SFFD Cost to Air Meetings From City Hall?

My schedule didn't allow me to attend the December 16 meeting of the San Francisco fire commission and participate in the discussion about finally televising their meetings on SFGov TV. Thanks to commission secretary Maureen Conefrey, who has shared the transcript of this item along with the PowerPoint slides used by SFGov TV technician Jack Chin, I learned much info.

First, the price-tag for simply moving the fire commission meetings from their not-so-easy to get to location at the department's headquarters on Second Street near Townsend to City Hall and one of the many hearing room tech-ready for broadcasting is about $33,000 annually.

If the commission opts to keep meeting at headquarters, the annual cost is just over $49,000. This option is more convenient for fire department brass than taxpayers and the transcript shows commissioner Michael Hardeman toeing the SFFD party line.

Hardeman claims that 25 or 30 SFFD folks would have the burden of traveling from headquarters and finding parking at City Hall. He's not the least bit concerned with making the meetings more accessible for the general public at a much more convenient location, especially for those of us dependent upon on Muni to get to meetings.

On the other hand, commissioner Frances Covington urged her colleagues to consider the challenges for many ordinary folks to get to the current meeting location and does not want the City Hall option ruled out. I hope her voice will prevail when a final decision is made about from where to broadcast the meetings.

I again laud commissioner Ken Cleaveland for his push in the past few months to have these meetings on SFGov TV and his comments at the December 16 meeting.

SFGov TV's Chin also said airings from City Hall could begin in one month, versus four-to-six months before they could start televising from SFFD headquarters.

So, we can have fire commission meetings begin sooner, at a lower cost to taxpayer and in a more accessible location at City Hall, or the commissioners and brass can remain where they are for meetings and run up a larger bill in a location difficult to access via public transportation.

Good to know it's really a matter of when not if the fire commission meetings with be broadcast on TV and available on the web. That alone is a giant step forward and all this is happening without a single member of the Board of Supervisors paying attention to expanding government transparency, never mind using their soap boxes to bring the SFFD into the tech and TV age.

Let's lobby the commissioners to go with the City Hall option.

DPW Hearing Cancelled Over Sunshine Complaint

It surprised me recently that the Department of Public Works without proper advance public notice scheduled a hearing at City Hall for an obscure panel with tremendous power over street furniture on our sidewalks. My complaint to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, which is proving more effective every week and has an impact just accepting complaints as this episode demonstrates, forced cancellation of a hearing. 

This letter is from DPW's custodian of records Frank W. Lee, and was received this week:

"Upon discovering that the agenda for the December 16, 2014 News Rack Advisory Committee Meeting was not posted on our department’s website, we cancelled the scheduled December 16 meeting.  Attached are photos of the cancellation notice in front of City Hall, Room 416, where the meeting was scheduled to be held.

"Our department will also update the News Rack Advisory Committee webpage with the December 16 agenda and the notice cancelling the December 16 meeting.

"Cynthia Hoe is aware of the posting requirements for meeting agendas and simply missed posting the agenda on the webpage.  Since the omission was brought to my attention, I reminded Ms. Hoe of the posting requirements and referred her to this City Attorney’s webpage for reference:http://www.sfcityattorney.org/index.aspx?page=7.

"At this time, a new date for the meeting has not been determined; it may not occur until next month, near the end of January 2015."

I've long advocated consolidating the many empty rack cluttering our sidewalks citywide and particularly in the Castro business district, and consolidation was the agenda of the cancelled meeting. How the committee, which is comprised primarily of publishing and media enterprises, thought it could get away with a consolidation discussion without the public is a head-scratcher.

A letter was sent to DPW boss Mohammed Nuru, outlining my desire for the next meeting to be properly noticed and the start time of it moved to the early evening so more stakeholders in the general public can participate in the discussion. Stay tuned for updates.

PrEP Plan at DPH After Supes' Truvada Hearings?

Gilead reaped a bounty of free and favorable publicity for its Truvada drug in the fall thanks to Supervisor David Campos, in the heat of a tight race for a state Assembly seat, introducing a resolution and holding hearings about the drug's use to stop HIV transmission. Here's what Liz Highleyman wrote in the Bay Area Reporter:

"The resolution, co-sponsored by gay Supervisor Scott Wiener and Supervisor Eric Mar, states that the city "supports the expanded use of PrEP as an important means for ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic," and asks the health department to submit by December 1 a plan to increase the use of PrEP that addresses educational and affordability issues."

I emailed Campos' office for copies of any emails about that deadline and DPH delivering a PrEP plan and his aide Nate Allbee replied that they had no such emails, and didn't respond to my question if the plan was otherwise sent to Campos.

DPH's director planning and policy, Colleen Chawla, shared this info after I contacted the department about the plan called for in the Supervisors' resolution:

"As you may know, Supervisor Campos’s supplemental budget request is to be used to hire navigators to help individuals access PrEP. Our plan is to contract out for these services, which requires a competitive bidding process. Because the timeline for this process takes us into the next fiscal year, this supplemental allocation will be rolled over into our budget for next year. Additionally, we understand that the Getting to Zero Consortium is also working on a more comprehensive proposal.  

"In the interim, we have committed general fund to support three staff positions which were scheduled to end due to the expiration of grant funding.  Those staff positions also support individuals in accessing PrEP."

My reply to Chawla:

"So the $301,000 allocation to come out of Campos' efforts will be spent after Jan. 1, if I understand you correctly. 

"What I'm trying to figure out is what exactly the Campos hearings and allocation accomplished this year, or will soon accomplish.

"Really thinking Campos parachuted in on PREP, then got scooped by Wiener disclosing he's on Truvada, a lot of good p.r. was generated by community groups for Gilead, a reso was passed with a small chunk of change attached and no major changes occurred.

"Meanwhile, as I wrote in my op-ed recently in the BAR, the Supes have not addressed the matter of Gilead greed on Truvada and hep C drugs.

"Why do I get the feeling that what Campos and Wiener did was more about them grandstanding, while Campos was in the midst of a tight race and Wiener is always out for self-promotion, but the DPH detailed work of dealing with at-risk folks, starting them on drugs then keeping them accessing them, and tackling pricing with drug wholesalers, was barely touched at the hearings?"

Back to Chawla for her final response in this thread:

"Certainly, the hearings raised awareness and, as you know, PrEP is just one component of getting to zero.  The allocation will be used in the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, 2015.  The original subsidy program for PrEP envisioned by Supervisor Campos was not included in the final supplemental.  Affordability of PrEP will be enhanced by navigators and DPH staff who will maximize the use of Gilead’s patient assistance and co-pay assistance programs."

What came out of the fall hearings was great PR for the two gay Supervisors and Gilead, a huge amount of educational value from the mainstream and social media attention, and a few more bucks were kicked over to DPH. I approve of the allocation but not all the hoopla surrounding it.

As a longtime and loud critic of the DPH, I am going on the record lauding the department's various deputies and staffers for doing all in their power to get individuals insurance coverage to pay for their Truvada prescriptions or have access to it through Gilead's patient assistance program.

To be clear, DPH was and is doing an exemplary job on providing Truvada as PrEP to all who desire using it for HIV prevention reasons, while the Supervisors' grandstanding has had minimal impact and the direct, tangible outcome of their resolution won't start until the middle of 2015.

The Supervisors would do us all a huge favor if they scheduled hearings on the cost to the City coffers from the high price of Truvada and hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni, and use the anti drug price gouging ballot measure Prop D passed in 2013 as an integral component to treatment and prevention affordability issues.

Mike + Mike Ape 'The Interview's' Franco + Rogen 

Merry Christmas and greetings of the season to one and all, however you celebrate and mark the end of December. 

Mike and I are having a quiet day and getting ready to watch "The Interview" with James Franco and Seth Rogen.

We snapped this photo of us aping Franco and Rogen in a scene from the movie, with their mugs on our computer monitor.

Yes, on 12/25 we're enjoying a wee bit o' the 420 and will soon be laffing our queer asses off seeing "The Interview". Cheers!

KTVU, Sing Tao: Sony = Censors Protest Coverage

Our trio of free expression and movie-loving activists staged a picket yesterday at the Metreon cineplex at Mission and 4th Streets. It's where "The Interview" was scheduled to open on Christmas Day, before Sony and Hollywood bowed to pressure from North Korea.

Ken Pritchett of KTVU News and a cameraman stopped by to chat with us and we were included in the station's 10 pm story about North Korea losing its limited web access and the whole Sony Hack mess. 

We taped the story off our TV monitor because not every story aired by KTVU is available on their web site and sure enough, this one isn't. Thank you, Ken Hodnett and Tate Swindell, for picketing with me, and to Pritchett and KTUV for their coverage. 

On Saturday, we spoke with conservative radio host Ethan Berman on KGO-AM and he agreed that Sony needed to find a way to exhibit "The Interview" in theatres or on the web.</

The Chinese-American newspaper Sing Tao sent reporter Flora Xu to our action and she asked terrific questions. Her story appeared today and she snapped a photo of it in the print edition which included a picture of us with our signs.

                                

Longtime progressive political activist and photo documentarian Steve Rhodes was also there and snapped the great black and white photo above.

A round of gratitude to these media folks for giving us a platform to speak out for free expression

NYC PBA's Pat Lynch's Pay is How High?

Shock. That was my reaction after reading the New York City Patrolmen's Benevolent Association's IRS 990 filing for 2013 and learning the president of the group was paid only $98,100.

For a charity whose revenue figure was $23,100,000 and had assets of $50,000,000 at the end of its last fiscal year, I would expect the president to earn a robust six-figure salary.

NYC PBA president Patrick J. Lynch, pictured, is demagoguing the recent killings of two NYPD officers in uniform, been spouting lies for years and garnering fast-rising column inches and video footage from bloggers, social critics and the mainstream media.

Maybe New Yorkers can fill us in on whether Lynch's only income is his compensation from the NYC PBA. Read the current and full IRS 990 for this group here.

Cost of SFPD Cops to Attend NYPD Funeral?

(Image credit: SF Appeal.)

It's never too early to ask the San Francisco Police Department about expenses related to travel. Today, I wrote to Chief Greg Suhr requesting the following info:

"I wish to learn by the close of business today if the San Francisco Police Department has plans to send any officers of the force to the funeral of the two New York Police Department cops killed over the weekend.

"Also, please inform me of any plans you have to spend taxpayer dollars to send SFPD representatives to New York City, if it's decided to have you or your officers travel to the East Coast.

"And if that is the case, let me know the approximate amount of any travel, lodging and related expenses for sending SFPD officers to the funeral.

"In closing, allow me to express my condolences to the families of the dead NYPD officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, and I deplore their killings. I also condemn the deaths of Alex Nieto, Mike Brown and Eric Garner and sympathize with their families too."

By the close of business today, Briseida Banuelos, legal assistant to the department, responded:

"The SFPD has not determined how many officers will be attending the funerals at this time. Members that wish to attend the service may request to attend.

"However, once approved, officers must fund their own travel as the City and County of San Francisco does not pay for these expenses.

"Once the funeral arrangements are received by the New York City Police Department, the San Francisco Police Officers Association will determine the number of officers, if any, will be sponsored to attend the services."

There clarifications are most welcomed. Good to know San Francisco taxpayers are not footing the bills for members of our police force heading to New York City.

I fully expect hundreds of local police officers and other law enforcement agents will from around the nation will attend the funeral of the two NYPD officers Ramos and Liu, and that is their privilege.

Let's just keep an eye on who's paying for them to be at the funeral.

'Sony = Censors' Signs for Today's Protest at AMC Metreon

We've got a few signs ready for use at today's speak out against Sony pulling "The Interview" and theatre owners refusing to show it.

Our group, Cineastes Against Censorship, will be at the AMC Metreon cineplex starting at 5 pm and we have signs to display conveying a simple, yet powerful message. This cineplex located at Mission and 4th Streets, was chosen for the picket because it was where "The Interview" was supposed to open this week.

In addition to large signage, we also have several smaller versions of the Sony = Censors placards. We will ask movie-goers to boycott the theatre chains that pulled "The Interview" just over the holiday season, as a form of protest against Hollywood's censorship.

Let's stop North Korea's dictator Kim Jung un from deciding what films we get to see. Please join our picket today!

Weekend Woof #94: Beefy Boys and Friends

It's been more than a month since I last posted new photos of assorted dudes who appeal to my queer eye, and have snapped several shots of beefy boys and friends. All of the fellas have something worth capturing in a photo, but the first guy is my fave among this batch.

This is Javier at work last week and I realized he was someone who had graced the lens of my camera in the recent past. He was using an unopened box with heavy contents as a barbell when I walked into the Walgreens where he works. Nice sight to see!

Here's Javier two years ago and it's clear in the two-years since I last took his photo and enjoyed a short chat with this friendly young man, he's been lifting weights. This beefy boy would delight many patrons of the Lone Star Saloon.

At UCSF recently for a blood draw and other medical business, my friend Mike was also there and came over to say hello. His smile and sweetness sure made the visit to UCSF more pleasant than I expected. He's moving to the East Bay so I won't run into him much and I'll miss that.

Say hello Cemo, a co-owner of the Gyro Xpress at Castro and 18th Street. He's originally from Turkey and is Kurdish. Stop in at his restaurant for delicious and healthy Mediterranean food, and tell him I sent you. His business is also a great location to watch the gay world go by.

What a fab haircut this young dude was sporting on Polk Street recently waiting for a Muni bus. The warm weather sure gave him reason to show off his beefiness in a white tee shirt.

A group of union construction workers earlier this month milled about their headquarters at Fillmore and Hermann, with a lotta beef on display.

Drunk at noon and riding the 6 Parnassus bus last week was this biker, who said he was from Canada enjoying his vacation. He's straight, he claimed, and just hit the Big 6-0 and the present he gave himself was a week in San Francisco. 

Merry holiday wishes to all the guys and thanks for appearing in this series.

BART Omits All Public Comment from Minutes

Back on November 8, the Coalition on Homelessness staged a headline-grabbing action at BART's Powell Street station to protest the agency's policy of preventing homeless folks from stretching out, laying down or sleeping on the concourse level.

Curious as to whether the COH also attended any BART board meetings to effect change and not just get press attention, I emailed their executive director Jennifer Friedenback and asked about followup work after the action. She has not replied.

(Homeless folks and their advocates sit on the public walkway of the Powell Street BART station on Nov. 8. Credit: Paul Chinn, SF Chronicle.)

I'm supportive of the action but feel it's crucial to ask the COH and BART what impact it had on changing the transit agency's homeless and security policies.

Reading over minutes of recent board meetings, I didn't see any names of COH folks in attendance and it was a glaring omission that the minutes merely reported the names of public speakers and which item they opined on, but an actual written public record of what the public said could not be located. There's also the matter of inconsistent advance agenda availability and no minutes at all for BART's various committees.

A few days ago, I corresponded with Kenneth Duron, BART's district secretary about all this and his reply dances around the matter of no public comments are included in the minutes. He says the videos of the meetings can be watched to learn what public speakers said, but the same could be said about the remarks of the BART board members.

BART needs to simply write down the comments of public speakers at its meetings, so a written record of respect for what the public has to say is created. Here's Duron's reply to my questions:

I can address your inquiries regarding our Board meeting minutes. 

Q: Did anyone from the general public or the Coalition on Homelessness address the board at that meeting? 

A: Ms. Lisa Marie Alatorre, Coalition On Homelessness San Francisco, attended the December 4, 2014 Board Meeting. She completed a request to address the Board but was unable to stay. She provided a letter addressed to the Board of Directors. The letter was distributed to the Board and District staff. 

Q: There are no comments included from any member of the public and if they were present representing an organization, that info is also omitted. Are BART minutes usually lacking any remarks from the public? 

A: The District minutes record actions taken by the Board of Directors and the names of individuals addressing the Board on a particular topic or under general public comment (for items not on the agenda). The District makes video/audio record of the Board Meeting, including public comment, available on our website via live streaming and on demand recording (http://www.bart.gov/about/bod/multimedia). The website design enables the reviewer to go to a particular agenda item to expedite review. The balance of your questions have been referred to our Communications Department for review and response. 

These are the other questions I asked of BART that I hope are answered this week: Did the action in any way persuade BART to reconsider or change its policy about moving the homeless folks out of the station for security reasons? What impact on BART did the action have?

When I receive answers from either the COH or BART, they'll be posted here.