Week in Review

The former San Mateo child psychiatrist accused of abusing six boys in his care more than a decade ago told jurors he has no specific memories of the now-grown men — because of a combination of the passage of time and cancer treatment — but definitely remembers what he did not do during physical examinations.

"I’ve never massaged a penis,” William Hamilton Ayres said at the tail-end of his second day on the witness stand.

Ayres, 77, also said he never fondled scrotums, touched testicles, masturbated patients to ejaculation or any activity for which he is charged with 10 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child under age 14. Ayres pleaded not guilty to allegations he molested six boys between 1988 and 1996 when they were aged 9 to 13. While testifying on his own behalf this week, Ayres repeatedly said physical exams are acceptable within the realm of child psychiatry and help with both establishing trust and ruling out physiological reasons for psychological problems. Just before both sides rested their respective cases yesterday afternoon, however, Ayres directly addressed questions about whether he inappropriately touched the alleged victims to pleasure either them or himself.

"No, and you can add all my patients to that list,” he said.

While denying molestation, Ayres readily admitted performing physical examinations which included the genitals. Most parents who have children know that the term "physical” includes the genitals and that any medical doctor, including the dermatologist, might perform one as needed, he said.

He did not use gloves, a medical table, gowns, draping or a privacy screen. He also did not ask the children if they’d prefer a parent to be present during the exam.

He did not specifically inform parents about the specific anatomy because it would be "inflammatory,” he said.

He appeared exasperated with prosecutor Melissa McKowan, that genital exams specifically "seems like the central issue for you.”

Seniors face service cuts

As San Mateo grapples with balancing its diminishing budget, members of the Senior Commission are looking for ways to keep services intact for the city’s aging population.

The city is depending on two ballot measures, a quarter-cent sales tax and 2 percent increase to the hotel occupancy tax, to raise about $4 million to balance its fiscal year 2009-10 budget.

If the measures do not pass, the city will be forced to cut even more services from its libraries, police force and senior center, among many others.

The Parks and Recreation Department is currently modifying its hot-lunch program for seniors, eliminating day trips and travel for seniors and eliminating its van service to the San Mateo Senior Center on Alameda de las Pulgas.

Currently, hot meals are prepared on site but budget constraints are forcing the department to look at alternatives, including catering services.

Senior Commissioners Melodie Lew and Tom Elliot are both concerned of the adverse effects any changes to the program might have on the city’s aging population.

The hot-lunch and transportation services are critical for seniors, the two said, and any cuts to the programs could further isolate the most vulnerable of us.

Currently, those in San Mateo 60 or older comprise about 24 percent of San Mateo’s population and the number is growing, according to an Aging Well report commissioned by the Parks and Recreation Department.

Murder conviction overturned

A federal appeals court in San Francisco Tuesday overturned the conviction and called for a new trial for a man found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, the daughter of an Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame football player, in San Mateo County 10 years ago.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said prosecutors in the trial of Mohammed Haroon Ali, 33, violated his constitutional rights by dismissing at least one and possibly two black potential jurors from a jury pool for racial reasons.

Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County, was the prosecutor in the 2001 trial. Wagstaffe said county prosecutors will confer with the state Attorney General’s Office on whether to appeal to an expanded appeals panel or the U.S. Supreme Court.

But if the decision is left in place, Wagstaffe said he expects his office will seek a new conviction.

"I can’t conceive that he would be allowed to go free,” Wagstaffe said.

Ali was convicted in San Mateo County Superior Court in 2001 of first-degree murder in the 1999 strangulation of Tracey Biletnikoff, 20, the daughter of former Oakland Raiders wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Fred Biletnikoff.

He was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the murder plus another nine years for a previous kidnapping conviction for which he had been on parole.

County property taxes dropping

San Mateo County’s cities combined lost more than $4 billion in assessed property value in the freefalling economy, leaving the local taxes more than $41.9 million behind where they should be.

Assessor Warren Slocum warned county officials during their budget hearings the situation was ugly — namely a $25 million loss that already knocked the county’s recommended budget out of whack. That figure, however, is only the gap between last year and now, said Deputy Assessor Angelina Hunter.

The real difference between the properties’ original value and the re-assessed figures of more than 27,000 residential parcels is more than $41.9 million.

"It is a more precise marker based on what it should be if the market was what we consider normal,” Hunter said.

City-by-city breakdowns released by the Assessor’s Office show the average home qualified for a reassessment losing $151,201 in value and the overall property tax reduction estimated at $41,851,000.

The Assessor’s Office undertook approximately 50,000 reassessments of properties purchased between 2002 and 2008 countywide and in East Palo Alto since 1999. The office automatically reviewed approximately 40,000 and also those specifically requested by homeowners .

More than half of the residential parcels — or, 27,679, according to updated figures — qualified for a decrease in value. In comparison, of the 1,000 reassessed last year, only 616 met the guidelines.