about several others. we feel this is important for both of us, personally, to participate in the debate of this issue in a way that we can help people frame it for a conversation. >> welcome to the tuesday, april 10 meeting. hopefully, if appropriate, everybody has paid their property taxes. you have until midnight. if you're going to run out and do that, i recommend you do that. if not, welcome to the tuesday evening meeting of the entertainment commission.

city and county of san francisco. ms. kane, would you please call the roll? director kane: [calling roll] we have a quorum. i don't know. we were expecting commissioner tan. i have no information on commissioner cavellini. >> where are we at coming here? -- at, here? item number 1. public comment. members of the public may address the commission on items of interest to the public better with in the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission. with respect to agenda items, members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes at the time such items are called. in other words, this is your

time to talk to the commission about commission items that are not on the commission calendar. is there anybody who would like to address the commission in that vein? we will move right along to item two. review and approval of the minutes of march 27. let's see what we have got here. i believe we have a quorum. we can vote on the minutes. this is an exceptional moment. >> i would like to make a move to approve the minutes. >> second. director kane: yes. [calling roll] >> ok. item number 3, report from the executive director. director kane: good evening, commissioners. i have a couple of things to cover with you.

the first when i wanted to mention was to update you on the parking lot legislation, otherwise known as file 111077, or the lack of progress, i should say. it was scheduled twice to public safety. this is a reminder the legislation that is authored by president chiu to require more lighting within 1,000 feet of our permit holders. hopefully you all have the legislative died just behind this memo for clarity. the legislation still has to beat -- has yet to be heard at the board of public safety committee, but we are expecting commissioner lee, dummy if we

are seeing it by the end of may? commissioner lee: april 19 is what i saw. april 19 is the plan. director kane: we will continue to keep the commission informed of the progress of that. wanted to let another was a meeting on broadway regarding -- i don't know what else to call it, broadway street improvement, on april 4, that i attended. it was a very well-attended meeting at a venue down there in the middle of the two blocks of broadway that had been a problem for us to discuss a number of changes being made. some are still under discussion by the venue owners and the neighbors. so, i am happy to report that at this time, i believe the tow- away signs we have been struggling with have now been replaced with 10:00 p.m.

the diners have two more hours to eat their food without being towed away. the discussion of taxis zones and possible street closures on friday and saturday nights to assist after the push-out at 2:00 a.m., and help the lawyer issues, was seriously discussed and support it. at this point, it is a welcome change. it was -- there was serious discussion about pros and cons. there was no conclusion made. i think there was progress being made. commissioner lee, you were there. commissioner hyde, as well. i feel very positive. there are maybe some changes that will start happening. that is really important, as well as the discussion of community benefit districting

forms. that is a long process. it was brought up. i think that has got some forward motion. we will continue to keep the commission informed. we will hear from commissioners later on this as well. staff attended as well as commissioner joseph a meeting in richmond on the 28th of march that was hosted by supervisor mar at the library to focus on the safety issues. there were probably over 50 people there. there was a decent amount of media. i was there. i did answer some questions regarding jack in the box and the rocket room. the police were there. i think it was a good start. it is not clear whether supervisor mar will have additional meetings, but we will

see. we will continue to be there as we are asked to be there. i wanted to -- i think i said this last time, let you know again that the promoter registry is online. it is up on our website. the url is super easy. sfpromoter.sfgov.org. we need to populate it with all the promoters you have ever heard of in your life. >> i will populate it. >director kane: over-populated. it is super easy. free. it is required, which is maybe the point. we now have to get promoters to get on there so that everyone

who has a then you can start using registered promoters. the next thing i wanted to do is have -- sort of present -- i do this a lot. i send the bizarre ideas on facebook, or an idea about -- sometimes. this one is really interesting, i think. i am not asking you to do anything besides talk about it tonight. it is basically about using mimes at night to assist with the dispersion of people and to communicate how important it is to silently go from a venue to your home or your vehicle. we have come as you know, issues of noise from people leaving venues. in paris, they are starting to use night mimes.

it is a program using artists who were communicating without speaking that it is important to mind where you are. i wanted to show you a little video to give you the idea. >> should we dim the lights? director kane: i don't know. it is not working. it is working on the computer. how do we do it? anyway, i will keep talking. maybe it will work. but, i attached to this memo some information as well about it. basically, i said, it is two or three artists. it is a mediator that will go out and engage people as they're

coming out, obviously in a positive way, to communicate that, and hand out information, and communicate that. in fact, it is important to quietly leave your -- go to your destination. and so, in paris, i think there are 50 neighborhoods they have targeted. there are 60 artists they're using. there are 20 mediators. ideally, i know it sounds a little crazy, but the idea is to get sponsors to be able to pay the artists, and then use may be a nonprofit organization to get this program started and have the city support it, not in monetary way. we really don't have anything to give them. but, with information, with assistance, with whatever we can. we can try something positive as

opposed to a constantly negative reaction to a problem. so, i don't know -- >> they have to switch it over in the control room. director kane: i will not fuss about it. i would gladly hear feedback from the commission. >> i have just one question. did you note in any of the stuff you researched -- was there any negative to anything? did they pushed them out of the way and say, leave me alone, this is stupid, or screaming really loud? did you hear any of that? >> it has been a little difficult because everything is in french. i translated some of these articles for you. you can read them. it started the very end of march. i don't have feedback yet. they have a blog. the finding someone fluent in

french is really the -- i think i will get more information if i had that ability. plus, i am sure there is not enough information yet to know whether -- i am sure there is all kind of reaction. we would not want to create more noise. yay. hurry up. it is 47 seconds. can you start it over? it is fine. ♪ [upbeat melody] [laughter] director kane: there it is.

>> that is great. director kane: i am happy to bring back to the commission as well as i dig in little more, and see if there is any downside. i don't know that there is. >> [inaudible] [laughter] i have been reading that it started in barcelona. is there any positive? director kane: i have been digging around on the internet. it is hard to do because it is not in english. >> i have a french interpreter for you. director kane: you do? excellent. maybe we should call someone over there or engage somebody over there. i cannot speak french.

>> i suggest you get a hold of buck. very fluent in french. among six other languages, i think. he speaks impeccable french, at least, to me he does. >> and do you understand him? >> no. director kane: that is right. i have to do my last item, not a very positive one. i have to report that we have had some struggle at rocket room. as of april 6, it is voluntarily suspending their entertainment for one month per an agreement made between the operator and the entertainment commission staff. we have in the office a letter stipulating to the action. you know, talking at length

about a plan to improve operations, to change the venue name, to reprogram the venue. we are in that right now. we have had one week and of quiet. we are hopeful that this intervention, which, to my mind, was an immediate way to intervene in a public safety issue, will do the trick, and hopefully bring that into compliance without a more formal hearing process. we will wait and see. i will let the commission know. that concludes my report. >> i have -- maybe this is apropos to you as well. on the towing, i was wondering if we could work through our liaison. i notice he is not here tonight from central station.

see what, maybe on a monthly count, how much of the volume has diminished? i would like to see that ultimately done away with. director kane: we get to that news letter, i think, weekly. it is not by weekly -- biweekly. it has the toll numbers in yet -- twow numbers in it. we will be happy to share that with you. those tows are recorded the time. >> right. in my other life as a hearing officer, i see families, they are just up there, just good citizens wanting a nice dinner come either from the city, or visiting, and are not expecting toad-away -- tow-away at the bizarre hours for no apparent reason. there are people coming in having the cars towed or not

come anybody that lends themselves to activity on broadway, which we are not favorable with -- it is, from my perspective, not working if it is supposed to control problems. thank you for getting that produced. we will see where it goes from here. >> good evening. in your books, you will see my report. i just want to touch on a few issues. in the past few weeks, there was a meeting on "st. -- polk street. basically, as we discussed in this commission in the past, we really have seen folks thriving. the area is much busier than it was before the last few years. there are more people out. businesses are doing better. it is great. what comes with that, there are issues with crowd control. we are not seeing violence, but it is more crowd control and

sound. what we did is be less reactive and more -- kind of get in there. we have this meeting. we discussed a little bit of education of what the law was, what their responsibilities were, and how they could better work together. i thought it was a pretty positive meeting. we are continuing to watch polk street three closely. that seems to be going really well. also, we had two issues in the mission. one was 190 capp street. this commission has heard about it in the past. it is a location, a warehouse, that was doing unpermited events. we have, basically -- the building owners and tenants, we have pretty much been able to get agreement from everyone

involved that there would be no more events. the city attorney stepped in and let them know that if they continued, they would be taken to court. it was one of those situations where the city attorney and the entertainment commit -- entertainment commission staff for working together. the next one is 3248 17th street. in this situation, i have to give this particular gentleman credit. he took a basement, bill bob barr, opened his bars, without a single permit in the world, and opened a nightclub. he invited the staff in. ready for business. the entrepreneurship is out there. >> where is this located? >> 17th street. we are working with the owners, mission station, and it looks like the city attorney will step in.

we have gotten on top of that very quickly. i don't see any further issue. you never know. i was surprised to see what they did. moving on, real quickly -- there was a whole new host of conditions placed on one group by the commission. we are not seeing a lot of change. we did fight them recently for a permit condition violation. they have not done what was asked of them. we are continuing to watch them very closely. if things are not -- do not change, we have a -- we may have to do the next up and bring them back before you. also, just to bring up something that relates to the legislation and parking garage, we had a pretty bad battery in the last

two weeks. it really shows accurately that this legislation for parking garages is important. it can have a lot of them packed around the venues. -- impact of around the venues. those are the highlights right now, unless there are questions. >> i have a question. what did you cite them for? >> open door. they were blasting sound into the community. >> ok. on polk street, so, we have these formally -- partially blighted neighborhoods coming back. they're coming back colt -- all over san francisco because they're more affordable. we can look at valencia street and see it happening. they're beginning to repave mission street. it is happening on polk street as well.

it is not that we want to discourage business. i am reay glad that neighborhood is thriving. a thriving neighborhood does away with a lot of drugs, prostitution, and other things. was there any solution suggested? i have been hearing the neighbors forever talking about how upset they are that it is doing well, because it creates noise for them. has there been anything suggested that could mediate this situation, so businesses can exist, and the neighbors are not totally flipping out about it? the neighbors there are mostly long time neighbors. >> i don't think the neighbors are flipping out. we don't see the level of complaints that we do in other parts of town at different times at all. you are right that this is a significant change that has happened over time, and there are a few neighbors that are

very upset, and make themselves known, but i would not suggest that an upper prescription is to say the neighborhood is up in arms. they are not. we just wanted to be proactive. we did it eight months ago or so to make sure that the businesses have everything that they need prepared, ready to go, they know the rules. that is it. everyone has to live together, as you know. i think we are doing the right thing. i think the clubs understood we were not coming down on them. the poll we certainly were not, either. it was very clear that we were on the same side of the table trying to make sure the businesses were more successful and kept their t's crossed and i's dotted so we could maintain order among a growing success, so they do not become their own worst enemy. >> some of the comments we heard from club owners were, we have to deal with lines we have never

had to deal with before. we have people lining up. that is new to them. they're realizing they have to put security on the street to watch the lines. they never had to do that before. that is part of the issue. a lot of it was education. this is what the rules are. this is what is expected of you. here are some of the things that will help you and the neighborhood get along better. crowd control. director kane: right. it was saying to them, you used to be may be a bar, and now you are really doing it. you have to think of yourselves almost more of a nightclub when it begins to look like that. manage it. that does it. >> very good. thank you. >> i was just wondering if there was any discussion about getting the bar owners together on communication, like, real time communication, so that, similar to the castro and broadway --

>> that was one of the topics discussed. one of the things that we encouraged them was to be, like broadway, meeting amongst themselves. that is something they were looking at seriously. there already is some level of communication between security because of proximity of some locations. we stressed the importance of that. they were looking into it on their own. >> i was wondering if there was discussion on party bosses -- buses. >> i am not aware that anyone -- >> some places do on polk street. that was another discussion. some places were like, we have never had to deal with party buses. we don't have policies because we have never had them before. we were able to talk about that as well. >> i have one question. did assemblyman gil's office

ever get back to you on the party bus legislation? director kane: i think commissioner hidyde has been working on it. >> i believe hill's legislation was passed out of public safety, but not passed through the full assembly. i have been talking with tom's office, who said that once we come up with some legislation that does not just deal with minors and drinking, likely hill legislation, it would maybe offer some helpful legislations. he would be happy to work with us and move forward. he is hoping to get some guidance. >> legislation that deals with something other or in addition? >> in addition to. >> miners and drinking is not enough? >> i think he realizes that the

problem is not necessarily that the miners -- minors is not them getting on the bus. you end up with people completely inebriated and of using whatever neighborhood they get dropped off on. they get dropped off in several neighborhoods. that is a lot of the problems. these people are not guided across -- for example, on folsom st., icy buses unload -- i see buses dropping off people who are dodging traffic. >> if they could not drink on the bus to begin with, would that solve the problem? >> there are lobbying groups. i think some sort of regulations

on how the alcohol is served -- but, i think may be further discussion, or a discussion group, might be a good idea. >> thank you. >> thank you. anybody else? ok. any public comment to respond to the report of the director? >> commissioners, obviously, you covered quite a few things in that report. regarding broadway and parking issues, the signs are up. i think baby steps might be appropriate at this time to earn the trust without compromising safety. i would like to see the cars returned to the street, or even a different approach could be where all cars are off the street and it is a walking street, where people have that. that has been tossed around. the bottom line is it was something that was vetted in the

community. the chamber of conference -- chamber of commerce weighed in. all the merchant grips, the residential groups, i think the police handled it very well. we move forward in this legislation and it passed because it was a collaborative effort with everybody involved. it is kind of a success. regarding polk street, we actually got televised on channel 2. there were residents and merchants at a community leadership alliance meeting at the library. some of the points were how to manage the club and externally, adding more security oxide. also, cell phone numbers were exchanged. rather than pointing fingers are taking the defense of position, the meeting was really productive. the meeting