August 30, 1979 Bay Area Reporter Interview with Steve Perkins

Text document article from the August 30, 1979 issue of the Bay Area Reporter interview with Steve Perkins Canidate for District 5 seat

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INTERVIEW: STEVE PERKINS Candidate, District 5 By Ray P. Comeau It would be easy to dismiss over-equipped department Steve Perkins as a paranoid through - what else! - corcrank, an idealistic anarchist. porate power. While generally The man does have some In favor ol the initiative to strange ideas. What truth lurks discontinue the Vlce Squad, he within them, which of his dras• states in a sad, weary voice that tic "solutions" to the City's it's only a smoke screen, small problems are viable, how potatoes. seriously he can - or shoud be taken. . . all of it Is "Police services need to be anybody's guess. revised in light of the many studies and evidence which One thing sure: Steve him- points to the useless, improper, self is very serious about what expensive, ill-conceived and he believes. Very. His appear- outmoded ideas a nd programs ance, manner and tone leave which are currently in use to little room !or any other deal with today's crime" states conclusion. He is medium-tall his campaign handout and almost gaunt, with huge Further: "Some evidence sugblack eyes that stare directly at gests that as much as 50% of you but are curiously lacking In real crlme is caused merely by liveliness, as though a vell of the enforcement of victimless pessimistic sensitivity has crime Jaws." Perkins would permanently cancelled out therefore like to see all laws accessibility to his inner self. pettaining to drug use studied a11d chang<?d. Since among the many of his angry allegatfons is that the "People· should have the Gay press is another represent- right to fngesl whatever they ative tool ol the "corporate want to into their bodies," he control'' he sees everywhere as says, pointing to the fact that "enemy" and the opposition to the lllegallty of drugs sponsors which is the mainstay of his organized crime and forces campaign, it is perhaps incon- drug users Into other, more gruous that this profile of Steve violent, rea1" crimes. Perkins appears here at all. Violence itself is another Corporate control. That's It major Issue tor Perkins. With - In a nutshell. IL is all, again a weary, dismissive wave according to Perkins, controlled of the hand as if to point up l:,y corporate powers how unimportant it really politics, medla, minorities, is. Perkins rather startli~g even each and every individual. theory is that: ·'The purpose of And especially his pet antago- anti-gay violence is to drive the nist/ The Police gay community into the arms of the police,'· that It's all Perklns would llke to see 40 "sponsored and paid for by to 50 million dollars cut from those who profit. . , newspathe City's budget for police and pers, police departments, illicit related services. He charges drug markets." In his opinion the SFPD is completely under even the Gay press in San the thumb of the 90% ''Ll~ Francisco i,; guilty - playing up White" male majority who violence with front page established and now maintain stories. I point out that this is control of the over-staffed and seldom the case that most anti- Gay violence reported In 8.A.R. is relegated to short ariides In the inside pages. No matter. Shouldn't be there at all thinks Mr. Perkins. It"s all engineered, set up. "Certain persons are pald to commit violent acts." lncludlnq the 0 Yr,.,. -~: ,. 8S~ WELL DRII GILBEY'S VODKA OLD CROW BOURBON • V LABORDAY P Monday, Sept. l Draft Beer ~ INTERVIEW: STEVE PERKINS Candidate, District 5 By Ray P. Comeau It would be easy to dismiss Steve Petkins as a paranoid crank, an idealistic anarchist. The man does have some strange ideas. What lfuth lurks within them, which of his dras• tic "solutions" to the City's problems are viable, how seriously he can - or shoud be taken. . . all of IL Is anybody's guess. over-equipped de1;1art men t through - what else( - COT· porate power. While generally In favor of the Initiative lo dlsconUnue the Vice Squad, he states ln a sad, weary voice lhal It's o nly a smoke screen, small pota toes. "Pollce services need to be revtsed in light of the many studies and evidence which One thing sure: Steve him• points to the useless, improper. self is very serious about what expensive, ill-conceived and he believes. Very. His appear• outmoded ideas and programs ance, manner and tone leave which are currently in use to little room for any other deal with today's crime" stales conclusion. He is medium-tall his campalgo handout and almost gaunt, with huge Further: "Some evidence sugblack eyes that stare directly at gests that as much as 50% of you but are curiously lacking in real crime is caused merely by liveliness, as though a veil of the enforcement of victimless pessimistic sensitivity has crime laws.'' Perkins would permanently cancelled out therefore like to see all laws accessibility to his inner sell. pertaining to drug use studied and changed. Since among the many of his angry allegations is that the "People should have the Gay press is another represent- right to lngest whatever they ative tool of the "corporate want lo into thelr bodies." he control" he sees everywhere as says, pointing to the fact that "enemy" and the opposition to the Illegality of drugs sponsors which is the mainstay of his organized c;rime and forces campaign, it is perhaps Incon- drug users into other. more gruous that this profile of Steve violent, "rea1" cdmes. Perkins appears here at all Violence itself >S another Corporate control. Thal's it n'laJor Issue for Perkins. With - in a nutshell. It Is all. again a weary, dismissive wave according to Perkins, controlled of the hand as If to point up by corporate powers how w,important ii reallv polttlcs. media, minorities, is. Perkins rather startlll)g even each and every individual. theory ts that: ''The purpose of And especially his pet antago- anti-gay violence is to drive the nist/ The Police. gay community into the arms of the police.'' that it's all Perklns would like to see 40 "sponsored and paid for by 10 50 million dollars cut from those who profit. . . newspa• the City's budget for police and pers, police departments. illicit r~lated services. He charges drug markets." In his opinion the SFPD is completely under even the Gay press In San the thumb of the 90% "Llly- Francisco is guilty - playing up White" male majority who violence with front page established and now maintain stories. I point out that this is control of the over-staffed and seldom the case, thal most anti. . .· .. s<.>Alfl Gay violence reported in 8.A.R. is relegated to short articles In the inside pages. No matter. Shouldn't be there al all thinks Mr. Perkins. Ifs all en.9ineered, set up. "Certain persons are paid to commit violent acts.' lncludln the cops. According to Perkins And has he ever been the victim of antt•Gay violence? Well. once he was pushed around by a small gang of youths. Were they "paid" to do it'? Well .. . As with many of his ideas, th.is one has a few huge loopholes. The theory that exces• sive street violence creates fear and anxiety which in tum serve to, reenforce violence and keep YOUGEl GILM 85(: WELL DRINKS 85(: GILBEY'S VODKA & GIN OLD CROW BOURBON • VAT 69 SCOTCH LABOR DAY PARTY Monday, Sept. 3 - 12-8 Draft Beer 25~ established and now maintain control of the ove_ -staffed 11nd stories. J point ou1 that this is seldom the case, that most anti- Ofstrict 5 candidate Steve P#kirM: minority groups off-guard and divided from one another, certainly that's true; the idea, too, that more people on the streets rather then hiding in their homes at night would lessen chances of street violence makes sense; but the Idea lhat by rernov)ng reportS of violence from the media, from the public's attention, will cause It to magically disappear - or, on !he other hand , to identify and eliminate those assumed to be paying for the violence - II begins to take on the flavor of extremist fantasy And what's his solution? "Steve Perkins opposes the enforcement of laws which are designed to limit our freedoms, Deep cu ts-in police budgets are the only effective means to fighl such law." Cut down police protection arid cut out violence. Well, It's certainly zippy and radical. but is it practical? (As the s-aying goes: "lf you ain' t trled it ...") Perkins has other ideas about city manz,gement, equally radical, equ11lly difficult to digest. For exz,mple he has harsh words about commerical TV which he feels enhances antisocial behavior and "retard(s) the growlh of social thought" by being "saturated with advertising, vlolimce, sports, 11 e.tc. corporatlons. Born In Idaho 33 years ago, educated various universities with a BS from the Universlty of Utah, Salt Lake City, Perkins also claims the advantage of long-term residency in the City - in comparison, at least . with most othet Gay candidates. He's been here since 1970, occupying an atlractive second floor flat in a building on Haight Street directly opposite Buena Vista Park which he moved Into on January 14, 1971 and now shares with a young artist named Rodnl Hipp who recently arrived h~e from South Carolina via New York City. Since most of this candidate's views defy easy objectlve analysis, perhaps It's best lo end by quoting Steve Perklns himself, directly , from informaHon he very kindly put together specifically for this pro- ........... ,~ \...,.. ~111,.....1 , file: "Five years ago I had to quit my association wllh corporate America as it was driving me insane. I have spent the last years weanln9. myself of that associatioh and its conrrol over life. The ftrst step was lo get out of the automobile and back on to my feet. This happened about five years ago. Now wherever I go l walk. My diet was next to change. I could now contrQI wh111 I put Into my body. In the last year and a half I have given up alcohol, coffee, cigarettes. milk and meat, sugar and cllffeine. My bowels are top notch and I never have indigestion . Real estate, housing - all "controlled" - by the banks (downtown financial interests") "Banks determine the price of real estate," Perkins states, noting that rents in the City have tripled or quadrupled in "Corporate control over city the past fe\1/ years. Why? To politics revolves around total drive out the minorities, of control over the structure, course, and replace us all with budget and programs of police the dim-witted flunkies needed force. City polillcs are more to maintain !he "Downtown than any other lolally controlled financial institutions'' all of by police state mentality. White which have already built more cops who do not live in the city than enough offlce s-pace now and are opposed to any but requirjng that more flunkies be corporal<! culture. All subdrawn into the City to baby-sit cultures have suffered al the desks and phone 9:00 to 5:00. hands of the corporate COl'ltrol Simple. of city police force. When su!:'.h funds are spent for police force "Muni should be FAEE to all what is left for culture? riders," claims Pllrkins' cam• paign handouL "Downtown "I am a warrior against car- r..,tn-rnc-+lr\ , ......_._ ,..__..,1-.,,..,I .-.-. ~,.-.•,_1a .. __ J t J ; f t ~ c -c ! 1 E I < 1 ! l t < C F 1 ! s i I f funds are spent for police force sr SC "Munl should be FREE to all what is left for culture? b riders," claims Perkins' cam• pargn handout. "Downtown "'I am a warrior against cor• interest(s). . .should be billed porate control, mentality and f( for at least one-half the cosl~ ul antl-cuilur1i and corporate b running it." (I'll second the dominance over our lives and s, motion and save a quarter!) work, our minds and bodies, e h our politics and environment." Perkins also feels the current Ray P. Comeau rent control initiative is lneffec• u live since If it "does not stop a, speculation, how can it control " rents?" He claims an ''elite" group {re.ad "Downtown finan~ cial interests" controls City po• /ltlcal clubs. He Indicates that none of the other candidates for supervisor ls District 5 are dealing with the real issues, that they've all been "bought off," Gay and straight, that they're too busy looking good for the media to pay attention to what's really plaguing the City. He feels further that since he personally shuns the media and expensive campaign tactics, preferring torely on grass-roots support from those who know him and those they talk to, having selecllvely hand-delivered most of his own literature on foot, that he will emerge as the only viable Gay candidate and thEµ'efore the victor in District 5 with most of his votes coming from the haight and Noe Valley rather than the heavily Gay Castro - support, he says from those who didn't vote for Harvey Milk. Perkins bases his qualifications for offlce on having been Involved In the "underground gay movement" from pre-high school days, on the fact tha1 he has been a registered CPA who has had access as a financial Investigator-auditor to the books of an Impressive list of major local N.Y. Lambda w Seek Aid fc tJ Margot Karle, o! Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., and co-counsel Bonnie Struck of Syracuse, N. Y., have appealed the decision of the Onondaga County Court denying Ronald Onofre's challenge to the constltutlonality of New York's consensual sodomy statute. Mr.Onofre was arrested for engaging in sexual activity In the privacy of his own home with.a consenting adult male. D The attorneys wUI be arguing In the Fourth Department o! the Appellate Dlvlslon of the New York Supreme Court that the statute violates Mr. Onofre's rights to privacy, due process, and equaI protection; and that it violates the Establishment Clause of the Flrst Amendment because of Its religious bases. Briefs were submitted on July 17th, and were argued under the New York and Federal Cinslltutions. This case is becoming very expensive, and Its success will rely on contributions. Anyone wishing to contribute to the costs of overturning this obstacle to the attainment of lesbian and gay rights can send donations to Lambda Legal a n, C '' (~ F s· er 1: Bt Ri Fr U, "E "( bE Ci Di n• M bt 6 "1 Er th,