KTVU, BAR: Corrupt Gay Castro Cop Abruptly Resigns

At the November 2012 meeting of the Merchants of Upper Market Castro, a private organization, myself and other grassroots gay and trans activists were allowed to attend their invitation-only meeting. Present was now-former SFPD gay Castro cop Chuck Limbert in street clothes, serving as a security guard. When questioned if he was on duty, he said no.

(Limbert, right, in undercover clothes, at the meeting that led to a complaint.)

I filed a complaint in March 2013 with the Office of Citizen Complaints alleging that Limbert, whom I have long viewed as corrupt, spoke falsely about being off-duty and eventually at mediation in front of five witnesses, Limbert admitted he'd lied. I blogged about it here.

Fast forward to February 2015 and Limbert has resigned from the department under a very dark cloud. Here's what Seth Hemmelgarn wrote on March 5th at the Bay Area Reporter blog:

"A gay longtime San Francisco cop who is well-known in the LGBT community has abruptly turned in his badge.

"Lieutenant Chuck Limbert retired Saturday, February 28, police Chief Greg Suhr confirmed to the Bay Area Reporter today (Thursday, March 5).

"It is not known if Limbert’s sudden departure from the force is related to accusations that he tried to prevent an investigation into allegations that another gay officer had embezzled thousands of dollars from the San Francisco Police Department’s Pride Alliance, an organization of LGBT officers.

"However, in a text exchange with the B.A.R., Limbert said, “My reputation based on lies has ruined my life’s work.” He added, “There is still an ongoing investigation. I seem to be the only one that remembers that. I loved my job! This embezzlement never happened under my time. Not one word about the old board. … I am hiring a lawyer.”"

Over at KTVU, reporter Heather Holmes had an almost five-minute story on Limbert and the allegations against him. Unfortunately, KTVU's embed code does not transfer into Blogger so click here to watch their long story.

Former SFPD chief George Gascon, who's now the district attorney, is considering charges in this LGBT police scandal but don't hold your breath waiting for him to indict Limbert. 

Trans Woman Forces Closure of SF Queer Male Sex Space

Don't approve of abortion? Don't have one. Not into queer male sex spaces? Stay out of them, but let those who are into such venues have them. That's my philosophy.

I've not followed all the ins and outs of San Francisco trans woman Lily Lambda's problems with the Powerhouse kink bar on Folsom Street and its backroom, but she's apparently forced the owner to shut down that space.

It's infuriating to see one more piece of queer male sex space disappear, hopefully just temporarily, from San Francisco. This image is from Lily Lambda's Facebook page, where you can find more of her rants and deets.

Let's be honest. For gay men in San Francisco, we've been the target of sex police and the Department of Public Health's stigmatizing and sex-negative policies for three decades over the ban on bathhouses. We've endured too many well-funded hysterical social marketing campaigns about our sexuality.

Peep shows with glory holes and sex clubs dwindle to the single digits. Nudity in the streets is banned, unless it's well-controlled by the SFPD and other government forces. Street sex us verboten at the Folsom Street and Dore Alley kink fairs.

Sure would be great to see gays act up against all of the forces allied against us, our sex venues and erotic habits.

Board of Supes Prez Breed Violating SF Sunshine Law?

Follow my email trail regarding an important public records request.

From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Sent: Sun, Feb 22, 2015 12:17 am
Subject: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

Dear London Breed, Conor Johnston and Vallie Brown,

This is an immediate disclosure request for an electronic copy of your work calendars from January 1, 2014, through January 31, 2015, and please include the names of people you met with and the organizations they work for or represent.

What I am asking for is the same as what I requested and received in less than 24-hours from John Avalos and two of his staffers. Read my post about Avalos' compliance with my request here, with a link to his 130-page pages of calendar info. If you have any questions, shoot them over to me via email.

Please confirm receipt of this request by the close of business on Monday, Feb. 23.

Reply from Breed's aide:

Sent: Tue, Feb 24, 2015 1:53 pm
Subject: RE: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

Because of the voluminous nature of the documents that we will need to search to respond to your request, and because of the need to consult with another interested department, we are in invoking an extension under Administrative Code section 67.25(b).  You will have a response by March 8.

 

Conor Johnston

Office of Supervisor London Breed

President of the Board of Supervisors

Me back to him:

Sent: Tue, Feb 24, 2015 2:01 pm
Subject: BOS prez reply -Re: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

Dear Conor Johnston,

 

I have received your reply and look forward to your office responding with the public records requested by March 8th. 

 

FYI, I wish point out that Sup. John Avalos's office responded to a similar request from me in less than 24-hours and I was provided with voluminous records. Avalos's staff sent me a 130 page document. 

 

As a member of the public with no affiliation to Avalos, I wish to suggest you contact his office for assistance about producing calendars in a day or so.

Me to Breed's office again:

Thursday, March 05, 2015 5:25 PM

Subject: Re: BOS prez reply -Re: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

 

Dear Mr. Johnston,

It is my understanding that the clock started ticking on Monday, Feb. 23rd, and that you should be responding to me with responsive records by tomorrow, Friday, March 6th.

If you have a differing opinion, please let me know. It would be most usual, but nevertheless quite welcome, if you were working on Sunday, March 8th, and sending the records on a weekend.

Finally, I wish to request that all records be provided to me in a PDF. Is that possible?

His response:

Sent: Thu, Mar 5, 2015 5:29 pm
Subject: RE: BOS prez reply -Re: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

14 days from Monday 2/23 is Monday 3/9.  We will give hard copies to the Clerk’s office.

 

Conor Johnston

Office of Supervisor London Breed

President of the Board of Supervisors

My turn to reply:

Sent: Thu, Mar 5, 2015 5:40 pm
Subject: Re: BOS prez reply -Re: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

Dear Mr. Johnston,

So you're pushing back the release date one more day? Please explain why.

Also, you can provide any and all records to Ms. Calvillo's office, however, my request was to Ms. Breed, which I believe means she or her aide must provide me with responsive records.

Please clarify if you will not comply with the sunshine laws regarding directly providing the requester with responsive records.

When I didn't hear back from Breed's office, I filed a Sunshine Ordinance Task Force complaint and received this response from their administrator:

From: SOTF (BOS)
Sent: Fri, Mar 6, 2015 12:42 pm
Subject: RE: SOTF complaint -Re: BOS prez reply -Re: IDR: Calendars from Jan. 2014 thru the end of Jan. 2015

Mr. Petrelis:

I am in receipt of your complaint and will process it accordingly.  Thank you.  Victor Young    

Interesting email trail, wouldn't you say? We'll see what Breed's office does on Monday and find out to whom she sends the responsive records.

Is Campos Withholding Emails from his City Hall Addy?

In response to my public records request this week to Supervisor David Campos, for all emails sent or received from his City Hall addy over the post fourteen-months, this reply was sent by his aide Hillary Ronen:

"Attached, please find the work Calendars for Supervisor David Campos and Legislative Aides, Hillary Ronen, Nate Allbee, and Carolyn Goossen and former Legislative Aide Laura Lane covering the period 1/1/2014 to 3/1/2015.

"As for your requests for telephone logs and all emails sent and received by the email
David.Campos@sfgov.org, please see the following highlighted sections of the Good Government Guide: 

">Good Government Guide, Page 85, Records/category of records sought must be “identifiable” <

">A public records request must specify an identifiable record or category of records sought. Cal. Govt. Code § 6253(b). The law does not require exactitude in requests, or limit requests to specific records the requester identifies by date, author, and/or recipient. But a request must be sufficiently clear and defined that the department can understand what records are the subject of the request. <

"We are more than happy to respond to the request if you identify the subjects of the emails and phone logs you request."

My request is very clear. All emails from Campos' addy. Here's my response to Ronen:

"Thanks for sending the requested calendars. I have received and opened them. Much appreciate that they are PDFs.

"Regarding the additional public records requested, I do not wish to amend my request to a narrower focus. Just as your office has released the full calendars, and you didn't need me to identify only certain entries, I believe your office must release the phone logs and emails.

"If I had requested only calendar entries that mention, for example, the Maximus Partners or their lobbyists, you wouldn't have anything to release because that firm's name does not appear on Mr. Campos' calendar. However, cross-checking with the Ethics Commission about Maximus Partners' lobbyists meetings with any Supervisor two meetings in 2014 btwn the lobbyists and Mr. Campos are reported.

"Mr. Campos met with those lobbyists on March 5 and July 21, 2014, but the calendar entries omit the firm's name entirely.

"If you cannot comply with my original request for all emails sent or received by "David.Campos@sfgov.org" or the phone logs for the time period specified, you will leave me with no recourse than to file a complaint with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force."

Ronen replied:

"As I mentioned in my previous communication, we are more than happy to comply with your request if you identify the subjects of the emails and phone logs you request."

In my reply to her, I mentioned that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has agreed to have the State Department review and release her emails while she was the nation's top diplomat. Sure would be great of Campos to follow her lead in terms of just getting the requested documents out there.

I want to see all of the Campos emails and phone logs regardless of subject, so I'm filing my SOTF complaint in the morning and will begin the process of using this panel to resolve this impasse.

SF Ex Must Repost Housing Op-Ed That Plagiarized

My friend Marc Salomon goofed up big time yesterday with his opinion piece for the San Francisco Examiner that plagiarized the work of others. The deleted the piece from their site yesterday afternoon.

I wrote to the manager editor Max DeNike asking why it was deleted and he replied:

"It came to our attention that parts of the op-ed were lifted verbatim from a story on People Power Media. Because of this, and after speaking with Marc and having him fess up, we felt it was right to remove it. We ran an editor's note in print this morning, and we will post it online as well."

In my response asking him to repost the column, I said to DeNike that most papers keep the offending article up but with a clear explanation of the problems with it. I cited the New York Times maintaining Jayson Blair's fakery on their site and with a lot of notes about his plagiarism and other journalistic crimes. I pleaded with DeNike to reconsider keeping the piece off their site. He said:

"I do not fully agree with that, but I definitely understand your point. Perhaps leaving the story up with a note could serve as a lesson for others. It is a tough call -- obviously plagiarism is the most serious offense in the industry. I have shared your latest email with editor in chief Michael Howerton, who will have to make the ultimate call. In the meantime, here is the editor's note link."

And this is the note:

"Editor's Note: The op-ed “Lies about market-rate housing” in Tuesday’s San Francisco Examiner contained passages that were copied from the article “5 Facts: San Francisco’s Housing Crisis is NOT Because of Supply,” published by people.power.media last month. The op-ed has been removed from The Examiner’s website."

The PDF version of yesterday's print edition of the Ex is here and includes the op-ed.

UC Berkeley's 'All Genders' Bathroom Signs Go Up

The Pacific Film Archive, which is on the UC Berkeley campus, last night screened Claude Lanzmann's three-and-half-hour Holocaust doc "The Last of the Unjust", and when I used the bathroom I noticed the signs that say Men's or Women's were papered over.

I shot footage of the new signs declaring the bathrooms "All Genders" because this change is good, because it recognizes the needs of our friends and family who are transgender, intersex, gender non-conforming, agender and all other gender identities.

All people have to pee and relieving oneself shouldn't be a hassle or against the law singling out trans and other folks from using restrooms anywhere. Check out my vid:

Welcome Hut Erected at Mission Street Homeless Center

That cloud of dust this afternoon hovering over the laborers on the City-owned site of bungalows on Mission Street across from the Walgreens store was thick.

There was a tractor rumbling in the center of the courtyard, construction workers sweeping up debris and checking out the ramp leading up to the newly-built welcome hut at the entrance, behind a fence.

I had to wait a few minutes for a breeze to blow through so I could snap a photo.

My post in January about Mayor Ed Lee's homeless czar Bevan Dufty and Department of  Public Works head Mohammed Nuru, holding an outdoor, evening meeting with the surrounding community and various stakeholders, reported they promised a March opening for a homeless navigation center on this site.

Judging by all the rehab and general contracting work going on behind the fence between the sidewalk and the welcome hut and the bungalows where homeless folks will live, I'd say Dufty and Nuru are on schedule to keep their promise.

Let's hope this homeless navigation center is a pathway forward to getting people off the streets and into services and eventually permanent housing.

Sunshine Complaint Against Campos Over Maximus Moves Ahead

The basis of my complaint is that Campos didn't provide me with all of his emails related to the Maximus Partners' construction firm from Jan. 31, 2014, through Feb. 25, 2015. His responsive records contained not one email to or from his SFGov.org account over an extensive period, a time when Maximus' proposed condo at 1979 Mission was generating big sparks.

This note, addressed to Campos, copied to me this afternoon, explains where we are in the sunshine complaint process:

"You have been named as a Respondent in the attached complaint filed with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. In an attempt to mediate and avoid a hearing before the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, please respond to the following complaint/request within five business days.

"The Respondent is required to submit a written response to the allegations including any and all supporting documents, recordings, electronic media, etc., to the Task Force within five (5) business days of receipt of this notice.

"This is your opportunity to provide a full explanation to allow the Task Force to be fully informed in considering your response prior its meeting.

"Please include the following information in your response if applicable:

"1. List all relevant records with descriptions that have been provided pursuant to the Complainant request.

"2. Date the relevant records were provided to the Complainant.

"3. Description of the method used, along with any relevant search terms used, to search for the relevant records.

"4. Statement/declaration that all relevant documents have been provided, does not exist, or has been excluded.

"Please refer to the File Number when submitting any new information and/or supporting documents pertaining to this complaint.

"The Complainant alleges: File No. 15015: Complaint filed by the Michael Petrelis against Supervisor David Campos, Board of Supervisors, for allegedly violating Administrative Code (Sunshine Ordinance), Sections 67.25 for failure to respond to an Immediate Disclosure Request in a timely and/or complete manner.

"Both parties (Complainant and Respondent) will be contacted once a hearing date is determined.

"Thank you. Victor Young Administrator Sunshine Ordinance Task Force"

Philip Glass to Perform His Complete Etudes Tonight

A word to the wise culture vultures of the Bay Area. The Philip Glass concert at 7:30 pm tonight at Davies Symphony Hall, presented by the San Francisco Performances organization, is going to be a very full house so get there early.

This is a rare opportunity to experience Glass and two other pianists, Timo Andres and Maki Namekawa, performing his complete etudes live. You don't want to miss it. My ears wiggle now in anticipation of great music we'll enjoy.

This admirer of minimalist music and the works of Glass and Steve Reich, is delighted 2015 has seen a fantastic presentation of Reich's "Drumming" in early February with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and now we'll soon listen to this major work from Glass.

Some info about the program:

Like other great pianist-composers throughout history, Philip Glass originally conceived of his 20 études for solo piano as works that would both expand his technique as a composer and performer and test and broaden the limits of the instrument. The études have taken him 20 years to complete and stand as an intensely intimate personal statement by a composer who has changed the course of music in our time.

For information and to purchase tickets. head over to the SF Performances web site.

Weekend Woof #96: All Video Version

I recently purchased a video camera and have started using it for various purposes, including grabbing footage of men appealing to my queer eye. Not only am I learning the tricks of the camera but I'm also figuring out all the editing options available via MovieMaker.

Lemme know if you like this all video version of this continuing series.