>> 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, people come to the bar next door and they come to your place. instead of having an oil and vinegar kind of situation. i know that the intensity was kind of making her mad a little bit. how is it now? >> i have not heard from her. i am open with everybody right now, with the local police, the community, even the neighbor. whenever a problem she had been having or anybody, i am all ears and making changes. so far, i have not heard from her so it should be ok. her main problem was having the clientele in the neighborhood and she said it was affecting her business. it has been affecting the whole neighborhood so we made that change and it has been positive. >> i have a question for staff.

it sounds like the business will change their name. do they have to come up for a new permit at that point? >> no. generally speaking that is added ministry of -- that is an administrative amended. there will -- and they will request an amendment. it is not a requirement for a name change. >> what are you planning to change the name to? >> right now the funds are kind of flow, i estimate three months if things work out. things were -- will work out. >> i recommend in terms of the commission -- condition alterations that at such time that it would like to proceed with those that you contact the richmond -- you would like to proceed with those that you contact the richmond station and review and make their recommendation whether we do it or not. it would be hard for us to do it appear. i want the people who are out

there saying what is going on to make the recommendation. those are the people you will have to convince that you are ready to have modifications. >> understood. president newlin: in my humble opinion. >> ever so humble. >> as an industry, they went through the ringer on this. like most clubs should if they're in trouble. they're taking the responsibility of trying to do well. i do not know what the neighborhood side has to say. you know how you guys feel. again, unless officer moore and richmond station is comfortable coming back to the table, like the president said here. the neighborhood, i have not heard anything from the neighborhood. how do you guys feel? >> is a positive step in the right direction. i appreciate you making the steps you did to improve the quality of life that you did and

making sure the place is secure for the neighborhood. >> that is one of our main concerns. president newlin: ok. is there any member of the public that would like to comment on this issue? this is your last chance to appear -- >> i would like to agree with my permit officer, toby moore. we were pleased with the conditions and the progress and we would like to monitor that to ensure that compliance maintains and we're able to facilitate public safety and we would be willing to revisit some of those conditions but we need to make sure we holdfast and maintain current conditions right now. president newlin: thank you. ok. this is an action item.

what type of action? >> it is only there in case you would like to make it actionable. i do not think you're required if you do not want to. president newlin: not taking action, that would be it. unless everybody agrees that at this time we will leave it under the auspices of richmond station and our staff, we will go from there. good luck and thanks for the improvement and thanks for the oversight and hopefully, richmond will have only hookah clubs in the future. ok. item seven. regarding applications for permits under jurisdiction of the entertainment permission. two jacks, 401 haight. >> this is a seafood restaurant

in the neighborhood. the restaurant has been in operation since 1977. this would allow the operators to have live music including music and poetry. we have received no communications of concern. several neighbors and the neighborhood group to support the permit application. president newlin: great. is the applicant here? come on up. welcome. >> good evening. i wanted to say that i am second generation omer -- owner of two jacks. i am their only child so i decided to take it over in 2006. i was born and raised in san francisco, and tended -- i

attended st. ignatius, uc davis, class of 1998. i have two gorgeous babies, i am a wife. i am grateful i have two parents that worked so hard to establish a business in san francisco and continue the business. i want to be an example for the community being a minority, a woman, to show that when you are dedicated and grateful for what you have, you can achieve your goals. that is what i am here for, to pass this to my kids and the community around me. this will definitely help. >> i used to work in that area.

the fact that your parents survive, that was a tough neighborhood, not anything like it resembles today. that was something to be said for them that they could survive in an environment that was very tough and unforgiving, i would say so congratulations -- i would say, so, congratulations. any other commissioners? >> what type of entertainment you plan to do? >> open mike and small bands, music. that is pretty much it. president newlin: public comment. is there anyone here from the public that would like to address this application? no one here from the police department? i did not mean to overlook you.

>> good evening, commissioners. officer boyle. the community groups are supportive and we have no objection to this going through. president newlin: excellent. ok. >> i would like to move to approve this and your presentation was awesome. >> commissioner prius, aye. commissioner lee, aye. president newman, aye. >> good luck. very thankful. thank you. president newlin: 7b, dba king of thai. extended hours premises permit. >> this is a restaurant downtown

in the union square neighborhood. the permit would allow them to stay open past 2:00 a.m.. sfpd recommends the permit be approved. i believe the applicant is in agreement. in your file are letters of support and the tenants association coalition of san francisco. we have not received any communication of concern. >> good evening, i am representing captain john joseph garrity. i met with the applicant and her husband, did a walk-through of the business and after having some discussions with the applicant, we came to the agreement that we would recommend approval for them to stay open for one hour from 2 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. in the morning. they agreed after one year, we will look at their business and

it looked like there were no issues or problems at that location, we would recommend approving it for an extended time. >> why? why only one hour? i am curious, why did you decide that? >> because that is an area that right now we're not too clear as far as if we're going to have problems at that location, but we have had problems at other areas on the corridor. the applicant agrees to that and they have no problem with it. >> ok. thank you. president newlin: is the applicant hear? >> the applicant's husband is here. president newlin: this would be the king. welcome. >> good evening, commissioners.

his wife happens to be traveling. you made an agreement -- which made an agreement with the police to go until 3:00 p.m. i was hoping for 4:00 a.m. but when we went out into the community and talked to the alliance no. 6, there is a representative here from community leadership alliance. they saw the need, a lot of those folks live in the neighborhood. part of the things they wanted was his food is good food and is inexpensive and offers an alternative to a hamburger or something else at that time and it is very popular. not everybody works nine to five. i just got wind of this that he made an agreement with the police at 3:00 a.m. and i think

he should honor that. i wish he talked to me prior to that. i think you should be a man of your word and maybe we will look at it in a year and if there are no reports, may accept 4:00 a.m. at that point. he is here for any questions that you might have. commissioner joseph: i find it offensive just so you know that you give us this boilerplate security plan that has no relation to the venue. what it maybe there is not a high security risk, but i think the security plan should somehow reference the actual venue it instead as being some boiler plate security plan. it does not reference the

specific place at all. that is just a comment i want to make. >> a lot of these plans are boilerplate and then they tend to modify a little bit. the place a hold 49 people. he has one exit. the person would be there at the front to monitor. he did not want to look as if he were guarding something. commissioner joseph: what does this mean? providing safeguards were necessary? what is that. i do not want to get on your case. i just want to tell you how i feel about the security plan. >> at that time in the morning, you have people that come in who may have had one or two too many. you do want to use discretion.

it is not 9:00 to 5:00. president newlin: this was just a comment, that this was not a debate. for future modifications, it would be up to them to make those recommendations. please certainly what you to do very well down there. -- we certainly want you to do very well down there. >> thank you. president newlin: public comment on this? welcome. >> good evening, commissioners. i represent community leadership alliance. i want to speak in support for this application of extended hours.

we were unable to get you a letter of support because we had a presentation made yesterday at our community meeting. we deliberated today with our advisory panel. it is unfortunate that the commission did not receive a more specific safety plan because we did receive one from public relations. we discussed in detail before deciding to support. we are supporting this and hope you will do the same. thank you. president newlin: all right. it looks like they gave them the plan, but not you. [laughter] all right, pat concludes public comment. -- that concludes public comment. >> i move to approve. >> i second. >> any conditions?

>> pardon? >> are there any conditions? >> their agreement with the police department's stance. >> all right, good luck. president newlin: did i miss something? all right, item number eight, commissioner comments and questions. yes? >> it is traditional for the entertainment commission to have an annual party to celebrate entertainment and to celebrate us. we are looking for a date. we usually have it sometime in july,