As if it wasn’t bad enough that the bias is skewed only to retailers going “broke” rather than what’s best for their patrons, now we have this.

Open letter to “journalist” Olivia Peluso who mentions me as a key element of her recent article on Smoke-free Bar Patio Article full of inaccuracies about me in San Francisco Gazetter: Your article about the June 8 further continuance of the Smokefree Bar Patio ordinance with the Land Use Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors mentions me and is full of inaccuracies that I hope you will correct on the record. There’s no reason for this kind of journalistic sloppiness and absurd assumptions, particularly about my career and motivation for poison-free air for everybody who desires it.

• I was NOT in attendance on June 8. I was at the previous May hearing of the Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee.

• I was one of the last people to speak and was there until all public comment was done, so there was no leaving in the middle of anything. My public comments are available online with the City of San Francisco’s own recording system, and it will show that I was not there on June 8.

• I have NEVER been paid by any anti-tobacco advocacy organization in the 35 years of being involved with these sorts of groups all over the United States. I am 100% a volunteer.

• I had no hand in creating the petition or its language! I am one of about two thousand signatories on the petition you mention. I don’t deserve the credit for this.

I know you go to great lengths to show that people who don’t live in San Francisco have opinions, but may I remind you that we are not only residents of the Bay Area, but our money is just as green. Last I checked, San Francisco really enjoyed tourist money and patronage of its amazing establishments. For years I worked in San Francisco proper, and most of my life I’ve lived in the Bay Area as a second-generation Californian. I suggest you do your homework as a “food and drink reporter” for your periodical. Perhaps the next time you want to divulge personal information about the subjects in your article, you try to reach out to them and interview them directly to make sure you get the story right.