11
B.A.R.'s 'No obits' turns 20
Uneven start to Gay Games
15
ARTS
04
25
'Get Gandhi'
Nightlife events
The
www.ebar.com
Since 1971, the newspaper of record for the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ community
Vol. 48 • No. 32 • August 9-15, 2018
Mission captain addresses ‘lack of consistency’ of beat officers by Alex Madison
Courtesy CADPH
Marisa Ramos, Ph.D.
CA AIDS office director changes by Matthew S. Bajko
A
n interim chief of the Office of AIDS within the California Department of Public Health has been appointed following the departure of Dr. Karen E. Mark to work for a different state agency. Governor Jerry Brown appointed Mark, a lesbian, to the position in 2013 after having served as the interim state AIDS office chief for 16 months. This summer Mark was named the medical director for the California Department of Health Care Services. Succeeding her is Marisa Ramos, Ph.D., whose first day overseeing the AIDS office was July 13. She had been serving as the acting chief of the Surveillance, Research & Evaluation Branch in the Office of AIDS. In 2007, Ramos was named chief of the Office of Refugee Health within the state health department. She completed master’s and doctoral programs in biological nutrition with an emphasis in epidemiology at UC Davis, where she currently serves as a volunteer professor of public health. In response to the Bay Area Reporter’s request for an interview with Ramos, the state health department said she was unavailable. Citing the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, a spokeswoman for the state agency said she was unable to disclose Ramos’ age or if she is a member of the LGBT community. Dr. Gil F. Chavez, the state epidemiologist and deputy director for infectious diseases at the state public health agency, noted Ramos has “25 years of extensive experience in public health program management, administration, epidemiology, surveillance, and the protection of vulnerable populations” in an email announcing her appointment sent to health advocates around the state. While Ramos is not well known within HIV prevention circles, she impressed several AIDS agency representatives that she recently met with in Sacramento to introduce herself and her goals for the AIDS office. “I was very impressed with what she is prepared to bring to the office,” said Anne Donnelly, director of health care policy at Project Inform in San Francisco. “She really seems to understand some of the issues that have been See page 12 >>
S
ome Castro business owners have been unhappy with the “lack of consistency” of the San Francisco Police Department’s foot patrol officers. The officers are assigned to walk certain areas of the district at different times to help mitigate crime, loitering, and other issues. Gaetano Caltagirone was named captain of SFPD’s Mission Station, which oversees the Castro, last October. In his first months on the job, Caltagirone increased the beat officers’ coverage of the Castro because of need, but he still receives complaints from merchants and residents who feel they never see the officers. Currently, according to Caltagirone, the foot patrol officers work seven days a week. The Castro is assigned two beat officers per daily shift and has a regular group of about six officers who rotate shifts. One shift goes from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the other is from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. During last week’s Castro Merchants meeting, Caltagirone said he was working with his command staff on how to ensure a constant police presence on the streets of the Castro and other areas within his district. He would like to add a third shift from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. “I am trying to rearrange our staffing to get that extra foot beat up here,” he said at the meeting.
Rick Gerharter
San Francisco police Officers Paul McIntosh, left, and David Boyle prepare to head out to walk the beat on Castro Street Monday, August 6.
In June, the Bay Area Reporter received an email from Kathy Amendola, longtime owner of Cruisin’ The Castro Walking Tours, about the lack of beat cop presence in the area and the increased violent incidents with the homeless population. “The current lack of consistency is absolutely unacceptable for both tourist and residents alike,” said Amendola, in an email complaint she
sent to Caltagirone and forwarded to the B.A.R. “They should be covering our neighborhood daily at 9 a.m. during our heavy commute when the bodies are most concentrated.” When the B.A.R. spoke with Amendola, however, she said although the current situation is concerning and affecting her business, she is
SRO resident sues Ellis Hotel
See page 12 >>
by Alex Madison
A
gay San Francisco man is suing the owners of the Ellis Hotel where he lives, claiming LGBT discrimination, violation of the state Unruh Civil Rights Act, and emotional distress. Gary Converse, 54, has rented a single-roomoccupancy unit from the residential hotel located north of Market Street for about seven years. He suffers from diabetes, limited mobility, and impaired vision and has used licensed caretakers or In-Home Supportive Services providers, who are paid by the state, for many years. The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco Superior Court in April against the hotel managers and owners Ken Patel and Kelly Patel, who are not married or related. They have owned the hotel since May 2013. Defendants in the lawsuit also include the hotel’s co-owners, Tarun Patel and Nayan Patel. The complaint claims Ken Patel and Kelly Patel harassed many of Converse’s caretakers, causing them to quit, have barred their entry into the hotel on several occasions, and forced one of Converse’s live-in caretakers to move out. “Kelly Patel has gone as far as holding the door shut and screaming that she needs validity,” Converse said in a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter, referring to Kelly Patel’s attempt to restrict Converse’s caretakers from entering his room and requesting their identification. “She refused to accept my doctors’ notes.”
Rick Gerharter
Gary Converse sits in his room at the Ellis Hotel.
Converse also said Kelly Patel has made derogatory comments toward the caretakers’ appearance. The suit states, “Defendants have also harassed plaintiffs’ caregivers based on their homosexuality or perceived homosexuality. Defendants have made statements such as “Oh, another young cute one,” and, “They don’t allow that in my country.” The suit also claims that Kelly Patel has used the words “faggish” and “girlish” to describe the clothes of Converse’s live-in caretaker, Alberto Santos. It claims she said, “I know Alberto is gay,
just look at the clothes he is wearing.” Santos lived with Converse for about a year at the Ellis Hotel and was charged $20 a day to do so and $10 every time he used the showers, the complaint claims. This violates the Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board’s Uniform Hotel Visitor Policy, the lawsuit claims. “Caregivers of disabled tenants shall be exempt from visitor limitations. The owner or operator of the hotel may request medical verification or a See page 12 >>
{ FIRST OF THREE SECTIONS }
LGBTQ Parade and Festival
August 25-26 Downtown San Jose
svpride.com #svpride
Ride to Pride with VTA
Supported, in part, by a Cultural Affairs grants from the City of San Jose.