A big welcome to all of our distinguished visitors to the 19th annual Elected and Appointed Officials Conference (INLGO) being held here in sunny San Diego.… Yes, we are hosting GLBT elected and appointed officials from all over the world, and our numbers are growing at every election.… Enjoy San Diego, home of the first elected open lesbian district attorney (Bonnie Dumanis) in the U.S.A., State Assembly Speaker pro Tem Chris Kehoe and the next deputy mayor of San Diego, Councilmember Toni Atkins…

The last election for mayor was the first time that our GLBT leadership and vote went almost 100 percent for one candidate: Ron Roberts.… In fact, Roberts carried only three council districts out of eight: the “Latino” district, the “African-American” district and the “GLBT” district. In this upcoming election we may be faced with the same top three candidates: Dick Murphy, Peter Davis and Ron Roberts. But this time Mayor Murphy has already gained a big victory — the endorsement of popular City Councilmember Toni Atkins and some major GLBT leaders and businesspeople. In fact, there will be a major GLBT reception and fundraiser for Mayor Murphy on Dec. 4.

While Ron Roberts remains popular in the GLBT community, Mayor Murphy has made major inroads when it comes to GLBT support. Word has it that a recent poll shows Murphy in the lead this time when it comes to the 3rd district, with Councilmember Donna Frye in second. As for 63-year-old banker and Port Commissioner Peter Davis, the GLBT community has not seen Davis since he last ran for office, and he remains out of touch with our community. The possible race between Murphy and Roberts is making many in our GLBT community feel very uncomfortable.… But Murphy has already won the first round by splitting up the GLBT support and endorsements. By the way, Dick Murphy will make history next month by naming Toni Atkins San Diego’s first GLBT deputy mayor.

Recently CBS-TV retreated in the face of right-wing political pressure and cancelled its miniseries “The Reagans” and now it has been announced that the cable TV channel Showtime (owned by CBS but with a much smaller audience) will air “The Reagans” later this month (Nov. 30). I have mixed emotions on all this. My father died of Alzheimer’s, and I do feel for the former president, Nancy and their family. They are going through enough without this being aired now. Also never has a movie been made like this on a living president…

But.… I’ve always felt that the way President Reagan handled the AIDS crisis makes him an accomplice to murder… yes, murder, as he stood by and did nothing when the AIDS crisis hit.

How can we ever forget it took six years of his presidency before Reagan even mentioned the word “AIDS.” As for the so-called quote by Reagan about AIDS, “Those who live by the sin will die by the sin,” I don’t know if Reagan really said that but we do know that because of Reagan’s policies many, many Americans died of AIDS.

Popular San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty has been announced as the special keynote speaker of the Alano Club’s 20th anniversary dinner, set for Jan. 31…. Dufty, who not long ago was elected to Harvey Milk’s old “District 8” seat, has become one of San Francisco’s most popular, hard working and effective public officials. While the recent primary election for mayor saw two openly GLBT candidates lose (one the city treasurer and another the former president of the board) and not even make the run-off, many feel that Bevan Dufty is on the road to becoming San Francisco’s first elected openly gay mayor.

This past week NBC’s “Dateline” gave the results of the first ever national survey of the dirtiest fast food chains.… They used hidden cameras and undercover work, and while we assume that all of our fast food joints are clean and safe the results will shock you. All the fast food chains responded to the survey with apologies and said that they would do better. Let’s hope so.

The ten dirtiest:

On the subject of surveys, that popular weekly publication the City Beat (much, much better than the Reader) recently announced the results of their “Best of San Diego” poll. Some of the interesting findings: Best elected official: Councilmember Toni Atkins, Best gym: 24 Hour Fitness, Best gay bar: Bourbon Street, Best feast with feminism: Big Kitchen Café, Best Thai restaurant: Lotus Thai Bistro, Best pizza by the slice: Bronx Pizza, Best cheap eats in town: Chicken Pie Shop, Best Mexican take out: La Posta, Best smoothie: Jamba Juice, Best BBQ: Phil’s, Best breakfast: The Mission, Best business lunch: The Prado, Best sushi: Ono Sushi, Best greasy spoon: Brians’ American Eatery (I beg your pardon), Best fast food: In-N-Out Burger, Best hush puppies: Gulf Coast Grill, Best way to dust off an old standard: Bourbon Street’s Fabulous Bingo, Best vintage clothing: Wear It Again Sam, Best lingerie and adult novelty: F Street Adult Video and Gifts, Best gym eye candy, gay-guy division: 24 Hour Fitness in Hillcrest, Best cheap date spot: Balboa Park.

Yes, if you weigh 200 lbs. and over you could win $500 in restaurant gift certificates.… How? By entering the annual “Miss California At Large” contest to be held here in San Diego on Sunday, Nov. 30, at Numbers at 7:30 p.m. Contestants appear three times: 1) swim/beach wear, 2) entertainment, 3) evening wear. This is one of the most fun events of the year and you’re all invited.… Contestants can even sign up on Nov. 30. For further information, call (619) 692-1967.