Budget cuts at the San Francisco Department of Public Health could endanger the safety net for those living with HIV/AIDS in the city.
Tâm Vu/For the S.F. Chronicle
I am a 46-year resident of San Francisco, a 73-year-old gay man who has lived with HIV/AIDS since 1989, and one of the co-authors of the San Francisco Principles 2020. I was present on May 17, 2022, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting the principles regarding care and support for my fellow long-term HIV/AIDS survivors.
The board unanimously promised to protect the HIV/AIDS safety net. Now, the Department of Public Health proposes $40 million in cuts, including catastrophic cuts for HIV community-based organizations and Black, Latino and trans-led health access points. These cuts violate the Board of Supervisors’ commitment to the San Francisco Principles 2020.
These cuts target front-line peer-led navigation, harm-reduction supplies and clinical care while shielding upper-level administrative costs.
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Defunding our frontline organizations creates compounding downstream costs: increased emergency room visits, new transmissions. This forces the very communities that built this safety net to bear the brunt of the city’s austerity.
The board’s 2022 resolution compels San Francisco to pursue every avenue to protect the safety net.
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Our request is very simple: The Board of Supervisors must keep the promise it made on May 17, 2022. Reject these cuts and honor the principles.
Hank Trout, San Francisco
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Honor protester
Regarding “Plan to build more than 12,000 homes in this Bay Area community passes crucial vote” (East Bay, SFChronicle.com, May 26): When thinking about the plan for housing at the former Concord Naval Weapons Station, one hope came to mind: that a park or at least a street be named after S. Brian Willson.
On Sept. 1, 1987, Willson, a former Air Force captain turned anti-war activist, sat on railroad tracks outside the station with fellow protesters to block a train with arms shipments destined for governments in Central America the U.S. supported during the Contra wars.
The train did not stop; other protesters got out of the way; Willson did not and lost both his legs to the train’s wheels.
Some kind of memorial to Willson would be an important reminder that not all people who sacrifice greatly for American ideals are wearing the uniform. In Willson’s case, the opposite was true.
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Tax the billionaires
Regarding “Median pay for CEOs rose nearly 6% in 2025, but some compensation packages were eye-popping” (Biz & Tech, SFChronicle.com, May 27): Thank you for publishing this story on outrageous pay that CEO’s receive. If this doesn’t scream for a yes vote to any billionaire tax in California, I don’t know what does.
The story also makes it clear that rising CEO pay is one of the worst trends in this country over the past 50 years.
Charlotte Seekamp, South San Francisco
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Regarding “A new library could transform this Bay Area downtown. Residents are fiercely divided” (East Bay, SFChronicle.com, May 27): It took over 25 years for Alameda citizens to finally win approval to pay for a new library.
People against it said that no one would use it because of technological advances, that the city should rehab the old library and that we couldn’t afford it. Well, with a lot of community input, a new library was constructed.
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This library includes a cafe, a large community room for public events and a room for the Friends of the Library to sell donated books. The entire building is well utilized.
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I hope that those citizens who have doubts about the merit of investing in a new library will come visit our main library on the corner of Oak and Lincoln in Alameda.
Elizabeth Rogers, Alameda