nieto's circle of survivors recalls our effort to hold the SFPD accountable.

He's very supportive of our Castro Sweep vigil planned for tomorrow, Monday, October 6th from 6 to 7 pm at the corner of Castro and 18th Streets, but unfortunately Ely will be working at that time.

If he had the time, Ely would attend the vigil and speak about Alex Nieto but since he can't be there he agreed to show his solidarity with the event, those participating in it and our alternative campaign for District 8 Supervisor.

We've extended an invitation to other friends of Nieto to join our vigil and we hope they'll be present to speak out about the lack of justice for Alex.

Ely posed with a #VotePetrelis sign and mentioned he's read our posts about emails we've pried loose from Mayor Ed Lee's office, and thanked us for demanding justice for Nieto.

While Ely can't be present at the Castro Sweep vigil tomorrow, we hope you can participate in the event and we'll be in touch in the coming weeks with Ely to work together to demand justice for Alex Nieto.

'Your Chest Needs a #VotePetrelis Button!' 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

On the campaign trail this afternoon, we ran into our pal and supporter Derrick who was doing his best to keep cool in the heatwave saturating San Francisco today.

Derrick inquired as to how our DIY Democracy candidacy was going and we couldn't resist telling him, "Your chest needs a #VotePetrelis button!"

He quickly donned his new gay accoutrement, took a sip of his iced coffee and struck a few poses for our camera before he took a selfie of us together showing off our buttons.

Ah, the pleasures of pressing the flesh and interacting with the voters is just one more reason we're enjoying ourselves so immensely on the campaign trail.

Be sure to stop us when you see us out and about in District 8 or around the city and get one the buttons.

Wiener Blows Off The Living Wage Coalition
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

The incumbent District 8 Supervisor has a campaign team of handsomely compensated political consultants and a key task for them is answering the many questionnaires that flood all candidates.

Our DIY Democracy team behind #VotePetrelis would welcome the resources to respond to all groups, political blogs and newspapers seeking our views on various concerns, but we believe we chose wisely which questionnaires to address or not.

The San Francisco Living Wage Coalition is one group we very much support and we made sure to get them a response by their deadline, and stick to their word-limit.

Yesterday, their voter guide arrived on paper via snail mail and we're proud to say ours was the only campaign to fully address all ten of the coalition's questions. The overwhelmingly number of replies were simple yes or no answers.

But the most surprising aspect was seeing that Scott Wiener just blew off the coalition's concerns and didn't respond. What does that say about his agenda to pay working folks a wage they can live on?

If you're pissed off, #VotePetrelis!

SFGovTV & League of Women Voters' Video
by Michael Petrelis

The five-minute candidate statement I taped last month as part of a joint voter engagement project of SF GovTV and the League of Women Voters is now on YouTube.

Seeing the finished tape, I feel I come across as a basically relaxed and rumpled younger brother of Harvey Fierstein, with just a tinge of nervousness reading off a teleprompter for the first time.

I told my social media guru Todd Swindell about learning to love my look on the tape, and he replied with this tale:

"Reminds me of a great scene from one of my fav films 'Broadcast News". William Hurt's character is trying to help Albert Brook's character to present better when doing the evening news report. Hurt tells Brooks to sit on the line of his coat but Brooks ignores him and keeps reading. Finally Hurt comes over and pulls it down. Brooks becomes all ruffled about being touched but, when he sees himself on the monitor, he says, 'Fantastic tip!'"

Let's go to the tape:

 

Campaign Buttons Are Now Available
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

We're pleased to announce the New Solidarity union printing shop over in Oakland has manufactured beautiful #‎VotePetrelis‬ campaign buttons for us and they are now available for supporters and voters to wear.

A word about New Solidarity. We made many inquiries for an affordable union shop in San Francisco and also checked out commercial printers to get price quotes and here's what we learned.

There are no such unions shops here that produce finished, quality buttons. One shop said they would print the campaign images on paper but that we'd have to finish them ourselves, after purchasing button-making machine. Commercial venues such as Office Max and Kinkos had high prices and would out-source the job.

The price quote from New Solidarity was the best deal around, so we sent them out graphic design and we now have 250 fabulous looking shining campaign buttons to distribute. They may even become collectors' items, so get yours soon!

Oct 6 Vigil to Mark 'Castro Sweep's' 25th Anniversary
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis
(Cross-posted from the ‪#‎VotePetrelis‬ campaign site.)

In the annals of bloody misconduct by members of the San Francisco Police Department, the events of October 6, 1989, and the Castro Sweep ranks high on anyone's list.

It was a national day of protest organized by people with HIV/AIDS and our allies for access to drugs and more government funding, and before the night was over the SFPD had harmed and bloodied many LGBT and poz people with dozens arrested.

For a short and comprehensive look back at what transpired during the Castro Sweep exactly 25 years ago, check out this page with eyewitness accounts, photographs and a video: tinyurl.com/Castro-Sweep-25-years-ago.

Here's how the #VotePetrelis team will commemorate the important 25th anniversary of the Castro Sweep:

WHAT: Vigil & Speakout
WHEN: Monday, October 6th
TIME: 6 pm to 7 pm
WHERE: Castro & 18th Streets

We'll be out that night to remind everyone of contemporary concerns such as the fatal shooting of Alex Nieto by the SFPD, the gentrification of District 8 and eviction epidemic, lack of affordable housing for low income people and artists, the dwindling diversity of the Castro, harassment of homeless and poor people, and the negative impacts of Google buses clogging our streets

The Castro Sweep was big news among gay and AIDS activists, and to assist the survivors of the police assaults with their legal and medical bills, tee shirts were marketed reading:

"My domestic partner went to the Castro, and all I got was this bloody t-shirt. Night of Resistance, October 6, 1989."

This photo and activist apparel courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society.

#VotePetrelis & Campos for Assembly Signs Blend Well 
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

Our union-made window signs arrived this week and we've begun distributing them to friends and supporters in District 8, and we'll arrange to get you one if you contact us.

Our addy is Petrelis4Sup2014@aol.com and the phone number is 415-621-6267. We've also amended out hashtag to a much more direct message and it's now: #VotePetrelis. Please share it via your social media.

The Inkworks Press of Berkeley produced a 11"x17" vertical version and one that is 17"x11" with a horizontal design, both at a very affordable rate and with quick turnaround too.

As many of you know, we're not crazy about Supervisor David Campos and we won't get into the reason why here, but we won't be taking the no endorsement route in the Assembly District 17 race simply because he's not delivered on many issues of deep concern to us.

We find Supervisor David Chiu to be a candidate too beholden to Mayor Ed Lee and big development interests, with very mediocre progressive credentials and accomplishments.

Campos will get our vote this election season and we're displaying his campaign signs under ours in our home windows. Frankly, we think the signs blend very well together.

Vid: D8 Needs Affordable Housing, Vote Yes on Prop G
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

As we get closer to the opening of election season on October 6th, when early voting begins at City Hall, the #ILikeMikeSF team is gearing up to create and share videos explaining our alt candidacy and views.

We shot our first video on Dolores Street near Market with the pricey luxury condos and Whole Foods store that opened in 2013 behind us, and the topics are genuinely affordable housing for low income folks and urging a yes vote on Prop G.

If Prop G is approved by voters, it will curb the speculation where buildings are bought by investors, longtime and rent-controlled residents are evicted, then the apartment building is resold and units are priced at a much higher rate

Take a look at the video and let us know what you think of it. More are on the way.