State leg candidates advance
Federal judge confirmed
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Keith Haring was 'Radiant'
The
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Vol. 54 • No. 12 • March 21-27, 2024
In a 1st, Pelosi secures $500K from feds for Milk plaza project Courtesy the candidate
Stave Hansen has conceded in the Sacramento mayor’s race.
Hansen concedes in Sacramento mayor’s race by Matthew S. Bajko
G
ay former Sacramento city councilmember Steve Hansen conceded Tuesday that he wouldn’t survive the primary race to be his city’s next mayor. It brought to a close his bid to be the first gay leader of California’s capital city. Meanwhile, gay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Cupertino) is now back in second place in his bid for an open South Bay U.S. House seat. But he only leads by two votes, with more ballots yet to count. On election night March 5, Hansen had been in second place. But as more ballots were counted, Hansen dropped down to fourth in a race where only the top-two finishers will advance to a runoff in November. Sacramentans are choosing who will succeed Mayor Darrell Steinberg, as he decided not to seek a third term this year. After another vote update came Tuesday, epidemiologist Dr. Flojaune Cofer and Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) strengthened their standings to be the two mayoral candidates moving on to the fall ballot. Hansen called both Tuesday to congratulate them on their first and second place showings, respectively, in the primary. In a statement he released, Hansen thanked those voters who had backed him in the race. “The latest results were just released – it was sooo close, but unfortunately we will not be advancing to the run off,” stated Hansen, “While the results released today were not what we hoped, it is not the end of our work fighting for a better Sacramento. Thank you for believing in me and my vision for what our city could be.” As of the March 19 update in the race, Hansen’s total is now at 21,414 votes. It puts him in fourth place behind Dr. Richard Pan, a former state senator, who is in third with 21,752 votes. (He has yet to concede.) Cofer is in first place with 29,628 votes, while McCarty is in second with 21,964. According to county elections officials, there are now fewer than 7,000 ballots to count and the next update will come Friday at 4:15 p.m. Hansen had been aiming for a political comeback after losing his bid for a third term in his council seat in the 2020 primary. In his concession statement Hansen also thanked his partner, Michael McNulty, and their two young sons for supporting him throughout the mayoral race. See page 9 >>
by John Ferrannini
C
ongress allocated a half-million dollars in funding toward the Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza revitalization project, according to a news release from the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza. This marks the first federal dollars allocated toward the project. Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) spearheaded the allocation, the release stated, which came from the House Subcommittee of Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. The funding was signed into law by President Joe Biden March 9 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024. It had been approved by the House of Representatives 339-85 on March 6. “In San Francisco, we take immense pride in being home to the iconic Harvey Milk: a trailblazing leader for freedom, equality and justice,” Pelosi stated in the release. “By redesigning the plaza named for Harvey, our city will create a world-class civic space in the Castro neighborhood and improve transit rider access to the Castro Street Muni Station. “It has been my privilege to fight for federal funding in support of this transformative project that will revitalize the community and reimagine Harvey Milk Plaza for residents and visitors to enjoy in our beautiful City by the Bay,” she added. The project aims to reconfigure the public parklet above the Castro Muni station to make it more accessible and honor its namesake, who was the city’s first openly gay elected official when he
Courtesy SWA Group via Friends Courtesy of Harvey the candidates Milk Plaza
A rendering shows an overview of the Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza.
won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk took office in January 1978 but was assassinated, along with then-mayor George Moscone, 11 months later by disgruntled ex-supervisor Dan White. While in office, Milk was a big supporter of public transit. The plaza was named in his honor in 1985. Brian Springfield, a gay man who’s executive director of the Friends of Harvey Milk Plaza, told the Bay Area Reporter in January that the friends’ group, which has had a “quiet” capital campaign
ongoing since at least last year, needs to raise about $35 million. Some of that money has already been raised, Springfield said, including about $1 million in private funds and $3.3 million in public funding. Of the public funding, $2.5 million was secured by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). Springfield stated that “this allocation is an initial investment of federal funds for the project. Previously, Senator Weiner has secured two [state] grants
2017 0 Media Kit Castro volunteer patrolagroup honored by FBI Mission at SF event Statement
See page 11 >>
by John Ferrannini
S
Angeles Blade covers Los Angeles and California news, an Francisco’s top public The safety Los officials politics, opinion, arts and entertainment and features national and gathered at City Hall March 18 to congratulate Castro Community oninternational Patrol for being coverage from the Blade’s award-winning reporting awarded the FBI Communityteam. Leadership BeAward. part of this exciting publication serving LGBT Los Angeles Robert Tripp, special agent in charge at the FBI’s behind the Washington Blade, the nation’s first LGBT from the team San Francisco office, presented CCOP’s Greg Carnewspaper. From the freeway to the Beltway we’ve got you covered. ey and Ken Craig with a certificate – they will receive the actual award next month in Washington, D.C. from FBI Director Christopher Wray. The award was founded in 1990 to acknowledge those working on crime prevention in their communities. “Nobody exemplifies the spirit of that award more than the LGBTQ+ community project and its leaders, Greggy and Ken,” Tripp said. “They’ve promoted the protection of civil rights, have John Ferrannini raised hate crime awareness, and have sustained San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, left, joined District 8 Supervisor that. The most valuable tool to us in the FBI is Rafael Mandelman, Ken Craig of Castro Community on Patrol, Mayor London Breed, partnership, and I can think of no better partGreg Carey of Castro Community on Patrol, Police Chief William Scott, Sheriff Paul ners. On behalf of my boss, Director Christopher M. Miyamoto and San Francisco FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp as the Wray, I want to thank you for your service to the mayor and Tripp presented the CCOP leaders with certificates of appreciation March people of San Francisco.” See page 10 >>
18 at City Hall. Craig and Carey will receive the FBI Community Leadership Award from Director Christopher Wray next month in Washington, D.C.
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