By Shadi Rahimi

The San Francisco Department of Public Health willfully leaves members of the public in the dark, an AIDS activist charged in a Sunshine Ordinance Task Force hearing Oct. 22.

Patrick Monette-Shaw appeared before the task force for the third time this year to complain that the DPH's CARE Council continues to refuse to properly post meeting agendas on its Web site. In two previous hearings, June 25 and Sept. 24, the task force found the DPH guilty of violating the Sunshine Ordinance.

This time Monette-Shaw complained that the CARE Council failed to post on the Web agendas for meetings held July 8 and July 22. Eric Whitney, administrative director for the HIV Services Planning Council, testified that he sent the agendas to the DPH Webmaster but did not check to see if the agendas had been posted.

The task force voted unanimously to dismiss this particular complaint but to place the matter on the agenda of the newly formed Compliance Committee to ensure the department follows the Sunshine Ordinance. Task force chair Joshua Koltun also recommended that Whitney check the status of Web postings and create a paper trail as evidence of compliance. "Given the level of distrust, it wouldn't be a bad idea," he said.

In other business, taxi driver Peter Witt charged the Taxi Commission with public comment violations. Witt said that at a July 23 meeting, one minute of his three-minute speaking time was unfairly used to set up a projector. He also said that commission president Lynette Sweet deprived him of speaking time during public comment on CPR training.

Sweet testified that Witt's behavior was disruptive and that he spoke during the public comment period on issues unrelated to CPR training – like who would protect him when a passenger skipped out on a fare – which is why she did not allow him to continue speaking. The task force voted unanimously to continue the hearing at the next meeting so that members could view videotapes of the Taxi Commission meeting.

San Francisco Examiner reporter Michael Stoll withdrew his complaint against the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He had charged the board in a Sept. 24 task force hearing with denying his request to view their unredacted telephone bills. Stoll did not appear before the task force Oct. 22 and did not return our phone calls by press time.

The next meeting of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force will be held Nov. 26, 4 p.m., City Hall, Room 408, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, S.F.