Avalos' Municipal Bank for SF: Hot Air Went Nowhere

If you feel a hot wind blowing through the streets of San Francisco, it's likely to be coming from straight progressive Supervisor John Avalos, pictured center wearing a blue shirt exploiting an Occupy protest for his mayoral campaign in 2011.

Avalos skillfully coopted the energy and anger of Occupy San Francisco at the height of street protests, by introducing worthless resolutions at the Board of Supervisors that did very little to deter the police and health authorities from shutting down the camp sites downtown. Well, it got him lots of press.

In October 2011, a few weeks before the mayoral election where he came in second, Avalos held a hearing at City Hall about creating a municipal bank. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a few hurdles were in the way:

But the bottom line is that San Francisco can’t create a municipal bank without a change in state law, and that’s not likely to happen any time soon.

However, according to the supervisors’ budget and legislative analyst, the city could pursue alternatives. Among them: Invest city money in local credit unions and community development banks. But that is limited. No more than $250,000 could be deposited in each of those institutions, making the overall pot pretty small . . .

There were a handful of other options outlined, but none offered quick fixes. “There’s more work to do,” Avalos conceded. “I don’t see it as something that’s happening overnight.”

In March 2012, five months after his hearing, when announcing his bid for reelection as supervisor in District 11, Luke A. Thomas of Fog City Journal reported the following quote:

Asked what he hopes to accomplish in the next four years, Avalos said, “We have a foreclosure crisis in San Francisco.  It’s really strong in my neighborhood.  I want to figure out how we can create measures to support households against defaults and foreclosures.  I also want to look at this municipal bank idea, something that I’ve been pushing.”

That was almost one year ago and I asked Avalos and his staff what has happened since then to make the municipal bank a reality. All I got back from the Avalos team was silence.

While he lacks the time commitment to follow through on good ideas, he was able to fly to Washington, DC, in November 2012 to attend a junket for elected progressives, and boost his resume for future elections.

After more than four years as supervisor, I can't think of many signature accomplishments from Avalos. Yes, his local hire legislation was a tremendously valuable and important law, but I can't think of what else he's solely responsible for that has benefited a wide cross-section of city residents.

Providing more evidence that he's politician first and foremost looking to move up the political ladder, instead of creating ambitious solutions at the Board of Supervisors, Avalos devoted himself last year to winning a seat on the Democratic County Central Committee. Great. He now holds two elected positions where he can propose useless resolutions.

Speaking of hot air resolutions, the Bay Guardian last week had this to report:

In addition to the resolution calling for divestment from fossil fuels, Avalos also plans to introduce a resolution urging the San Francisco Retirement Board to divest from publicly traded manufacturers of firearms and ammunition.

The actual and tangible accomplishments of Avalos are damn difficult to list.

Weekend Woof #28: STR8 Neighbor, Gerharter + Wockner

Another week of being under the weather has prevented me from getting out and about, to run household errands and snap photos of attractive dudes. That why this week's edition in this series is thin, but as always the guys are adorable and pleasing to my queer eye.

"Are you going to make porn outta of the pictures?" That was the question my straight neighbor Anthony asked me, as I snapped these photos. I said no, and requested that he send me any porn pix he may of himself, which made him smile and giggle. Noticing the colorful ink peeking over his t-shirt, I asked Anthony if his chest was fully tattooed. When he told me it was, I promised to take photos of him shirtless once the weather gets warmer.

Don't you just love straight boys who are very comfortable being the object of desire of a queer man?

When organizing some old photos this week, I came across this image from April 2009 of my good friend Rick Gerharter, local longtime gay photographer, and Rex Wockner, veteran gay journalist based in San Diego. We had just attended a discussion at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco about the Prop 8 debacle.

Would you agree that there's a strong resemblance between these two queer news dudes?

Previous batches of woofy dudes are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

NARA: NYT's Punch Sulzberger's FBI Extortion File?

At the end of last year, I blogged about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's reply to my FOIA request for any and all files they possess on the late New York Times publisher Arthur "Punch" Sulzberger.

The agency said potential records responsive to my request may have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration, and that I needed to file a new FOIA with them. I did and this week NARA sent a letter, pictured, with the surprising info that the FBI's classification number for what be Sulzberger's file pertains to extortion. NARA said:

My staff could not locate case file 9-WF-3 901, which the FBI identified as potentially responsive to your request for records relating to Arthur Ochs Sulzberger. We searched all available finding aids, both electronic and hard copy. 

We also searched the stack areas in which records for this file classification are shelved. In addition, we consulted the accessioning dossiers which identify all FBI records transferred to our custody in the last five years. 

As a result, we have established  that there are currently no Washington Field Office Files for Classification 9 (Extortion) in our custody. 

Finally, we contacted the Records Disposition Unit for more information regarding this file number and are currently awaiting a response. We will contact you when we have received a response from the FBI.

Let me see if I understand this. The FBI assigned the potential Sulzberger file with an extortion classification, told me to contact NARA and now that body says they can't locate the file the FBI referenced, so NARA has gone to the FBI seeking more details.

This troubles me, that the FBI, the one national agency we would very much expect to be much better about tracking its voluminous records, is quite sloppy about maintaining and transferring them.

In September 2009, in response to my FOIA request, the FBI admitted it may have destroyed the file on another iconic newsman, Walter Cronkite. Jeez, is it asking too much of the FBI to retain these files, or if they are to destroyed to keep records of what is shredded and dumped?

After the FBI sends a reply to NARA and it is shared with me, I'll blog about it.

White House Updates AIDS Blog After I Raise Questions

When Dr. Grant Colfax, pictured, was director of HIV prevention efforts for the San Francisco health department, he carried a well-earned reputation as a communicator who regularly engaged via new media and public forums with affected populations. Since he's become President Obama's White House AIDS special assistant, Colfax and his colleagues have not lived up to their potential to be the constantly communicating federal leaders we need them to be.

Yesterday I noticed the last original blog post at the Office of National AIDS Policy, ONAP, page on the White House site appeared on December 19. Written by Colfax and Lynn Rosenthal, it was titled "We Want to Hear From You". A noble ideal.

But I also want to hear from Colfax more often at that blog, so on Thursday I wrote to the White House asking for Colfax to address my questions. A slice of my email:

Why the blog silence? More regular communication at the blog is needed, in my opinion. A few concerns to address include who will replace Dr. Kevin Fenton at the CDC and the latest efforts to implement the National AIDS Strategy. When is your next blog update going to appear and do you agree the AIDS community could use more communication from you? 

Late this afternoon, on background, a White House official provided this reply:

The ONAP blog is only one of the many tools that the Administration uses to keep the public informed on what this Administration is doing to move towards an AIDS free generation. AIDS.gov serves as the main portal, along with hhs.gov, healthcare.gov, whitehouse.gov/onap, along with many other websites, twitter feeds, youtube channels, and email lists.

Great to hear from the White House, but I want specifics not a vapid statement from Colfax and ONAP. What's the point of Colfax saying he wants to hear from the public, having a person with AIDS attempt communication with him, and the reply is content-less?

I found this approach of "issue a cautious statement while touting the administration's commitment" unacceptable under Reagan, Bush the Elder, Clinton and George W. Bush, and it turns my stomach to see Obama's ONAP is starting off its second term like this.

Also late this afternoon, the ONAP page was updated by the White House in the most lazy way imaginable, after hearing from me. They simply cross-posted a standard and cautious administration talking points memo from senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, about AIDS and the black community and over all HIV concerns. Jarrett's piece originally appeared at The Root.

Just how unengaging is ONAP's blog, a potent symbol of how it engages in a larger community framework? There was one Colfax-penned post in August, two in September, one staffer-penned post in October, while in November and December one post each month co-authored by Colfax and nothing from nobody in January.

Americans living with AIDS, our families, neighbors and caregivers, along with everyone else who gives a damn about HIV in 2013 deserves regular and substantive communication from Colfax and ONAP on their blog.

(My post is dedicated to the fierce advocacy and legacy of the late Hank Wilson.)

No Charges in Cliff's Xmas Assault Over Israeli Product



About six-weeks back, pro-Palestinian activists went into Cliff's Variety Store in the Castro on Christmas Eve to sing songs about boycotting Israeli-made products. The protesters had been lobbying Cliff's for months to stop selling the SodaStream maker, but the independently owned business continued to sell it, leading to the demonstration.

Most of the activists were older women, lesbian and straight, and after a few minutes of singing were physically accosted by store employees attempting to get them out of the store.

The altercations led to assault allegations by the protesters, who filed complaints with the SF Police Department, a few days after the action.

Last week, I was in touch with two of the protesters and they informed me that the District Attorney has not filed assault charges against any of the store employees who were caught on camera angrily grabbing and shoving the protesters.

At this point, the pro-Palestinians activists do not expect the DA to file charges. The lack of charges appears to bring this matter to a close. Make of it what you will.

WaPo: Corrupt Gay Councilman Graham Must Resign

Jim Graham, pictured, once was employed as the executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a multi-service HIV/AIDS agency. According to his Wikipedia entry, he served in that capacity from 1984 through 1999, before winning a seat on Washington's City Council.

He's been under investigation for a number of corruption allegations by a good government advisory body, which found him in violation of the public trust. Today, the Washington Post ran an editorial calling on him to resign:

“We find there to be sufficient evidence to conclude that Councilmember Graham committed one or more violations of the District of Columbia Code of Conduct . . . .” So wrote the D.C. ethics board Thursday, finding that Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) violated basic standards of how public officials are supposed to behave in the public’s interest.

The conclusion of the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability resulted from its preliminary inquiry into Mr. Graham’s conduct in 2008 in considering public contracts while on the council and as the city’s representative to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Mr. Graham, the board wrote in a devastating 27-page memorandum, “abandoned his impartiality and demonstrated inappropriate preferential treatment” in offering to support a bidder for the city’s lottery contract if the bidder would drop out of a separate Metro development project . . .

The ethics board found “substantial reason to believe” that Mr. Graham violated “at least” three sections of the D.C. Code of Conduct: “giving preferential treatment to any person,” “losing complete independence or impartiality” and “affecting adversely the confidence of the public in the integrity of government.” The best way to begin restoring that confidence would be for Mr. Graham to resign.

I knew Graham back when I resided in Washington, and I've followed his political career over the years, and it would shock me if he followed the Post's advice and gave up his seat. Like any corrupt politician, gay or straight, he'll fight hard to retain his office.

Let's hope he faces a serious challenger or two when next up for reelection.

(Hat tip: Wayne Turner.)

No MoDo Op-Eds in NYT Since Jan. 20

Wednesdays and Sundays are supposed to be days when Maureen Dowd, pictured, has an op-ed column running in the New York Times, but her last column appeared on January 20th. She's missed five dates when she should have had a piece in print and online.

Being of a certain age and a news consumer raised reading papers, I purchased yesterday's Times especially to see which critic reviewed the new Italian film by the master directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, "Caeser Must Die", and what sort of placement the review got in the paper edition. (Manohla Dargis generally liked it and her review appeared on an inside page of the arts section.)

Turning to the opinion pages, another of those "Maureen Dowd is off today" notes vaguely explained her absence. Curious why she's not written anything lately and when she'll turn in a new column, I asked the paper's spokeswoman for an explanation. Eileen Murphy wrote back:

She’s just taking some time off and will be back soon.

OK, we'll just have to wait and see when she returns to the opinion pages of the Times.

Husband of Gay Facebook Co-Founder May Buy House Seat

Does America really need another super rich person, gay or straight, buying themselves a seat in either the House or Senate? I don't think so but I'm likely among a minority of gays who are shrugging their shoulders over this news from the Atlantic Wire earlier this week, emphasis added:

Just three days after his husband Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes relaunched The New Republic, 26-year-old investor and activist Sean Eldridge filed papers to run for a seat in the House of Representatives. Eldridge filed a statement of organization for his campaign, "Sean Eldridge for Congress," and a statement of candidacy seeking the 19th District seat in New York's Hudson Valley . . . It won't be an easy race, but Eldridge is remarkably well-positioned to be a worthy contender for someone who was studying political philosophy at Brown less than five years ago. The fact that he has Chris "The Kid Who Made Obama President" Hughes and a fortune worth as much as three-quarters of a billion dollars certainly helps.

That kind of money could so easily buy a lot of affordable housing for LGBT seniors, youths and those with low- or moderate incomes, but solving the economic inequality between the 1% of Americans and those of us in the 99% is not on the agenda of Eldridge and Hughes.

If you've seen anything in the past year, or ever, about any LGBT "equality" millionaires or billionaires, such as Jon Stryker or Andrew Solomon or Henry van Ameringen and their ilk, committing funds to address the housing or healthcare needs of ordinary gay folks, let me know about it.

I'd love to wake up one day and read this headline: "Gay Billionaires Building Thousands of Homes for Low-Income LGBT People". Economic justice and solving wealth disparities simply is not on the agenda of the wealthy gays.

Our national democracy will be ill-served if Eldridge buys himself a seat in Congress. We need to put an end, or at least seriously curb, the power of checkbook politics including when it's practiced by a gay Democrat.

Albanians Join Gay Russian 'I'm Not Propaganda' Foto Campaign

Four leaders of the Tirana-based Pink Embassy/LGBT Pro Albania coalition, pictured, recently joined the Russian group Coming Out's photo campaign opposing a pending new law prohibiting the promotion or favorable public mention of anything to do with gay people.

The Albanians printed signs with this Russian phrase on it, "Я человек а не пропаганд", and the same words in English, "I am a human being and not propaganda", and for good measure also translated the words into Albanian. I very much like how their hands overlap as they collectively hold up the signs.

The leaders stood in front of a large rainbow flag, placed signs of the Pink Embassy and LGBT Pro Albania on the wall behind them, then took a photo of themselves showing solidarity with the gay community of Russia holding the signs in three languages.

Next, the Albanians emailed the photo to this address, yanepropagnda@gmail.com, and soon the photo was posted here, Coming Out's page for this important online campaign.

Please follow the example of the Albanian LGBT leaders and create photos of you and your friends holding signs in Russian and/or English, or another language, then share the images with our friends in Russia.

Now is the time to show global LGBT solidarity with the Russian gay community.

SF DPH: Male Rectal Gonorrhea Up 26%, But . . .

Nearly three-weeks ago, the San Francisco Department of Public Health released its December 2012 monthly STD report and it was full of stats about rising infections for city residents. The report's editorial note said:

Preliminary data on reportable STDs show increases for chlamydia, gonorrhea and early syphilis in 2012. Overall reported chlamydia increased from 4,747 to 4,871 cases (2.6%) while male rectal chlamydia increased in 2012 from 961 to 1085 cases for a 12.9% annual increase. Reported gonorrhea cases increased 10.7% from 2,246 in 2011 to 2,486 in 2012.

Additionally, rectal gonorrhea among men also increased from 620 cases to 781 cases--a 26.0% increase. [Emphasis added.]

When considering the increase of male rectal gonorrhea, bear in mind this explanation from the DPH's 2011 annual STD summary, which was also stated in the 2010 annual when this rate was initially going up:
 
Rectal and pharyngeal screening for gonorrhea and chlamydia for men who have sex with men began in 2003 and has expanded beyond City Clinic to local providers serving MSM populations. As a result, increases in case detection may be a function of increased screening for this often asymptomatic infection.

I asked Dr. Susan Philip, the head of STD control and prevention for DPH, if the preliminary 26% jump in male rectal gonorrhea correlates to more tests:

We cannot definitively say that the increases are due to changes in testing patterns - we don't have access to the data from private labs to assess this. We do plan to evaluate for any changes in testing numbers at the SFDPH public health lab, where we can fully review testing data for last year, but this does not necessarily represent what is happening citywide.

Regardless of stats and testing patterns, if you're sexually active, get yourself screened for infections and stay healthy. We'll see what DPH reports later this year about STD rates for 2012.