Judge Sets Stage for Dueling AIDS Fund-Raisers in San Francisco

In Los Angeles on Monday, Superior Court Judge David Yaffe refused to issue an injunction against the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, which have set up an event to rival the California AIDS Ride.

Pallotta Teamworks organizes the California AIDS Ride, a nine-year-old, San Francisco to Los Angeles bike-ride fund-raiser. It had sued to stop the rival AIDS/LifeCycle Ride, arguing that its scheduling two weeks before the Pallotta event would dilute support for the original. "One if not both of these rides is going to fail," Pallotta attorney Jayne Kacer told the judge. "There isn't enough community."

The San Francisco foundation and the L.A. center planned the AIDS/LifeCycle Ride after accusing Pallotta Teamworks of overspending and mismanaging last year's event, which raised $11 million. The two charities said they received just 50 cents of every dollar raised by riders, who spent a week biking 575 miles down Hwy. 1. According to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, expenses generally should not exceed 35 cents per dollar.

Pallotta Teamworks acknowledged it ran 8 percent or 9 percent over budget, but it said the charities are overstepping their bounds. The company's contract specifically prohibits the charities from organizing their own bike-a-thon. But the judge said state law may forbid such a non-competition clause.

After the decision, Pallotta President Steve Bennett said he hoped the groups would work together on a single event: "Only a single ride will bring people together and raise the maximum amount of money for HIV/AIDS causes." Pallotta claims the competing groups owe it hundreds of thousands of dollars for preliminary work on the next AIDS ride -- an allegation the groups contest. This issue and others are headed for arbitration.

"We're right on track for a hugely successful event," said Pat Christen, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. She said 700 to 800 riders have already signed up for AIDS/LifeCycle, which will be held in late May.

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