As several high profile staffers in Mayor Gavin Newsom 's administration have jumped ship this fall, one staffer who had said he would retire in December is now staying put: openly gay Health Director Dr. Mitch Katz.

Katz, who turns 50 next month, confirmed to the Bay Area Reporter back in May 2007 that he had informed City Hall of his intention to depart at the end of this year. At the time, Katz, the father of two children, had said he would probably leave for New York City to be closer to family.

But in an interview this month Katz, who has now led the Department of Public Health for 12 years, said he no longer has plans to depart anytime soon.

"I have no retirement plans," said Katz, who first joined the department 19 years ago as head of the AIDS Office's research branch and still sees patients at San Francisco General Hospital.

Two years ago Katz said he wanted to remain in place long enough to pass a bond to pay for seismic retrofitting of the city's public hospital, launch the city's universal health care plan known as Healthy SF, and oversee the reopening of an upgraded Laguna Honda Hospital in the Forest Hills neighborhood.

At the October 22 groundbreaking ceremony for the rebuilding of San Francisco General Hospital, Katz spoke with Newsom about his desire to stay put, seeing that Laguna Honda has yet to be fully renovated and the federal health care reform legislation will likely impact the city-run program.

"He had said at the ... groundbreaking that he would not let me leave during his term," said Katz, who stepped down in 1997 as director of the AIDS Office when then-Mayor Willie Brown appointed him to be health director. "We still haven't opened Laguna Honda, which is due to happen this spring, and having Healthy SF truly be stable given what is happening around federal health reform is going to require several more years.

"Our commitment is providing care for everyone. To me there is nothing I would rather do," added Katz. "I have been really energized by the success of Healthy SF."

Nathan Ballard, the mayor's press secretary, did not respond to a request for comment. Ballard announced this week he will resign in February. Ballard's announcement followed the departures of three other high-level Newsom staffers in recent months and comes after Newsom abandoned his gubernatorial campaign next year.

While the mayor hires the health director, the person serves at the pleasure of the Health Commission, which has the sole power to fire or retain them. Health Commission President Jim Illig, himself an out gay man, said no one on the commission wanted to see Katz leave.

"We are glad he is staying. The mayor and the Health Commission are both very satisfied with his leadership of the department," said Illig, adding that the commission just completed Katz' employee evaluation. "I can tell you it was an excellent evaluation."

Newsom will be termed out come January 2012, and Katz, who earns $258,000 a year, said it is "too far off" to speculate on his future employment plans.

First lady of D8 opts

Prince Albert II, left, met B.A.R. publisher and Honorary Consul to Monaco Thomas E. Horn in Loa Angeles last month. (See item below.) Photo: Courtesy Thomas E. Horn

Ever since Mark Leno became District 8 supervisor in 1998, drag phenom and B.A.R. society columnist Donna Sachet (born Kirk Reeves in South Carolina) has held the title of first lady for the Castro-based district. After Supervisor Bevan Dufty succeeded Leno, he continued on with the honorary title for Sachet.

As Dufty enters his last year in office – he is termed out in 2010 and running for mayor in 2011 – speculation has grown that Sachet would run to replace him. With little differentiating the four out candidates already in the race, supporters of Sachet argue she would be able to break out of the crowd.

She earned national attention in September when she became the first drag performer to sing the national anthem at a Major League Baseball game. And she has worked with the city's tourism bureau in attracting LGBT visitors to vacation in San Francisco.

Beyond her countless appearances at fundraisers and beer benefits for local nonprofits, Sachet is also a civic leader in her own right, having served on several agencies' board of directors. Currently, she is a member of the LGBT advisory committee to the city's Human Rights Commission and sits on the boards of Equality California, the statewide LGBT rights group, and the International Court Council of the Imperial Court System.

All are bona fides that would make her a strong candidate for supervisor. Yet Sachet told the B.A.R. this week she had ruled out entering the race. (No doubt welcome news to those already competing for the seat.)

"So, as for running for District 8, I have given it some thought and have certainly had a number of trusted friends encourage me to jump into the race, but I do not think that such an elected office is the best use of my time and energy," wrote Sachet in an e-mail response to questions. "There are four very qualified, probably much more informed, and definitely more aggressive individuals already running, so let's go from there."

B.A.R. publisher reps for Monaco

B.A.R. publisher Thomas E. Horn had an audience with Albert II, the sovereign prince of Monaco, October 24 at a cocktail party in Beverly Hills to mark the 50th anniversary of the Monte Carlo Television Festival. The meeting was held to introduce Horn as the principality's new Honorary Consul in San Francisco.

"He is very dignified, very charming, and very smart," said Horn, who succeeds Paula Escher in the diplomatic post. "I told him I published a gay newspaper."

Horn first met the royal during a visit to San Francisco in the late 1990s. This summer the city's chief of protocol, Charlotte Shultz , recommended Horn for the consul position to Gilles Noghes, Monaco's ambassador in Washington, D.C. Horn is a member of a city committee that raises funds to host dignitaries who visit San Francisco.

He also heads the San Francisco-Paris Sister City Committee and is an ardent Francophile who speaks French fluently. Monaco, a French-speaking Mediterranean city-state, has a treaty with France to provide it with military protection. Horn was last in Monte Carlo in 2008 and will likely make his first visit as an official Monegasque representative in the U.S. next fall to take part in the European country's National Day Ceremony November 19.

"I have been there many times," said Horn, who first visited as a teenager.

Horn's appointment, first reported last week in the B.A.R .'s Out There column, became official November 6. His duties will include greeting the prince and other Monegasque dignitaries who come to San Francisco, planning receptions in their honor, and overseeing cultural or other exchanges between the city and Monaco.

"And, of course, I'll have to go to Monaco from time to time to consult with his Highness on Monegasque projects in San Francisco. I think it will be most interesting," said Horn.

When he was approached this summer about filling the vacancy, Horn said he researched Monaco's stance on LGBT rights. While the principality does not recognize LGBT relationships, it legalized homosexuality in 1793 and banned workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation in 2001.

"They do not have marriage or, as best I can tell, a form of registered domestic partnerships in Monaco but maybe one day," said Horn, one of six honorary consuls for Monaco in the United States.

Campaign kickoff in judge race

Crime novelist Michael Nava, an openly gay staff attorney for California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, will officially launch his bid for a seat on the San Francisco County Superior Court this weekend. Passed over in recent years for vacancies on San Francisco's 1st District Court of Appeal, Nava pulled papers last month to run for a local judgeship and must decide by February the seat on the court he will seek.

The campaign kick-off will take place 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, November 22 at the Eureka Lounge on 18th Street in the Castro.

Correction

Last week's Political Notebook erred in reporting that singer Barry Manilow had hosted a fundraiser for gay congressional candidate Steve Pougnet, the mayor of Palm Springs. Pougnet did attend a fundraiser for the Human Rights Campaign at the home of Manilow's manager, Garry Kief, where he promoted his bid next year for the U.S. House of Representatives. The online version has been corrected.

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings around 10 a.m. for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reports on a settlement reached to keep the gay-friendly DNA Lounge open.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBT political news by following the Political Notebook on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/politicalnotes.

Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 861-5019 or e-mail m.bajko@ebar.com.