Petrelis Files

DPH's SF GovTV Debut Today With Trans Health Report

It gives me tremendous pleasure to announce that after a few years of pressuring by members of the "Sunshine Posse" and myself, the San Francisco health commission today makes City history when they air their meeting on SF GovTV. This alert appears on the commission's page and it's interesting that it's written in the active tense, as if the commission has always televised their meetings and today's broadcast is nothing special:

Full Commission meetings are broadcast on cable via SFGTV and streamed on the Internet. Broadband service is recommended for access. The San Francisco Health Commission is generally broadcast on SFGTV2, cable channel 78. SFGTV archives include a recording of each meeting, an agenda with links to the specific portion of the meeting, a file containing all closed captions for the deaf from the meeting and an MP3 recording of the meeting. View Live Feed

One item on the agenda is an update on transgender health issues and I mention this because commission member and transgender advocate and Mayor Ed Lee appointee Cecilia Chung has been an obstructionist on bringing transparency to the commission and their work.

At a Feb. 2013 meeting, the minutes show that "Commissioner Chung stated that not every meeting warrants televised coverage," and in March 2013 the minutes document that "Commissioner Chung encouraged the Commission to consider criteria to determine whether it is appropriate and necessary to video record each Health Commission meeting."

Good thing Cecilia views no longer prevail and how ironic that the first official SF GovTV broadcast from DPH includes an important status report on her transgender community. I'm sure she and other trans health advocates and people are pleased their concerns are not only being addressed by DPH but that they can also view the report's presentation and revel in knowing their health needs are on the City agenda.

Finally, let the record show that neither candidate for state assembly, Supervisors David Campos and David Chiu, heeded my plea to lobby for televising the meetings. It says much about what is wrong with their agendas to expand sunshine in that they said not one word nor lifted a finger to bring about this important expansion of City transparency. The same goes for all members of the Board of Supervisors.

The DPH, the department that eats up the largest portion of the City budget and long in need of sunshining on TV, will now join bodies such as the taxi and entertainment commissions that have long aired on SF GovTV.

Sure would be great to learn why the Supervisors did nothing to bring DPH to our TVs and computers.