no one cares. in that group, a lot of people do not care. it closed down and we went to badlands, the memories. fond memories. there is a lot of charity work that has been done. in looking at the pictures and the space and where we are right now, i do believe this is an important proceeding. giving people a voice to speak directly, not about what has been done in the past, but what we're going to be able to create together for the committee. [tone!] what i am hearing is overwhelming support for the plan. i would hate to think people are close minded to the fact there is something great available to them. there is something great available for the committee that will be built a new, fresh. i am committed as a philanthropist to working with

this group as someone who hosts a events and making sure we capture the spirit in the new space. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. my name is john janoli. i am a patron of the eagle and and a musician to play the many times. i would like to speak against the transfer of the license. one of the issues in san francisco right now for the gay community is nightlife. one point i wanted to make about the eagle as it was is that the eagle was not just a gay bar. there are many gay bars. it was a gay bar that have international appeal and your people from all over the world to our city. the economic impact of tourism is often downplayed. having the eagle the way it was,

under de- ownership -- gay ownership said something about the kind of club it was. if we are weighing who should get a license, this would be more -- sorry. it would be more important to keep it as a bar that began as a gay bar the welcome everybody as opposed to a bar that just happened to have the music or gay aspect as part of it. in terms of who should be able to have a license, i would like to say it would be more for the people that have held it previously and had a certain kind of appeal and to transfer it to others. i am sorry for being nervous.

thank you. supervisor elsbernd: 80 very much. next speaker. >> my name is autumn haber. and here in support of the transfer of the liquor license. it is an opportunity for different committees to come together and collaborate , to open the doors of debt has been closed for so long and revive the business that was once there. it is a shame it is that closed. if the communities were to come together and work together to create the music and art scene, and everything in one, a thicket is a shame it is not used as a positive form currently. it is mostly negative it is a good chance for jobs, art, and music to all be in one place in a closed door facility. thank you. >supervisor elsbernd: let me cal

a few more names. sue, william bruce -- william, bruce, jody, danielle, bren dan, joseph, anni bacon, and jeff whitmore. those are all the names i have. if you did not hear your name and want to speak, please fill out a card. go ahead. >> good morning. my name is brian green. i am a longtime patron of people -- of the eagle and resident of the mission district. i am in the position of this transfer, without knowing a whole lot about the processes, i am learning more about them today, but the good faith

negotiations with the other proposed buyers, more questions are being raised than are being answered. i do not know what burning man has to do with this. it keeps being referred to. >> it is more about the legacy of the eagle. talk is cheap. we're going to do this or that. the eagle did not exclude street people. -- the eagle did not exclude straight people. quite the contrary. from what i understand, the other offers on the eagle that fell through, i do not know what those circumstances were, but it would be interesting to learn that.

the rumor mill is rife with stories about that. [tone!] more information, more public discourse, and more public scrutiny. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for this time. my name is sue englander. i am a neighbor. i was in district 6. i am now in district 8. i am here to talk about the liquor license in terms of the history of taverns in san francisco. san francisco has had a great tradition of taverns. until the turn of the 20th century, there was one tavern for every 50 people in san francisco, more than churches. i think that is probably still true.

the reason taverns were such a popular place was because working people needed a club. the bars or a place where ordinary men and women could gather, eat and drink, exchange information, but also due politics, raise funds, create a community. the eagle is in the best tradition of those kinds of community structures, the glue and held marginalized communities together, which is why i am very much opposed to the liquor license transfer. if we are looking at the needs of the community, the convenience and necessity of this, i want to tell you transferring this liquor license flies in the face of community convenience and necessity. [tone!] the tavern served a marginalized community.

it should again. the eagle did not just leave. it was kicked out by the landlord. this neighborhood is not becoming more verse. -- diverse. it is becoming less diverse. the number of jaguars and mercedes are exceeding the number of toyota's. i speak strongly against the liberalizes -- the liquor license transfer. supervisor elsbernd: 80. next speaker. >> my name is bruce but that -- bruce bodett. i am a gay historian of sorts. i do not go to mcdonald's as a gay man looking for a sense of who i am.

i know mcdonald's does cater to straight and gay people. i go to day establishments. -- i go to gay establishments, places that think about and offer a place of safety, a place of support. they get my support. i am against this transfer and this different kind of business coming into the space, and would love to see something which would serve my community once again directly, not in directly -- indirectly. we need more safe places to go, more safe places to be, a place where the lovely person in the habit can feel comfortable.

let's say if the gate-centric lyrics -- gay-centric lyrics, the owners might feel the need to censure the fact that someone might be in the habit or singing about a beer-can sized penis. god bless the old eagle for allowing the sort of thing to happen. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. thank you for the special hearing this morning. my name is william baird. i have been a resident of san francisco for over 29 years. i am the president of the sentences the chapter of a club called the defenders. we are a service organization, part of the leather community chartered by dignity usa, a national organization of lgbt catholics. one of our primary purposes is

to raise money for distribution to a variety of organizations. while i am encouraged by many comments, i remain concerned about the the looting of support -- goodbye lifting of support for the lgbt committee with the transfer of the license. we ask that you consider the intent of the management for being supportive of the lgbt community by providing the means for fund-raising using the unique character of the venue. simply providing beverages for sale to the general community is not enough. there are many bars and restaurants that do that. indeed and legacy of the eagle -- the need and legacy of the eagle is to partner with a variety of organizations to generate income for lgbt groups. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much.

next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors. as a licensed commercial real- estate appraiser with over 20 years of experience and someone also active in the leather community, i believe i can see both sides of the issue. should a property owner be able to do with his property as he wishes? i believe the answer to be yes given regulatory constraints. due to the historical nature of the property and the property owner having perhaps performed sexual orientation discrimination in leasing matters, the answer is no. should the license be transferred and the property transformed? the historical nature would be transformed. it would not be able to be transformed back to its original orientation. the tabling of the transfer helped to preserve the space as is as an historical property.

before it gets transformed, an historical plaque on the building. the tabling does not immediately reopen the eagle. if preserved, there are plenty of qualified a business people -- gay business people interested in getting it reopened even if it takes a few more months. the owner made numerous attempts to deal with the property and was ignored by the ownership. why is it after over a year of delay and ignoring highly qualified gay leasees, he jumps at the first straight organization. it is outrageous. it is important to save the gay meeting space as it is even if the opening is delayed. i asked you to table the license for a month or two, investigate the real-estate discrimination i

believe has gone on and preserve the space as is. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: next speaker. >> good morning. my name is danielle berson. serve on the board of the charitable organization currently raising funds for st. services. it is the seventh year of fundraising. after working closely with him on this project and others, i am excited to be a part of this and revitalizing the space. it will share in the continuing tradition of live music and inclusion. i understand the important value of the space. i think the community will benefit greatly from his leadership in charity and organization and bringing community members together.

thank you. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. next speaker. >> thank you for having us here today. first of all, scott, i would like to say i am sorry that some of the arguments are not the direction we meant to go. sometimes people get he did and that happens. -- heated that happens. tenant after tenant, in fact the last people did not even know they were not opening the eagle until they were told at a meeting by us that they were no longer going to be the tenant in the eagle. they did not know. no one ever told them. they still have the money ready to go to buy this place. they are still interested. they were overlooked. that is a basis for denying this license. when you talk about outreach, a procedure before process, they

could reach out to close friends and knock on doors but could only reach out to who in the gay committee? if it had not been for me calling in setting up the meeting, there would not have been a meeting. the gay community has been shut out from this. i find a lot of the promises to possibly be hollow. i do not think this is properly vented. i hope you cannot transfer the license. supervisor kim: the meeting that did take place between the current applicants and yourself with the meeting you initiated? >> yes, i called bill barnes and have him set it up for me. supervisor elsbernd: it is possible i had a misunderstanding. recollection is i texting you and asked if it was possible to give him your number to call you. >> that was after i contacted

bill barnes to setup the meeting. supervisor elsbernd: ok, that was after. thank you. next speaker. >> my name is joseph. my alternate persona is sister maryanna. i am a 22-year resident of san francisco. i was a long-term patronage at the eagle. i was part of the last group of postulants to be veiled at the eagle. many of my sister's ashes are scattered there. i think the question today is, is the interest of the community served by transferring the liquor license? i would say no. i have heard a number of things today. i have heard efforts have been made to contact my community.

there has been no effort as far as i am aware to contact me personally. my order has not been contacted to the best of my personal knowledge with regard to this transfer. i have heard through the grapevine that there have been some charitable discussions with regard to continuing charitable events at the new proposed space. as i understand it, the suggestions were so cost- prohibitive i would not be able to hold a charitable event at the new location due to the cost constraints. [tone!] the gentleman here said they could not do outreach with the community in the last three weeks due to the logistics of the team put in the place together. how can they establish a

community-oriented space without contacting the committee? how can they establish a team to create a space that will serve the community without costing -- contacting the committee they are attempting to serve? [tone!] pictures i have seen today are described as being caused by the former tenants. what proof is there that it was damaged by former tenants? i have more to say. thank you for your time. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. next speaker. >> i am a local musician. i am not a san francisco native, but you may have seen my baby back they're making noise. he is a san francisco native. we intend to stay and build our home here. when i found out eli spear was

taking over the tavern, i cannot tell you how excited i was. as a musician, i knew this would be a place where musicians were honored and treated with respect, where music and art would thrive. as i am sitting here listening to everything being said, i understand the concerns that spaces that are safe for the lgbt community should not be taken away absolutely. i consider myself an ally and activist for the lgbt community. i want to the size -- emphasize eli spear should be considered an asset in keeping the history alive of the tavern and moving forward operating on some of the same principles of openness. in the city, i often in up in a

bar or restaurant where i fear i am not wearing the right clothes or should have put makeup on or something like that. i feel so relieved to know there could be a space that is truly about community where anybody is truly welcome. [tone!] supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. i want to call the last speaker card i have. nick hudson. if i have not called your name and you want to speak, please fill out a card. otherwise, we will do the last three speakers. >> my name is seth munter. i am here to ask you to table the motion. tabling this motion will bring all parties to the table and enable consideration and collaboration. a little background. i am a licensed real estate salesperson. i hold an m.b.a. from uc- berkeley. i am director of the leather

alliance. i also represent mark frazier, the owner and operator of the dallas eagle. we do not seek ownership of the bar. we seek collaboration. over a year ago, mr. frazier and i approached the owner of 398 12th street to discuss a lease arrangement. he made two demands. pay the back of a previous lessees, over $50,000. second, do all of the building of the ada compliance at our expense. he would not discuss a lease unless these demands were met. working with the manager of the eagle tavern, we ran financial analyses and found these unreasonable preconditions made the business of feasible u -- unfeasible. we spoke with mr. wiener and

bevin dufty. we have the ability to move forward, but we need to make sure the double rainbow team does reach out. we need to delay consideration of the transfer to give the team a reason to collaborate. nobody wants a vacant property. it is mr. nicotopolus's fault it is still vacant. let's work together and find a solution for all of us. [tone!] supervisor elsbernd: we have the board rule, no applauding or hissing or anything else. that is a rule. i wanted to point that out. i was going to compliment you on having a perfect two-minute

point. that rarely happens. >> you can blame my speech and debate coach in high school. >> one of the overarching question as i have, do you believe the owner of this property has negotiated in good faith with all members of the committee, including members of the lgbt community? >> i do not know about other people. i know his interaction with the previous owners was not always positive. i am sure he did not negotiate in good faith with my client who owns the dallas eagle. there are eagle bars across this country that are very successful. there is no reason we cannot have an eagle in the tradition of that are here in san francisco. >> thank you. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. next speaker. i also have a speaker card for doug.

>> my name is jeff whitmore. i am the owner of public works in san francisco. the reason i got in this business was for the diversity and bringing people together. everything you and everything i have been involved in, that is my first and foremost objective. i think we have succeeded with out in public works. eli spear, i am another supporter of his. he was an integral part of public works from day one. public works does everything from techno to straight and ga y after parties. we'd do everything. we seek to bring people together from groups that usually do not hang out together. it works, at times. i am here for the fact that eli speer from day one was a big community influence. i would definitely say anything he is going to be involved with,

he is going to bring that to the table. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much. next speaker. >> my name is nicholas hudson. i have been a business partner of andersen pugosh for about five years. we run the hospitality business together. i have known him to be very open to the community and also beat a very sophisticated and good business owner al add a lot of vibrancy to the community -- that will add a lot a vibrancy to the community and growth. i see it only as a positive thing happening. i would like to note my brother is a local musician and played the previous eagle talon and -- tavern. he enjoyed it as well. he has connections that we as well. ironically. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: thank you very much.

next speaker. >> thank you for hearing all of this. i want to go on record as requesting to table this transfer on the basis there is so much passion in the community. there needs to be more information as to whether there was discrimination against lgbt qualified people that wanted to lease the building. they have a license that does not need to be transferred. they have signed a lease with a landlord. i understand the landlord owns the lease in the mission. that is why he wants to get it moved into soma so the facility can benefit the most financially. it is understandable. but it seems like they could do more community outreach. i would request it would be tabled pending more investigation and community outreach to see if there has or

has not been discrimination going on. thank you. supervisor elsbernd: thank you. mr. renny. this will be the last public commenter. >> supervisors, my name is mark rennie. i represent double rainbow. my name is on the letter requesting the start to and a half months ago. i want to address a few things that have not been touched. i know you have questions. there have been talk of gay discrimination in leasing. i got on this lake. i came on in may when the letter was written. at that time, i was told by the owner that alex and michael going to be intended lessees -- mike were going to be the intended lessees. i later learned they had gone through eight least incarnations

over six months. the huge outcry was in may of last year. that was approximately 12 or 13 months ago. the owner made the determination he was going to lease to a gay operator. he started with might and alex. i was not involved in negotiations with at that point. i understand it fell apart. they could not come to terms. at that point, other people had come to the table who were also day -- gay. specifically, the owner of a very successful establishment on the arty side that caters to both the gay and lesbian community and the street and business community. he sent an e-mail out to kylke. he basically said, i am gay. i was signing a lease on the eagle. eagle. negotiations fell apart.