The Alligator

Speaker of the House, The Honorable Nancy Pelosi and Randy Allgaier

Randy Allgaier with Advocacy Colleagues and Senator Barbara Boxer

Randy Allgaier is the Director of the San Francisco HIV Health Services Planning Council.  The council determines the needs of this population, establishes priority for services and allocates funds for federal Ryan White programs for San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo countiess.   2009 the funding amounted to over 26 million dollars for the three county area.

Randy is an un-abashed liberal who although is a political animal has views that are more policy focused than politically skewed.  “The Alligator” is a compendium of Randy’s thoughts on a variety of topics from politics, healthcare, HIV/AIDS issues, gay and lesbian issues, current events, culture and random musings.

Randy has a long and distinguished career in community organizng, health care public policy and planning.  

While working as the state advocate for the San Francisco AIDS FoundationRandy was a national leader in the arena of AIDS community organizing. In 1997, he was one of the primary architects of developing a statewide coalition that vigorously advocated for increased state funding for California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). This effort led to the first significant increase in state funding for ADAP and paved the road for further substantial funding increases during subsequent years. Currently, California’s ADAP program is one of the most comprehensive in the country and is a model for other states in terms of eligibility, drug formulary, and program access.

Randy served as the Interim Executive Director of the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (CAPE) – now named Equality California- Califiornia’s lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender state level advocacy organization from September 1998 through April 1999. He is one of the organization’s original founders and he developed its mission statement and played a primary role in both developing its structure and nurturing its initial development.

In September 2002, Randy was appointed by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to the HIV Health Services Planning Council  of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties where he has co-chaired the Grantee Assessment Task Force and  the Evaluation Committee, the Policy and Evaluation Committee and the Consumer and Minority Affairs Committee.  In September 2004, Randy was re-appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to the Council and was subsequently elected Co-Chair of the Planning Council for 2004-05 and was re-elected Co-Chair for 2005-06.  In 2006, Randy was appointed for a third term on the Council and stepped down as co-chair.  Upon finishing his tenure as Co-Chair, he was recognized by the California State Assembly for his work on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS. 

In March 2003, Mayor Brown named Randy as the Mayor’s representative to the Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief (CAEAR) Coalition.  The CAEAR Coalition is a leading voice in Washington DC for HIV/AIDS care and treatment and has led successful annual appropriations advocacy for Ryan White programs.   Randy was a member of CAEAR’s Reauthorization Work Group which was charged with developing the coalition’s position paper on the 2005 Reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act and he was responsible for the coalition’s position on the issue of the legislation’s coordination of HIV/AIDS federal programs and funding.

In 2004 Randy co-chaired the Integrated Service Model Advisory Work Group for the HIV Health Services Branch in the San Francisco Department of Public Health.  The purpose of the work group was to develop a set of written recommendations that advise the HIV Health Services Planning Council and the SFDPH HIV Health Services on issues related to the development of Integrated Service Models (ISM) in the community and on DPH’s ISM solicitation.   The Advisory Group successfully crafted a plan that has been approved and allocates $6.4 million annually to develop a network of Centers of Excellence to serve severe need populations living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco.

Beginning in 2002, Randy began working on Medicare issues that impact people living with HIV/AIDS.  He was one of the first HIV/AIDS policy advocates in the nation to work on this issue and wrote the first comprehensive paper on the subject for the National Association of People with AIDS and funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation.  Randy continued his Medicare advocacy work through the final development of the Medicare and Modernization Act of 2003 and subsequently conducted briefings and trainings nationally on the implementation of Medicare Part D under a grant from Gilead Sciences.

Randy has served  on a number of non-profit boards including Shanti (1994-1996) where he chaired the Fund Development Committee and sat on the Strategic Planning and Executive Committees; the Human Rights Campaign where he served as Western Region Co-Chair and sat on the Strategic Planning and Executive Committees.  From 2000 – 2004 Randy served as the President of the Board of Pets Are Wonderful Support where he helped lead the organization through a substantial period of growth and transition.

In 2006 Randy was appointed by San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Mitch Katz to the San Francisco HIV Prevention Council and serves on its Points of Integration Committee- a joint committee of both the HIV Health Services Planning Council and the the HIV Prevention Council.

In early 2007 Randy was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Working Positive Coalition- a national group dedicated to promoting research, development and implementation of effective practices of employment services, coordinates sharing and dissemination of this information and advocates for work options and opportunities for people with HIV/AIDS.   Randy chairs the coalition’s Policy and Advocacy Committee.

In early 2008 Randy was elected to the Board of Directors of the CAEAR Coalition, was reelcted in January 2010 and led  the Coalition’s national “Community Input Initiative” – a project with a goal to ensure that the diverse voices of Ryan White program consumers are brought to Congressional leadership and become a critical voice in the future of federal HIV/AIDS programs. In the early summer of 2008 Randy began working with the grassroots organizing workgroup of a national coalition committed to developing a national AIDS strategy and is presently a member of the Coalition for A National AIDS Strategy Coordinating Committee which will be developing sets of recommendations on HIV/AIDS  prevention, care and treatment, research and disparities  in health outcomes for many impacted populations.

On September 26th, 2008 Randy married his partner of 20 years in a ceremony at San Francisco City Hall performed by their longtime friend California Assmeblyman Mark Leno surrounded by friends and family. 

In November 2009, Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Randy to the Mayor’s Hepatitis C Task Force which the Mayor established in November 2009 with the charge of making a set of recommendations on developing sound public policy, effective prevention and community education,  and appropriate and quality care for San Franciscans living with Hepatitis C.  At the first election for officers after the Task Force was established, Randy was elected as co-chair of the Task Force in December 2009.