Daycare goes to the dogs (and cats)
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Little Men
Carly Ozard
The
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Changes afoot at Maitri by Sari Staver
O
n the heels of the announcement that its longtime executive director, Michael Smithwick, was retiring, Maitri Compassionate Care said it was in negotiaJane Philomen Cleland tions with a potential tenant for its ground Michael Smithwick floor space, which has been empty for almost two years. Maitri, a 15-bed hospice at Church and Duboce streets, has been unable to fill its 4,000 square foot downstairs space since the AIDS Healthcare Foundation moved its thrift store amid a lawsuit over rent. “We are this close to an announcement,” said Michael Colbruno, a partner in the Milo Group of California, a public affairs firm that represents Maitri. “Nothing is quick when there are patient and operational issues that take priority,” he added. “I can’t give you a timeline on the new tenant(s), as it’s in negotiation and there is no way to know how much back and forth is required between real estate agents, banks, Maitri and attorneys.” Maitri’s ground floor space has been mired in controversy since AHF, which operates a chain of Out of the Closet thrift shops, settled an eviction lawsuit with Maitri over its rejection of a rent increase in 2015. Maitri then endured harsh criticism earlier this year when it announced plans to lease the space to a sex offender rehab company, without giving nearby residents a heads up. That deal fell apart after a neighborhood uproar, and the space has remained vacant. The loss of income from the vacant space was “significant,” according to Smithwick, and represents about 8 percent of the organization’s total operating budget. But, according to Smithwick, the thrift store’s departure “coincided with an even more substantial reduction in Maitri’s administrative spending due to our focus on improving our workflows and operating efficiencies. As a result, Maitri has been able to maintain net positive margins even without a performing tenant in our downstairs space.” In the meantime, Maitri’s board of directors has launched a search for a new executive director to replace Smithwick, who has been leading the nonprofit for the past six years. As the Bay Area Reporter noted in an August 5 blog post, the board said it was informed of Smithwick’s decision more than a year ago so that it could plan for a smooth transition, according to a statement by Maitri. Smithwick, a 60-year-old gay man who See page 13 >>
Safety changes eyed for upper Market Street
by Matthew S. Bajko
A
s city officials push forward with their Vision Zero plan to end pedestrian and bicyclist deaths, a host of safety upgrades and traffic changes are being eyed for the upper Market Street corridor. One of the main streets running through San Francisco’s gay Castro district, upper
Drivers navigate the busy and confusing intersection at Market, 16th, and Noe streets in this file photo.
Market Street is also one of the city’s most dangerous in terms of collisions. Between 2007 and 2012, there were 27 accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians, 32 vehicle-bicycle collisions and 102 vehicle-vehicle collisions on the heavily trafficked Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and Castro Street, according to transit planners.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is working on a plan aimed at making the upper Market corridor’s “complex six-legged intersections,” as described by traffic engineers, easier to navigate for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicle drivers. “This comes out of a long held desire to improve the safety of upper Market Street,” See page 8 >>
Out Methodist bishop opens up about road ahead by Brian Bromberger
K
aren Oliveto was preparing to move to Denver to assume her new duties as a bishop in the United Methodist Church when she thought about her new calling. “I began to realize maybe I do have a gift to bring to the church,” she said during a late July interview with the Bay Area Reporter right before she left the Bay Area. During the Methodists’ General Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona last month, Oliveto was consecrated as bishop of the Western Jurisdiction. She was the first out lesbian to be named a bishop in a denomination that still forbids ordaining “practicing, self-avowed homosexuals.” Oliveto, 58, has been senior pastor at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco since 2008. Members had been asking for years if her name could be put forward, yet Oliveto said she wasn’t sure she was called to be a bishop. The United Methodist Church declares human sexuality as a gift from God, but doesn’t condone homosexuality and considers it incompatible with Christian teaching. The dilemma is that 40 percent of the voting delegates come from outside of the U.S. and most of them are not supportive of LGBT people. “If it was just the U.S. delegates voting, we would have passed pro-gay resolutions back in
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Vol. 46 • No. 32 • August 11-17, 2016
Brian Bromberger
Methodist Bishop Karen Oliveto
2008,” Oliveto said. However, each jurisdiction has its own policy and the Western Jurisdiction has supported LGBT candidates for ministry for many years. Originally from Babylon, New York, Oliveto came to the Bay Area in 1989 to be a campus minister at San Francisco State University. Since her bishop was far away she could be out. When in 1992 she became pastor at Bethany United Methodist in Noe Valley, she started to go back in
Rick Gerharter
the closet, but her church wanted her to be who she is, desiring an out lesbian for the position, so she has been out professionally ever since. “I was worried by putting my name up for bishop I would be harming the church, but neither myself nor my partner Robin [Ridenour, a deaconess] want to be harmed either. We went out for dinner and Robin said, ‘perfect love casts out all fear,’ which broke it open for us. “The next morning was the Pulse Orlando shooting and that confirmed for me, now was the time,” Oliveto said, referring to the June 12 mass shooting at a gay nightclub that left 49 mostly gay Latino men dead and injured 53 others. At the Scottsdale conference there were nine candidates for bishop and voters were earnestly discerning who they needed at this moment in the church. One by one candidates began dropping off. “One candidate, the first Tongan to be nominated, he and his gay son were both delegates. This was causing a break in his family because his son was voting for me,” Oliveto said. “He said, ‘I want a church where my son can go, so I’m withdrawing my name.’ Finally I received 100 percent of the vote. It was a really profound moment, as it was powerful to have this affirmation and validation with people stating we want you to lead our church into the future.” See page 13 >>
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