all right. so while i was on the commission we did a number of things. we declared a state of emergency in san francisco due to the lack of entertainment and recreation options for young people, particularly under 21. the youth commission as you probably know represents ages 12 to 23 so that was a big issue for us. we have this hearing in the board of supervisors' chambers, we had the department heads, we had many supervisors there, we had lots of media and we provided a platform for the community to come and voice their concerns from all sides, from the police to neighbors to the young folks, to people from particularly bad neighborhoods where recreation and entertainment options are crucial in order to keep them away from, you know, getting involved with gangs or other problems that can plague young

people. it was a great time, i think, for san francisco, for entertainment, for youth, for youth activism, for the community. a lot of things were happening. since that time, it seems like there's just been a steady decline in youth events, in events in general, especially for electronic dance music. a number of things have happened. the port no longer holds electronic dance music events. bill graham civic no longer holds electronic dance music events. love evolution was no longer possible last year. even doing events in golden gole park is very, very difficult. so basically it's halloween in the castro, another thing. it's been a lot of stuff happening and as i'm sure you're probably aware, fiona ma introduced state legislation recently, a.b. 74, to ban events

with prerecorded music, squarely aimed at electronic dance music events or raves as some people like to call them. so this has sort of been the straw that broke the camel's back. basically, the electronic dance music community is enormous at this point. i mean, even most pop music now is based on electronic dance music and the community is very, very upset that all of these sort of events have been deteriorating over time and to the point that there's bans being put forth on a statewide level. it's discrimination, you know, straight up. so, i mean, we acknowledge that there's issues and our organization has formed not to be a lofty political idealist sort of organization without any basis in reality. we understand there are health

issues, harm reduction issues, people are dying, people are going to the hospital. we understand. and we want to work on those issues. there's young people, there's people of all ages that care about this music, this culture, and we want to find real solutions so that we can enjoy a vibrant and lively entertainment community in san francisco and california. so, anyway, this legislation has sort of, like i said, been the straw that broke the camel's back so the community is in dire need to speak with their representatives. so we went to the youth commission a couple of weeks ago, presented to them our idea, is that the youth commission and the entertainment commission hold a joint hearing so that we can all get together and talk so the department heads, the police, the folks from the community, the supervisors, the mayor, we should all get

together and just sort of talk about what's been going on and talk about the problems and talk about solutions and really start working together again because i think it's time. thank you. president newlin: thank you. commissioner joseph? vice chair joseph: hi, thank you for coming. i just want to clarify some definitions. by youth, you're talking about people who are under the age of 22? 21? >> youth commission represents 12 to 23. vice chair joseph: so under the age of 23? >> yeah, sure. vice chair joseph: and by electronic dance music, you mean prerecorded d.j. music, music d.j.'s would play? >> even that's not a perfect definition because a lot of performers perform live electronic music, as well, so it's hard to define in a way. but it's dance music versus a concert or a show where people are sitting or maybe just standing. vice chair joseph: so if you

threw a party, liam, that played disco and it was done by a d.j., would someone consider that electronic dance music? >> probably. vice chair joseph: probably. o.k. we'll tell gloria gainor that. i agree with you that there is a lack of opportunity for people under the age of 23. i agree with you on that. and do you propose that this meeting between the youth commission and our commission will serve to in some way set some criteria to establish venues for people under the age of 21, primarily? is that what you think? is that your goal. >> i'm sorry, say that again? vice chair joseph: in your goal of having a joint meeting, your goal is to address the fact that there is not enough youth spaces? >> correct. vice chair joseph: and how to correct that possibly?

>> and that there has been in particular -- i hate to use the word discrimination against electronic dance music events, but there's been a serious decline in the city's support for those types of events. and they're the number one event that young people want to go to. the main demographic if you go to these events is 18, 20, 21, 22, 23-year-olds. this is a big thing for a lot of people, young adults, who can vote and go to war. we need to start talking about solutions, you know, education, outreach, harm reduction. there's a serious lack of education. on one hand it's to sort of send a big message to everyone, you know, that this is really important and there's a community out there that is rising up. i mean, we've sort have been

sitting quietly for a while. all this stuff has kind of been happening and the revolt, so to speak, hasn't really come forward and hopefully it won't have to. so this is a way that we're trying to reach out. president newlin: in that vein, what i'd like to do is call item five since we're talking about it anyway and commingle the two items. vice chair joseph: i don't have a problem with that. it seemed like maybe, liam, you have folks that want to speak, as well. president newlin: since we're covering the same topic. item number 5 is discussion of possible action items to agendize a joint meeting with the youth commission on issues regarding youth entertainment opportunities so we're combining item 4 and 5 for discussion. is there anybody else in the group that has anything they'd like to contribute? >> hi, i'm the chair of the san francisco youth commission and i'm here with my colleague,

joshua zuckerman and we're representing our commission's arts and culture committee and, like you say, our staff sent you a memo requesting a joint hearing with the entertainment commission in hopes of kind of shedding some light on youth after-hours activity for young people, whether it's allowing young people to have raves or things like that, just really tackling that idea and it would be great to partner with another commission, as well, that you work with entertainment and it would be really cool to have the city family working together, we feel. and, so, yeah. >> instead of creating more laws that aim to prohibit underage partying, we need to aim to create laws that create environments in which teenagers can safely party. we have seen over and over again the tragic consequences of

draconian laws such as federally mandated drinking at 21 years of age. we need to move away from such laws and move in the direction of creating laws that are conducive to ensuring that youth engage safely and with that, if the youth commission and entertainment commission were to forum a hearing, we could address how to make underage partying in san francisco safer for its youth. >> to be clear, yes, the youth commission represents the unmet needs of young people ages 12 to 23 but for young people to have access, it may be the older youth, ages 18 to 23 or even like to 21 -- 26, sorry. so it's more clear so we won't worry about having young kids

going to parties because that's not o.k., obviously, but for us older young people who want to place to go and want something to do aside from studying and things like that because we're on top of our work, we really want something to do, like, in the evenings, until, again, i strongly urge you commissioners to support having a joint hearing with the youth commission. we hope that you guys do take a positive action on this and we look forward to working with you guys and it's great to see you again, commissioner joseph. president newlin: thank you. o.k. if we wanted to make a motion to. vice chair joseph: i'd like to make that motion. i move that staff schedule a joint hearing. commissioner meko: i think we should have public comment. vice chair joseph: you're right. president newlin: anybody from the public wishes to address this issue?

o.k., very good. >> hello. hi. as i stated before, my name is john goodwin. i am now 28 years old and i would like to tell you a brief story from my childhood. i had a very troubled youth. i come from a broken home and when i was 16 years old and suicidal, one of my good friends, another troubled youth, gay, still questioning his identity, named chad, helped me out an awful lot by inviting me to one of my first electronic dance events, a rave, on halloween. we danced all night long and it brought a light, shining light, in a dark night, in a dark time of my life. and i would not be here alive today if it were not for the raves. o.k.? so we need to be able to

continue raving. we need to keep that a positive word. it's just another word for an electronic dance event. you brought up disco in the 1970's. raves are today's disco. in the 1970's it was called disco. in 2010, the music has changed a lot. now we call it a rave. it should not be a bad thing. i am a raver. i am not a criminal. my friends recently criminals. last rave i went to was dance revolution in modesto. we partied all night. it was very safe, lots of fun. and i want to see the children of the future be able to ton do that. we've always tried to have positive peer pressure. our community motto is plurr, it stands for peace, love, unity,

respect and now responsibility and that is something we would like to continue. we would work with you and work within the democratic process to defeat the discriminatory anti-rave act introduced by fiona mah, and i hope that is a part of the upcoming hearing. thank you very much for your time and support. president newlin: thank you. >> i have a question for liam. you gave a laundry list of events that were canceled. what was that list again? >> the bill graham civic no longer wants to do electronic music events, the port will no longer do electronic music events which they have great venues to do those types of events. the music can go out into the bay, it won't bother any neighbors. also, let's see, halloween in the castro, they no longer allow

music at that. people still show up. >> was there a reason the port discontinued the events, that you know of? >> i can't speak officially. so i won't. >> well that's maybe something we can cover through our joint meeting. >> great. vice chair joseph: i'd like to make a motion. >> i think this your day they were called sock hops. vice chair joseph: commissioner newlin, we're on t.v., so i'm not going to respond to that but i will see you after the meeting. o.k. president newlin: in my day, too, i might add. o.k., go ahead. you have a motion? vice chair joseph: i'd like to make a motion that staff schedule a joint hearing with the entertainment commission and the youth commission to address

the issues the youth commission has with regard to events, venue space, harm reduction, education around everything, violence, drug abuse, it all. i'd also like to ask our public health commissioner if he could get us some anecdotal data that might help us during that meeting about, you know, from his point of view, how that might help, because it is also a public health issue. and to schedule it as soon as it's feasibly possible for the two commissions to meet. that's my motion. >> i second. president newlin: i think for discussion staff will have to engineer how -- what form this will take place, and the time frame. very good. and second? call the roll? >> commissioner cavellini. >> aye. >> commissioner benetti.

>> ii commissioner joseph aye. commissioner meko, ii [unanimous passing] president newlin: item number seven, hearing and possible action regarding the applications for permits under the jurisdiction of the entertainment commission. number one, salvatore nevigato, cols -- colosseo restaurant, 414 columbus, place of entertainment. >> the applicant applied for a permit on december 7 with the commission to allow for an opera singer in this -- fine dining is what it's supposed to say, italian restaurant in north beach. the singer also works as a waiter at the restaurant.

the hours of entertainment are listed in the application from 6:00 p.m. to midnight daily. the occupancy of the space in total including the outside patio is 126. as required by the planning department, the applicant was granted a conditional use authorization in mid november to allow for this entertainment under the conditions and those conditions are attached as exhibit a, conditions of approval. sfpd, central station, has indicated its approval of this permit application with conditions. there are also a number of letters of support for this application attached to the application itself including one for the north beach merchants association and several from north beach businesses and residents. there they are, look at that. the applicant is here before you as well as the representative. staff is recommending conditional grant of this permit inclusive of the planning

conditions. >> good evening, my name is marcia garland and i'm here to represent my client, salvatore nevigato of colosseo restaurant. congratulations for getting it right. and also, on your promotion. well deserved. anyway, this restaurant has gained quite a lot of notoriety in the media lately because of the singing waiter. i think it even went as far as the "los angeles times." we are just trying to sing in tune in north beach and to be as harmonious as possible and it's a really simple request. and i hope that you will grant that. this is mr. nevigato. i don't know if he wants to add anything. not really. >> thank you, i appreciate that. >> if you have any questions? president newlin: any questions for the applicant, commissioners? seeing none --

vice chair joseph: jocelyn, attached to the -- the conditions for the planning department, exhibit a, is something from sfpd, and there's another page -- oh, is this planning? it's hard for me to understand this page. director kane: the first one that says conditions of approval exhibit a, it's front and back, it's 13. read them, 13 conditions for the singing waiter. vice chair joseph: right, right. director kane: and then there is -- vice chair joseph: there's a page dated december 16, 2010, planning department facts. on the back side it says, amplifier for music only, no amplifier or microphone for singing waiter. director kane: yeah. so this thing, recommendation? this thing? vice chair joseph: yes. director kane: that's from the police department.

vice chair joseph: hold on. director kane: that's the planning department. o.k., so what i want you to do. best thing for me is if you look at this memo. vice chair joseph: o.k. i just want to make sure they're not contradictory, that's all. director kane: i don't believe so but you can compare them if you wish. we have central station representation, as well, today. vice chair joseph: my understanding is that the microphone is for the singer, right? director kane: correct. is it not? >> the background noise we want to drum out. >> it was amended at the planning commission so that it would include not just one singer but if two people wanted to sing, they could, because the planning commission, the conditional use permit had worded it as one voice only, so that was amended by the president, president miguel, and

if the amplification is for the background music, you know, the orchestration of it. they'll work like it's almost like a karaoke where there's music. vice chair joseph: so this, therefore, is from central station, this one right here. director kane: that's correct. those three are from central station. vice chair joseph: amplifier for music only, no amplifier or microphone for singing waiter. director kane: correct, that's from sfpd, their recommended conditions. vice chair joseph: so sfpd's recommended conditions are contrary to the planning department's commission? i'm just trying to understand. is that correct? director kane: i don't know that they are. they might be. vice chair joseph: yeah. o.k., i see. never mind, thank you. president newlin: commissioners, any other questions? >> are you aware of the police department's recommended conditions that the singers will not be allowed a microphone? >> yes, but i thought all of that was overruled by the

planning department, by the planning commission back in november because they voted 6-1 in favor of it as it was worded by the planning commission. president newlin: commissioner meko? commissioner meko: where we can impose additional conditions. the planning department, in general, when they're doing conditional use authorization are considering this from a land use perspective and then when it comes to issuing the permit, it comes to the entertainment commission, where we could consider it more from a -- the perspective of mitigating possible nuisances. so the police department recommendations are actually more relevant to us than they are to the -- than they were to the planning commission. >> o.k. commissioner meko: so the whole discussion is wide open when it comes before us. we cannot overrule any condition

imposed under conditional use but we can add to or enhance conditions as they affect the nuisance factors on this. >> o.k. president newlin: commissioners, any other questions for the applicant? seeing none, does the police department want to weigh in? >> officer dickens. president newlin: use the other mic. >> officer takens, central police department department standing in for officer matthias, the regular permit officer. i discussed this with officer matthias prior and basically those conditions we'd like to see placed on for obvious reasons. we have residents in the close area and we don't want quite that much sound to be disruptive to the neighborhood any more than it already is. colosseo is a nice restaurant.

it's not a personal issue. we don't want microphones in the hands of the opera singer. if you're an opera singer, you can be well heard without a microphone and we don't want the singing amplified. we don't have a problem with the background music amplified. that's basically our position. president newlin: o.k. >> isn't it true, though, that the doors are to remain closed at all times and are still subject to the sound ordinance, that music can't emanate from the establishment? >> that's right. but not to increase the possibility of serving the peace, we would like to see those conditions placed on the entertainment at this time. >> i suppose i have a question for the applicant, then. the officer just raised the issue, if there are opera singers inside a closed space,

do they need amplification? >> it depends on their training. if they've studied opera singing, they wouldn't need amplification but i think it would be odd to have the aistration amplified and the voice not. it seems like it would be discordant somehow. i used to sing professionally so i'm thinking it through as a singer would. it seems an odd way of doing it, especially when the restaurant has to pass the sound test and the doors and windows have to be closed. they've already agreed nothing in the back garden area because they happen to have a patio and they've already agreed to that so it's all going to be very enclosed. it just seems very odd to me to have amplification, orchestration, and then a voice

not going along with that. and it's a very small system, like a little box. >> in my reading of the application, is it correct that music will not be permitted between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m.? >> yes. president newlin: thank you. is there any public comment on this? o.k. seeing none, commissioners? >> i'd like to make a motion to grant the application of the commission that music not be permitted between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m. and allow amplification for the music and for the singers, as well. that's what the permit applicantment wants and sound is not allowed by ordinance to emanate to outside the establishment, i can't see the threat in it. i'm open to suggestion.

president newlin: we have a motion on the floor. >> i second it. president newlin: second. discussion? call the roll? director kane: commissioners, for clarification, then, is your motion to approve -- conditionally grant with the planning department conditions only? president newlin: that's correct, based on the fact that they still have to pass a sound test and they can't operate that club with the music emanating outside the confines of the club. commissioner meko: and with the good neighbor policy applied, as well. director kane: with that clarification, commissioner cavellini? commissioner benetti, commissioner joseph, commissioner meko, commissioner perez, president newlin [motion passed unanimously] president newlin: good luck. next item, 7b, greg peck, d.b.a.

burrit room/crescent hotel, 417 stockton. place of entertainment. director kane: pleased to meek the acquaintance -- meet the acquaintance of gregory peck and then i found out it was not really him. he might be dead. but, o.k. -- >> it is really him. the other guy was the phony. director kane: sorry. so, not o.k. my fault. the background on this application is that the applicant applied for a place of entertainment permit on number 23 to permit the burrit room, which everyone wants to call the burrito room, but it's called the burrit room, inside the crescent hotel, which is a fairly new motel san francisco. the burrit room takes up one half of the second floor of the hotel but is open according to the application from 5:00 p.m. to 1:30 on weekends. it has the capacity of 80

people. there is additional space on the other half of the second floor used for occasional entertainment with the total capacity of 277 persons standing and half of that sitting. the application indicates the intention to provide live entertainment in the form of local bands primarily in the second event space on an irregular basis and possibly d.j. music. the planning department has indicated this is a principally permitted use. central station has indicated approval with quite a few conditions. was everyone able to locate those? and it's my understanding that the applicant has seen these conditions and in addition, i would add that the staff has issued two or three one-time event permits with the approval of certainly central