City Attorney Seeks Delay on Emails Complaint
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

San Francisco's enforcer of all applicable open government and transparency laws is supposed to be City Attorney Dennis Herrera, yet he and his office staff are widely recognized as hindrances in terms of enforcement and compliance.

Earlier this year, the #VotePetrelis team filed public records requests for emails related to Jo Becker's gay marriage book "Forcing the Spring", and we showed that the City Attorney had practically turned his office into a boutique PR firm for the author and her book tour stop in San Francisco.

Since Herrera follows Willie Brown's dictum of never writing anything down and leaving a paper or email trail, he does not receive or send any emails from his official city addy.

However, his deputy assistant Tara Collins serves as his email gatekeeper and we filed a request in May for her emails and work calender for a few months, but we never received any responsive public records so a complaint was lodged with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.

Last week, we were informed that our complaint would be heard next week but we knew this didn't mean we'd finally have the matter adjudicated by the SOTF because we expected a delay or obfuscation attempt by the City Attorney. Lo, that's what happened.

Here's the SOTF note explaining the delay request:

"The Respondent (Office of the City Attorney) in the above mentioned matters has requested a continuance on the hearing of the complaint scheduled for October 28, 2014, to the next regularly scheduled meeting.

"The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force's complaint procedure states in Section B.8..b: If a respondent submits a request for continuance at least three business days in advance, upon agreement of the complainant the continuance shall be granted. If the complainant does not agree to the continuance, the request for continuance is not made within three business days, or the respondent is requesting a subsequent continuance, such continuance shall be granted by a simple majority vote of the members present.

"Please let me know if you agree or disagree with the request for continuance.

"File No. 14066: Complaint filed by Michael Petrelis against Tara Collins, City Attorney’s Office, for allegedly violating Sunshine Ordinance Section 67.25 for failure to respond to a request for public documents in a timely manner dated May 30, 2014."

Yes, we've responded to the SOTF disagreeing with the delay request and we now wait to hear from the task force regarding next steps.

The City Attorney has never acknowledged receiving our request and failed to comply with responsive public records created with taxpayer funds, and for unstated reasons want to push back when the SOTF would delve into the matter.

Standard operating b.s. for San Francisco's top sunshine enforcer and Dennis Herrera should be widely criticized for blocking access to public records from his office.

In this photo from a recent Sundance Film Festival, Herrera is on the right next to former Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solomnese. Thanks to a public records request, we learned that Herrera billed San Francisco taxpayer for his junket and promotion of a film in which he appeared.

Mayor Lee: 14-Pages of Emails on Alex Nieto Killing by a Cop
By Todd Swindell and Michael Petrelis

(Since we cross-posted this to our campaign site on Sept. 3rd, the medical examiner has released the autopsy and it shows that Alex Nieto was struck by police bullet more than a dozen times.)

In response to our public records request, Mayor Ed Lee's office today released 14-pages of emails related to the fatal shooting of Alex Nieto in March by a member of the San Francisco Police Department and we learned that three investigations were conducted and have ended. News to us.

Mayor Lee's director of communications Christine Falvey on August 14 responded to San Francisco Chronicle columnist Caille Millner, who asked if he had issued any public statement of sorrow about the officer-involved death, and Falvey said:

"There were three separate investigations and the police were extremely transparent with the family and the community throughout. The mayor has had confidence in these investigations and the focus is to make sure the City does everything it can to prevent a similar incident."

If they were so transparent why is it we and so many others not only weren't aware of the multiple investigations but also that they've concluded?

We are greatly displeased Mayor Lee can't properly express sorrow in public about the killing of Alex and that nothing in the Falvey statement on behalf of the mayor relates to justice being served over the fatality.

Instead, Mayor Lee's focus is to prevent another officer-involved fatal shooting, which is a goal we certainly support, but social justice is denied when the mayor can't say those words and instead under-values Alex's death when calling it a mere "incident".

Among the email exchanges between mayoral staffers is one involved Falvey asking Paul Henderson, deputy chief of staff in charge of public safety, "Did we send a condolence letter or anything?"

The communications director, whom we would expect to know if any condolence note were sent to Alex's surviving family and friends, apparently doesn't recall one being sent revealing, we believe, just how little impact this tragedy has had on the Mayor's Office.

Henderson replied, "I have a draft of one to send, but we didn't send one in that case."

As part of our longstanding commitment to delivering accountability over the police and City Hall, we've posted the 14-pages of emails released to us here: tinyurl.com/SF-Mayor-Alex-Nieto-emails.

The tragic loss of Alex's life at the hands of a San Francisco police officer is painfully compounded by the fact that the names of the cops involved have not been released, the District Attorney's Office hasn't charged anyone over the killing, the Office of the Medical Examiner has possessed the corpse since March and hasn't released their autopsy report, and Mayor Lee and his staff haven't had the simple common human courtesy of sending the survivors a condolence letter.

When will San Francisco's City Hall and law enforcement agencies deliver justice for Alex Nieto?

First Anniversary of NIH HIV FOIA Request: Where Are the Docs?

Let me put two disclosures up at the front of this post. I'm a person living with HIV who didn't have good numbers at all, except for one vital measurement, on his last labs. Everything to do with HIV research at NIH and what drugs it recommends I take to stay alive are of vital interest to me. Second, as a columnist for POZ magazine, I'd eventually like to write a column about the NIH HIV drug advisory panel.

That being said, let the record show today marks the one-year anniversary since I filed a FOIA request for documents from my federal government, documents created with my tax dollars. See the full request below.

It's an effing shame that the NIH HIV drug panel is not already open to the PWA community, our allies and advocates, and that the records created from the panel, created mind you with our tax dollars, are not already in the public sphere.

I received a reply today from the Public Health Service, parent agency to NIAID, NIH, HHS, all the sub-agencies where my FOIA requested been bounced and pass on to someone else.

Nice to hear from the PHS FOIA person, but it is incredibly depressing to learn my request, after being shuffled from NIAID FOIA office to NIH FOIA office to HHS FOIA office and then PHS FOIA office is now before the Office of General Counsel for PHS.

Just how many hoops is one person with AIDS/citizen of USA supposed to jump through before he gets public records that may help him make the most informed health choices with his doctors and other caregivers?

Rest assured, this year-long delay will be on the agenda at the OARAC meeting at NIH on April 19.

Click here and also here for my previous posts on the documents I want and battles with NIAID/NIH.

This is the email from PHS FOIA that came today:

In a message dated 4/3/2007 8:37:22 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
Darlene.Christian@psc.hhs.gov writes:

Mr. Petrelis:

I apologize for the delay in responding to the message you left on my office voice-mail regarding the processing of your appeal. Because of our time difference, I thought email was the best way to respond in this instance. I do understand your urgency to get a final response from the Agency. Please be assured that I am working as quickly as possible to provide you with a final response.

Your appeal is now being reviewed by the Office of the General Counsel (OGC). I have advised OGC that you are anxious to receive a final response and have asked them to expedite their review. After I receive the file back from OGC, if there are no changes or questions that need to be resolved, I will forward the file to the Deputy Assistant Secretary's office for final review and signature.

I anticipate that it will be at least another two weeks before you receive a final agency decision. If you have any questions regarding the continued processing of your appeal, please do not hesitate to contact me. And, again, I apologize for my delay in responding to your telephone message.

Darlene Christian
Director
Division of FOIA Services
301-443-5252
301-443-0925 (Fax)

And this is my year-old original FOIA request:

April 3, 2006

Freedom of Information Office, NIH
Building 31, Room 5B35
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20892

Re: Panel on Clinical Practices for Treatment of HIV Infection files

Dear Sir or Madam:

Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request copies of, or access to, the following documents and records pertaining to the Panel on Clinical Practices for Treatment of HIV Infection, hereafter referred to as the “Panel,” a component of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council.

Going as far back to 1995 and up to the date of letter, I request copies of the following records from the Panel:

All meeting agendas and print materials distributed to Panel members;

All minutes from any and all Panel meetings;

All transcripts of the Panel’s monthly teleconferences.

I am a news blogger and AIDS journalist working on important HIV/AIDS stories of crucial interest to the American public and I ask that you grant this FOIA request expedited processing status. Additionally, as a working reporter, I ask that searching and copying costs be waived.

If you have questions or need clarification on any aspect of this request, please contact me at 1-415-621-6267.

I look forward to your response within the 10-day period stipulated by law. Thank you in advance for your prompt attention and reply to this request.

Signed,
MPetrelis