younger people who were -- a fair amount of vinegar people who were partying all night. -- younger people who were partying all night. and not drink water. >> you got urban burger and subway. are the opening past a certain time? is that the violation? urban berger is open until 2:00 p.m., the posted hours our until 3:00 a.m. and subway is open 24 hours. they do not close at all. >> i have a question. is there any interest in the vacant position on the commission? >> not directly to me but i know there have been increased due to various members of the board of supervisors. i have not seen it and i will let you know when we know it is

up. i do not have anything. president newlin: any public comment on the report of the executive director? seeing none, item four. police department comments and questions. anybody here? and now -- no? ok. item five. presentation by brian davis, director, freedom from tobacco, a project of the community center presenting research regarding poor air quality at bars and restaurants in san francisco. welcome. >> thank you. -- thank you for having me today. very much appreciate that. so, let me just before i start. i have a couple of folders with

integration in them. -- information in them. the colored report is on our research which you are welcome to look at while i am talking about this. my name is bryan davis -- brian davis and in the executive director of freedom from tobacco. we work for the lgbt community's health and against a tobacco which is targeting our committee. -- big tobacco which is targeting our community. i am a mayor to call the activists and have been since 2000. my husband and i were married in this building. i have been very active in that movement. the reason i bring this up is to show i am as a civil rights activist, i know i civil rights issue when i see it. the issue of tobacco in the lgbt

community is a civil rights issue because the tobacco companies target our community deliberately, knowing that we're vulnerable because of homophobia. the target us to get us to smoke more and because of homophobia, we do smoke more. homophobia obviously is what we're talking about when we're talking about a civil rights issue in our community. big tobacco has been targeting as deliberately since the 1990's. they have done all kinds of advertising deliberately advertising -- targeting us. i have others. they have tried to give money to organizations successfully, in some cases to show support supposedly for us. they even have -- there is an advertisement which was printed on page 6 of the handout which i would like to talk about because it gets to me. that is an advertisement put out

by american spirit which presents itself by -- as being a monopod tobacco company. it is not native american. it is owned by rj reynolds.d sam to this, of freedom to that, freedom to the other thing. freedom to america, of freedom to inhaled, it is all good. this is the kind of thing they are putting out there. whereas in fact they're not supporting us at all. they do not support freedom to marry. they do not support our rights. what they do is give tons of money to the republican party. one example is altria, based in the philip morris. altria gave -- was the fourth largest corporate donor to the republican party and other large donations from other tobacco companies. just so we know who the good

guys and the bad guys here are. homophobia is a major factor in why we smoke more. stress on our use, our lgbt youth increases the amount of smoking. -- stress on our youth, our lgbt youth increases the amount of smoking. also related to homophobia because of societal restrictions or rejection, rather. there are not as many spaces and we go to the bars. as you well know, the bars are where the community goes to build and find community and that is a good thing but bars are also where in many cases, smoking still goes on, including in our city. the message because of that can be a that smoking is a part of who wewe are in the lgbt

community. there is a quote from a youth who said, "all queer young people smoke. it is part of the package." orders that come from? san francisco public health law 19 f, two years old law, and a number of things are requiring that all buildings that are not single-family homes are supposed to have sign stating signs in the front of the building is stating that people have to smoke at the curb or 15 feet away if there is no curb. there is in terms of the backyard patio spaces, a restriction where there is not supposed to be any smoking 10 feet from the entry, exit, or from operable windows. there is also a definition in the lot of what an outdoor patio is. that definition states among

other things that there is no ceiling in that space, in the spaces. so, we went to 35 bars and clubs in the city and we found a general lack of compliance with the law. missing signs in many cases, ignoring the signs in many other cases whether they were there or not. large numbers of people smoking not at the curb and closer to the door. we found that the 10 foot patio distance law in the back was not posted in every case except for one of the 22 bars that we visited that had backyard or side patio's. and we also found that smoking was regularly going on under ceiling spaces where they existed and where there were over head covers. one of the things is we partnered with ucsf to measure the air quality using scientific

instruments that is standard for these measurements around the world. we went into the spaces in four outdoor patio levels -- areas. we found dangerously high particulates in three of those bases. average and ratings in the epa standard on healthy rains. three were worse than the other. what we found that made a distinction between the three and a one were -- and the one were in those three, we had 50% more of those spaces had some kind of overhead cover and they had high walls. what we were saying is spaces that are very similar to indoor spaces in terms of the air circulation aspect. and so second-hand smoke is a serious issue. the surgeon general says there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke even in the

less toxic spaces. it is a serious threat to be considered. 53,000 people a year in this country die from second-hand smoke so it is not something to be taken lightly. it is something to be taken seriously as a health risk rating is not about being bothered. it sis about being protected from the damage. workers have no escape from this toxic air. one example, one bar, one former bartender at a gay bar in san francisco told us, the bar kept filling up with smoke from the patio so i had to choose between my health, my job, and my community. my health won. no one should have to make that kind of choice. no one should have to choose between keeping their job or keeping their health. there have been -- also another thing that is often thought of in terms of this issue by many people is businesses are harmed

by secondhand smoke laws. the fact is all rigorous, scientifically conducted studies on that issue, there have been many, have sean there are no cases where businesses -- have shown there are no cases where businesses lose money and in many cases they make more money when they go smoke-free. we're not asking for any business is to go smoke-free in terms of the backyard patios. if there is a case where a space where it is illegal, we may be asking for that but in terms of the backyard patios which is why i'm here to talk today, but we are requesting is that they're not be any smoking allowed in areas where there is an overhead cover of any kind. there is a total of five recommended guidelines which are on pages 2 and 3 -- three and four of that package. on the bottom and the top.

i'm not going to go over those in detail unless you want me to. the bottom line for us is protecting the health of workers, protected the health of committee members who wish to spend * -- who wish to spend time in the spaces without breathing toxic air. we're not trying to change the law. we want to clarify and add detail here. what we're trying to do is work with the department of public health to clarify the law using the guidelines process that the law allowed. just try to clarify existing law. we're trying to ensure that everyone is clear on what the law requires. most businesses will appreciate getting a clear understanding of what they are to do in order to avoid penalties or confusion about what the law means. we hope to work directly with the business community which is why i am here talking to you tonight.

we're trying to work directly with the business community to the greatest extent possible to minimize conflict and maximize healthy working environments. we are hoping the business community will recognize our guidelines are reasonable and proper for what we're asking. what we would ask of you as the entertainment commission whether or not you agree with our goals is to help us to have a meeting with the bar owners, especially those with a backyard patio. and those in the lgbt community because that is where our project is focused. those who have temporary or permanent ceiling covers over there patio's -- their patios, see if we can find an agreement to protect the community. it is about what the business owners support and agree with and understand, and so there is a request that -- that would be our request tonight.

any questions? president newlin: thank you. is there any questions? >> i know you said in your studied there were certain bars that were particularly harmful -- in your studies, there were certain bars that were particularly harmful. can you name them? >> no. in the agreement the require the bars be anonymous. -- they require the bars be anonymous. >> the health department already requires it but the new law that you cannot smoke in a patio, that is part of your business. >> no. >> before you finish, let me clarify a couple of things. if it is a restaurant serving food, they cannot have smoking

in the outdoor dining areas. quex in one -- >> i own one that has a patio. you're talking about restaurants that do not have one. >> we here permit places that have entertainment, limited live or entertainment permit. there are tons of cars that do not have -- bars that do not have permits and we do not necessarily have their information. >> i appreciate that information. president newlin: since we have a high number of richmond station here, what is your feeling on hookah bars? >> i know that the secondhand smoke inspector has been working hard on the issue of vukovar.

i will leave that -- issue of hookah bars. i will leave that for her to discuss. we know that hookah -- the statistic, i have not looked over this recently, i believe it is something like if you are exposed to hookah pipe 45 minutes, you are exposed to the same amount of nicotine if you were smoking 15 cigarettes. hookah is a serious problem as well. >> do you know what is the current penalty for noncompliance to the log? >> no. we are not focused and i do not believe even the secondhand smoke inspector at this time although i am not positive about that. our project is not focused on penalties. we're hope -- focused on

clarifying the law for the benefit of the businesses as well as for the benefit of the public. which is why i was suggesting we would like to meet with the bar owners rather than just sort of impose on them from on high which we cannot do anyway. we're not the government. president newlin: thank you. is there any public comment on the presentation? >> thank you for your time. president newlin: thank you. that would include the presentation and thank you. item #6, discussion and possible action to review existing place of entertainment commission of the rocket room. action item.

>> that evening, commissioners. i am the permit -- good evening, commissioners. i am the permit officer. the last time i was here was not so good but hopefully, this will be a lot better. what i want to do is remind you on february 28 of 2012, the san francisco entertainment commission voted to adopt a new stricter conditions regarding the rocket room's place of entertainment permit. i would like to give the entertainment commission a timeline of events since that last meeting. on march 2, plainclothes officers observed a male walking back and forth in front of the rocket room. the male attempted to light a glass pipe and they recognized the pipe as the type for using illegal drugs. he was cited on charges of rebellion. officers reported -- responded

to a fight. they observed hundreds pouring out of the rocket room. officers observed as many as eight different flights. during the ensuing chaos, one patron was cited for two counts of battery on a police officer and three counts of resisting arrest. a second patron was arrested for one count of battery on a police officer, one count of resisting arrest, and for public intoxication. >> i did get your e-mail and i do believe you have the time line. they have it, so i wanted to let you know that. >> i would like to hear it. >> go ahead. >> they were arrested. numerous officers complained that security did nothing to break up the fight or to assist officers.

many officers claimed not to see security at all. this was a reggae night. the owner e-mail me to say he was planning on meeting with the soma club owners association for ideas on how to improve. officers responded to a call of suspicious vehicle parked in front of the rocket room. officers made contact with both occupants and discovered both were registered sex offenders with extensive arrest records. both documents claimed to be going for reggae night on thursday. a patron was observed to urinate in public. plainclothes officers observed a large group of young-looking

people enter the club. the minors were cited for various violations. the patrons were not being searched by the security team. march 17, 2012, st. patrick's day. a male who identified himself as a comedian and performer exited and urinated in the middle of the street. he was cited for public intoxication and taken by medics to be treated for severe intoxication. march 20, 2012. the rocket room was cited with a violation. an updated security plan was sent to the tender -- to the entertainment commission. this security plan was 20 days late. march 28, 2012. supervisor eric mar held a community meeting regarding nighttime entertainment in the richmond district. the manager and his team listen to concerns.

due to all the incidents i described, the rocket room decided to impose a 30-day suspension of entertainment ending may 6, 2012. during the suspension, they hired girl and public community relations and joined the clement merchant association. they have done more to soundproof the venue and have hired a new and much more professional security team. the club is in the process of changing its name. during the suspension there were no major issues or incidents involving the rocket room. the patrons, staff, or security team. i've visited late may 31 on 2012 and found there were no permit violations and all conditions were being followed. since their self-imposed suspension, communication between myself and the management team and security team has been positive, open,

and honest. i have not received any complaints from residents or business owners in the area. the have not been any major incidents or issues reported. i have not received any reports of quality of life violations including urinating in public, loitering, blocking the sidewalk, or drug violations which were common prior to their suspension. they have been a model business in their neighborhood. president newlin: questions? >> i had one, did they get rid of their reggae night? >> yes. >> that seemed like a no- brainer. >> how is their business doing? have they been able to figure out how to do business and be successful without doing reggae or however they were promoting before? >> i am not sure. >> have you gone in there on a night when they're open? are the crowded?

>> they are far less crowded than they were before. >> ok, thanks. president newlin: does anybody else from richmond want to speak? >> now that obviously all these things are in place and you see that they have improved themselves, how do you feel personally comfortable? do you feel comfortable that these guys have went through the trouble to really reevaluate their business plan and truly feel that they want to be responsible owners? >> i do feel that way. communication with them is night and day. i know they have a lot of help now. before, i do not feel they took anything you said into consideration. it was kind if if they ignored us, we would go way attitude and that has changed. the gibbons heads of -- they

give us heads up, they gave me a calendar of who they have booked ahead of time. it has been a tremendous turnaround. president newlin: that was a great presentation, thank you. do we want to hear from the rocket room people now? soon to be known as huggy bear's love room or something? >> i am here with tim choy, the permit holder. hopefully it will be called timber, it will be the beginning of something right. i want to thank the permit officer at richmond for being patient but at the same time, make it clear that safety was not going to be compromised. when we got involved with tim

choy and his team, we had to adjust the model. we had to be accountable and look at ourselves and say our past is checkered and we will have to do is move to take steps in the future that if we are going to project a positive element into the community. first thing, this commission made it clear they were having problems managing people. what we did is we went ahead and got some professional help their and got a security team in there that had experience and we started to manage people much more efficiently and effectively. second, thursday night's were problematic. a lot of these shows were booked in the future and a lot of revenue was lost from these shows. we had to take those losses and we have to basically swallow our appeal. the club has suffered big financial hardship but at the same time, the community is much safer as we move forward.

the one thing i would like to ask the commission and the pd and we have talked to the community because we have gotten proactive in the community is that as we move to the future, maybe this commission can put some kind of timetable where some of those conditions which were harsh and at the same time, they needed to be at the time they were directed, is possibly two of the conditions, the one where they're closing at 1:00 a.m. possibly in the not too different future, maybe 1:45 a.m. could be implemented again provided we continue the path we're on right now. the second thing is, right now, they have the mandate that the security be 40, one security for every 40 people. although the code is 100 and

the discretion is 50, it was 40 per one. the capacity is 300. by taking out the thursday night's which were problematic, as demonstrated by the permit officer from richmond, possibly moving to san mi5 -- to 75 to 1. four security to a capacity of 300. we're asking at some 0.6 months from the suspension -- that at. b-- that at some 0.6 months from the suspension that this change. >> good evening. we have done a lot of work in the past couple of months since we had imposed conditions on

ourselves. we changed our business ways. we changed our booking agent, we change security. the did all the changes we have been hearing about. any questions you have for me i am here to answer. >> how is your business? >> not so good right now but the nature of our business is booking shows and having different events, working with different people and we are careful of where we're looking now. it will get better but recently we had to cancel a lot of shows and reevaluating different promoters and different bands were having and we're careful. we're learning and it will get better but right now -- >> what kind of shows are you looking? >> rock shows, local bands. we have the salsa night on mondays and wednesdays.

open mike, comedy night on tuesday. we're doing a daily event so we're more known for a destination place for the day. that is where we will be more consistent. >> do you have the wherewithal to carry yourself forward until your business recovers? >> we're trying our best. >> the reason i ask is this. in my experience when businesses are troubled financially and they have to hustle to make the rent, they sometimes fall back and make bad decisions. i wanted to know if you have a cushion enough to carry you through so that you would not fall back and make a bad decision. >> we're making our decisions very carefully, yes. >> ok. thank you. president newlin: anybody else? >> how is your next-door neighbor since you have changed your way of doing business? are they a little bit more -- sometimes you can share people,