Hi, everyone, and welcome to the november 17, 2020 meeting of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission. Members will be participating in the meeting remotely. This precaution is taken pursuant to various local, state, and federal regulations, orders, and directives. Public comment will be available on each item on the agenda, both channel 26 and sfgovtv. Org are streaming the number across the screen. Each member of the public will be allowed two minutes to speak. Sorry. 86008511633. If using zoom platform to speak, select the raised hand option to raise your hand to speak. Please call from a quiet location, speak clearly and slowly, and turn down your television or radio. Alternatively, while we recommend that you use zoom audio or a telephone for Public Comment, you may hit a written Public Comment through the chat function on zoom. Thank you to sfgovtv and Media Services for sharing this meeting with the public. We will start with a roll call. [roll call] all right. The first order of business is general Public Comment, and these are items not listed on tonights meeting agenda, and ill ask Senior Analyst rice if we have any general Public Comment. Good evening. Im looking to see, and currently, there are no hands raised in the queue. Checking the chat right now, and it doesnt look like theres anybody who would like to speak during Public Comment. Thank you. If theres no Public Comment, were going to close that down, gavel down, and now for the agenda. The next agenda item is number two, approval of our minutes for the october 20, 2020 meeting, and im going to ask if we have a motion to approve the minutes for october 20, 2020. So moved. Second. Okay. Is there any Public Comment on the minutes . Im checking right now. I just was letting in commissioner caminong. Theres no hands raised in the callin section, and nobody has a chat comment. Okay. Well close Public Comment, and we can vote. [roll call] all right, with that, the minutes have been approved. Gavel down. The next is report from executive director weiland. Good evening, commissioners. I hope youre all doing well this evening. I just have a couple of brief updates for you all. I wanted to provide an update on our Just Add Music permit, along with some updated stats and some work that our jam team and, really, the leadership of dylan rice has been doing to improve our permit, so thats nice. Here are our stats right now. We have received 143 applications so far since we launched this program on september 25, and its been nearly two months. We have sent out 85 approvals for jam permits. 18 applications were ineligible for various reasons, you know, including didnt comply with the Underlying Health order or was on other jurisdiction that we do not permit, for example. 40 are in various stages or are incomplete, and just as a reminder, that either means its undergoing the 72hour sfpd review or we mighti be waiting on some information from the applicant. In the beginning, we were receiving quite a few applications in the first few weeks alone, and now, its gone down to a couple of applications a week that were receiving a week, so now, were ready to launch an Outreach Initiative and so youll see an eblast go out for the initiative, encouraging folks to apply. We are utilizing all of our inspections to ensure our businesses that were getting complaints about regarding the amplified sound and bringing folks in through that probable cause, but theres probably a ton of places that were not aware of that were just not receiving complaints about, so well keep you posted on all that. But i just wanted to let you all know, i think we had heard at our last hearing, some feedback about the jam permit being to cumbersome, taking too much time, and so dylan worked really hard with our team and Digital Services to upgrade our application to kind of like a 2. 0, and so really, its much more streamlined now, and the practice is more clarified. So prior to these changes, the eligibility to apply was not as clear as it could be. Now that language is clarified, and eligible and rules are more specific in the transaction page. And then, another problem was that we were asking for some duplicative documents that made the application longer and more complex, so people found it cumbersome to have to upload their health and safety plan or shared spaces permit, and now, the Entertainment Commission staff is looking at the plan database online as opposed to requiring the documentation. And then, were requiring on the back end that folks still having to comply with a health and safety plan and a safety protocol. That was a jam requirement. If you apply, you have to comply with that. We felt that was a really good solution. So we are looking forward to it and think we can handle more at this point, so thanks to all of you for pushing out jam application messaging. My other is just around rule, Health Orders changing. There was another that came out just yesterday that made some kind of minor updates to the announcements last week. The biggest one was that Indoor Dining is closed now. It was only up for a few weeks and now its not occurring anymore, and this new version of the health order is drawing down the number of people that are going to be allowed within Office Spaces and i am goods, for example, so reducing capacity. And just a note that San Francisco is now in the red tier, and its likely that we may roll back sorry. Just was getting a work call. Its likely that we may roll back even further into another tier, and so, you know, you could anticipate further changes, for instance, on other indoor activities that are currently being allowed, and so ill keep you all posted with that. And thats all i have this evening. Do you have any questions . Okay. President bleiman, ill give it back to you. Okay. Thank you. I know its been a its been a rocky road here, so thanks for staying the course. I had a question just about t enforcement side of things that were doing, and i think its at least the bar owners that im associated with, it seems like there are probably 99 of anyone are trying to follow the rules the best they can and doing everything they can to attempt the rules are tough to actually follow, and it does seem like theres a really, really tiny fraction of businesses that are kind of not really following any of the rules, and theyre kind of causing problems for other people. Have you noticed that in the enforcement side of things . Is this a better question for the directors report . Yeah. I mean, we can get into it during the enforcement report if you like, especially if you want to drawdown on specific examples that you see. But i will say that kaitlyn and i, in our attempt to share enforcement related information with this group really has to drawdown on sharing information for this group as opposed to the Attorneys Office under the cert umbrella, so what youll be seeing is violations to the health order that are related to providing entertainment or amplified sound. So were really trying to draw that line. Its pretty challenging because there are violations beyond, for example, okay, folks are not being offered a meal with drinks . Thats not something we would be sharing with this group, but say, for example, a d. J. Is causing a dance party, we would share that with this group. Thats kind of an interesting line that were going to try to abide by with the condition hearing, so we can get into that more. I think if you want to talk about specific venues, that would be the agenda item. Yeah, that makes sense. Ill bring it up after we see the report. Its also the d. J. Causes a dance party. Its like that chicken and the egg. Okay. Any other comments or questions from the commissioners . All right. Is there any Public Comment on this agenda item . Im checking right now, and there are no hands raised and no chat comments, either. I got it. All right. Then Public Comment is closed. Gavel down, and the next agenda item is number four, which is the report from Deputy Director azevedo. Good evening, commissioners. Nice to see your faces tonight. We have two applications tonight. The two are for place of entertainment and change in ownership. The first is for ktv box am i giving the right one right now . Lets go back per the agenda. Okay. I dont think ive made this mistake before. I apologize, folks. Shes got too much going on, i can tell. I have okay. Pause, disregard. Lets start that over. Lets talk about enforcement okay. All right. Im just going to go ahead and pull up my enforcement report here. So i shared this with all of you in our google drive folder, though its many pages and its the entirety of our enforcement history thus far, but i will be talking about just a few highlighted items more recently that have occurred since our last hearing. So i did just want to mention that, in total, we have received a total of 92 complaints. This has been since the jam permit has gone live. So what i wanted to speak with you all about, the first is going to be the midway. So i wanted to mention the midway because its kind of a perfect segue to what president bleiman was just asking, and how we will speak primarily to Entertainment Commission violations and how is relates to the jam permit but how it relates to the over. We have been receiving sound complaints from the midway. Just so you know, the midway does hold a permit that allows for outdoor amplified sound at their current location, however, they also hold a street permit at a different location, and that is where they are activating their sound. They are also applying for that jam permit to be able to have t the street closure at a different site. I go like this because its two streets that meet in an apex with the d. J. In the middle. One of the things that weve seen is Health Violations with folks dancing. So this isnt just happening at one location, its happening citywide. So out of your seat dancing is not permitted because of the health order. Weve been learning that sitting and dancing is permitted, so as long as your booty is in a chair, you can dance, but you cannot get up and stand next to your table and dance. Its not just happening at the midway, but we will be mentioning it. We are working to ensure full compliance at that location. The second permit is the blue light. They also have Outdoor Dining, which has been approved by the shared spaces program, and they have an outdoor speaker. One of the more recent things that we saw that sort of falls into the health and entertainment realm is televisions inside, and now, were seeing them outside. So while dining was allowed inside, t. V. S are not. I mention the blue light because when we visited them on the 7th, we found that they had not been yet issued their jam permit but were well aware of the permit regulation, and they also had t. V. S playing inside the business, which is not allowed. So i want to let you know that they have been issued a violation, and theyve since been issued their jam permit, and they are aware of the situation and that t. V. S are not allowed inside now. Moving onto hotel via, we have a little bit of a history with the hotel via because we have received quite a bit of complaints about this business. We actually were out there four out of five weekends from november excuse me, september through october, and upon upon every visit, we were finding a violation, so they were operating above their sound limit. Just as a reminder, hotel via holds a limit live outdoor perform anticipate permit, so they have an existing sound permit that performance permit, so they have an existing sound permit. Most recently, they were found to be operating in excess of 10 decibels above their sound limit, and they were issued a health order. So we did issue a citation for hotel via, and that was issued on november 10. We have been in touch with the management since, and we are hoping to see full compliance moving forward. I wanted to mention copa copa di vino. So since jam has been come into our lives, theyve since been permitted accordingly. So they play live instruments, including a drum set, and all of their instruments are in compliance with the Health Orders regulation, but we have received sound complaints. So our inspectors worked hard to find a happy medium with a sound that works in compliant with the outdoor sound limit, whats realistic for the business, and the musicians that are performing, and what makes sense with the anybodies. So i mention this because i think this is a Great Success scory. Recently, we did get a sound complaint, but upon infection, we went out and tested the band that was performing, and we found they were in compliant with their sound limit. Similarly, in the same vein of a success story, the jam has been a great instrument for us, a great permitting instrument . So trademark and copy right recently applied for their shared spaces permit in the front of their business, and they also received a jam permit in conjunction . And over the weekend, they received a sound complaint related to their music. Inspectors responded and looked at it, and it was not in violation. They had a jam permit, and it was totally allowable. He spoke to them, and reiterated the limit at which they were allowed to operate, and all was well there. The last business i want to mention is tupelo, and there is some confusion about bands performing inside a business for patrons dining outside . So tupelo is one of the businesses conducting performances in that fashion, where the band is inside, and thats not allowed. So we did respond to it was actually a 311 cert complaint, so an inspector was able to witness the band performing, a couple of the musicians unmasked, and so this is a violation, and so were working with the owner to bring them into compliance and have explained that the indoor performances are not permitted. So its been a while since weve met. Theres a lot of information, but im happy to answer any questions that you have or chat about any other entries here. Just let me know. I have a question. So if the t. V. S are not allowed, what happens if they turn their pictures off, and theyre playing the t. V. . What happens then . I dont think i followed the question. Sorry. So you can have your t. V. On youre talking about outside . Inside, inside. cause theyre not youre not allowed to do Indoor Dining or any television at all, correct . So what happens if they turnoff their screens, and the music is still playing . Is that a violation . From inside . Well, i guess it doesnt matter now because dining is off limits, but if it comes back again i always had that question in my head. Theres no television, but if you turn the t. V. Off, and you cant see the picture but you can hear the speaker. Sorry, director weiland. Were you going to i was just going to say, that would require a jam permit. If its coming from inside to Outdoor Dining patrons, yeah, we would cover that. Okay. So the jam permit, you can do that. The jam permit, theyre outside. But inside, whenever that comes back. Yeah, jam is not going to be applicable because Indoor Dining is not allowed . And were not going to concern ourselves with Indoor Dining because we have not in the past . The concern is Outdoor Dining and entertainment in general. Im not combining the two together, im just saying, for my own knowledge, jam is for outside, but when were able to dine inside again, whenever that is, and it says on the covid restrictions, no televisions can be turned on. Thats right. But sometimes these people have satellite cable with no picture, and they want to run it, is that allowable . So if Indoor Dining came back, you could certainly amplify sound inside to accommodate Indoor Dining . And certainly, that would be a Football Game or whatever it is coming from the t. V. Sound. Yeah, they say i think, commissioner lee, its sort of a gray area because the rules say no t. V. Indoors, so it could potentially be viewed as youre out of compliance if youre using that t. V. But you know what im saying . Right, right. So might as well just use a regular old speaker and call it a day. Because before, people would ask me. When you say no t. V. , that means completely off or no picture, you know . People could just listen and talk to each other, and theres no picture to excite them to do dancing. Yeah, no entertainer allowed, either. Same kind of reasoning. Yeah, right. So i just wanted to know what that is for my own so, for example, on the night that the president elect was announced, there were a lot of businesses that were doing Indoor Dining still, and they were amplifying the sound of those speeches, so yeah. But no pictures. Yeah, thats right. Okay. All right. I think we got it. Any other questions . I have a question. Can you hear me . Yes, i can hear you. Hi. Hi. My question is with regards to hotel via . Mmhmm . Did they give an explanation as to why they were ten decibels over their limit . Was it, like, new manager or they dont have a reader on hand . Yeah, so i do have an answer for that. That was, by far, the most egregious violation, the ten decibels, and the manager messaged me after the fact and said there was a d. J. Onsite that wasnt following the rules, and so the d. J. Was kind of on their own accord and making that decision. That said, the citation felt warranted because it was the fifth occurrence or excuse me, fourth occurrence of a sound violation in a row, but in that instance, ten decibels, they did say that the d. J. Went rogue. But they could not tell on their own that the sound was much higher than normal . No, i believe they did. And they just ignored it. And i would say investigator sabino has been working really hard and really closely with this business, and he did go back and match meters with them it had been done in the past before, but he did match meters to get them to understand where they need to be with their sound limit to be in compliance, and ive been told by management that theyve installed a limiter. So if a d. J. Wants to go over, they wont be able to do that. Excellent. Thank you. Yeah, thank you very much. This is not the first time that hotel via has not been on your radar. No, this is not the first time that theyve not been around compliance. Can you tell me about the enforcement of the midway . Yeah. So i want to clarify, again, that our e. C. Inspectors work also with the cert program, and so sometimes the complaints come in when the inspectors are working . However, when a complaint is Health Related or sound relates, they are finding both on inspection. The complaints about the midway, generally, while weve received sound, weve received health order complaints, but on inspection, have found that they are sound its loud. And so one thing that, you know, director weiland and i were talking about with the inspectors, normally, we dont get sound complaints about the midway because theyre out, and theyre isolated. I think with the setups of their new street closure, and its just generally quiet, more quiet in the city, thats amplifying and carrying a bit more, and so residents are, in fact, hearing that. So weve been working with them. I do want to mention their street closure permit was issued before jam was created, so the so the requirement of receiving or applying for a jam permit was actually a fairly new direction . It came to our attention that the sound was not occurring where their p. O. E. Was covering that footprint, so it was a recent asking for them to apply for the jam permit. Historically, i would say that weve been working with them for a few months. I dont have dates in front of me, but that sounds about accurate. We have made a few visits out there, and we have spoken with management, so i think that we a are i think that we are in a place where were moving forward. Once the jam permit is issued, that limit will be set, and then it will be clear. I hope that answers your question. That was a lot of information. May i just make one incident jincident interjection. This is not specifically to the midway, but there are a lot of places that we permitted precovid days that are trying to find ways to use outdoor space now and still provide entertainment, and we provide those efforts, but we just have to commend with that where we are in the opening process, specifically with transmission rates . And unfortunately, the only way in which you can offer entertainment right now, really, is if you comply with Outdoor Dining, and Outdoor Dining has a lot of rules, and again, its not the rules were not created to allow for a whole lot of fun, so its just a reminder that being able to add entertainment, its not a simple process. You still have to comply with Outdoor Dining, butts have to be in chairs, and we cant do, because of covid, what our industry normally celebrates, so just a reminder what to do with that. Great. Anymore questions . All right. Is there any Public Comment on the Deputy Directors first presentation . Im going to check. Actually, im going to do a screen share of the Public Comment slide again. Everyone see that . I am checking the queue, and theres no comments, but i wonder if we should just hold this up right now. Well wait a sec. Also, you can locate it online. Yeah, its always on the agenda, and you can access it at sf. Gov entertainmentcommission. All right. Lets move on. Public comment is closed for this agenda item, and now we move to item number five. All right. Agenda item number five, my script is a little off, correct me if i am wrong, but agenda item five is the update from the San Francisco Venue Coalition. Yes. I will let them in now. We will have item five, update from the frisk Venue Coalition and the independent Venue Alliance. All right. We should have in our group of speakers, we should have [inaudible] steven loudermilk, and it looks like we are going to have do we have Leigh Schwartz . There she is. Okay. Everyone should be in now, and alison, whenever youre ready youll be able to do screen share on your own. You dont need my permission. All right. This is can we go . All right. Fantastic. Thanks, everybody. Hello. My name is rob ready. I am the cofounder and artistic director of piano fight that operates two stages over San Francisco and oakland and produces shows all over the bay. On behalf of the San Francisco Venue Coalition and the independent Venue Alliance, which represents basically every venue that you have in the city, thank you for your time and consideration today. We are honored to be able to present. We are here this evening to make this Entertainment Commission acutely aware of the dire situation we face during this pandemic. Artists, producers, designers, bartenders, bouncers, cooks, and technicians, to name a few, have been out of work since march, and will be out of work until things reopen. And despite this commissions best efforts, the city unfortunately has taken no meaningful action to ensure its venues will still be in business by the time its safe to open. Live music industry, in comparison to other sectors, is disproportionately affected by the pandemic. At the same time, we contribute 877 million into the national economy. Our stats bear out locally, as well. According to a recently study, over 3800 night life establishments in San Francisco employed 63,000 workers and created an estimated 6. 2 million in spending. In a densely pop yulated environment, there is no curbside pick up model. Over the next few minutes, well outline what weve done, what we are doing, and how your leadership can help up. Lynn . Mute no, im unmuted. Thank you, rob. Hello, im lynn schwartz, part owner and booker of the nightclub bottom of the hill. You might remember me from a prior Entertainment Commission zoom back in may. Those were the good old days, when we thought we would be open this year. The substance of what i have today hasnt changed since then, but the tone might be different because it really could be that most of the venues in San Francisco will not survive much longer without significant help. Everyone presenting in this section, whether a member of the i. V. A. Or the sfvc have been working together since we closed our doors. Now were working side by side and want to impart a message. Were in dire states, and we need some help. No business i know of could survive 18plus months of closure with all of the bills and none of the income. Many of our members are starting to give up hope. We havent lost any i know of on this side of the bay, but for how much longer . The only reason were still here is the generosity of our customers and our fans. We have survived through grassroots fundraisers. We continue to plan them, but we cant count on them sustaining us. The funds are drying up. Wed like to see what the numbers are and where we fit into the reopening plans. Not knowing even a rough timeline makes our jobs impossible and makes staying open seem already crazy. We desperately look forward to opening again, where we can reemploy our workers again, and using our city parks and outdoor spaces to host safe outside shows sooner for those who actually hold Entertainment Permits. We can help you create best practices, and we will adhere to them. There are many businesses in the city that have taken up the mantle of hostingen tainmen entertainment. In a nutshell, we need your help, and we need it now. I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to speak, and i once again turn it over to josh. Hey, can everybody hear me . Yes. Thank you, lynn, and members of the commission for your time. My name is josh lieberman. When i came to california ten years ago, i witnessed firsthand the development of the uptown area open as a result [inaudible] we take great pride in the feedback we receive from working audiences and the positive feedback that weve had on the neighborhood. Now union square is a ghost town. If you dont visit our venue regularly, our lot is taken over by garbage and graffiti. The conferences that so many depend on have gone online instead of coming to the city. Our street is now littered with abandoned construction equipment, which according to the m. C. A. Is supposed to last until the middle of next year. We are well aware of the importance of preserving this vital lifeline to all of our residents. The positive effects that weve seen of our neighborhood in 2018 are starting to be reversed. Foundations are in serious danger of crumbling. We would love your help to pre prevent that. Today, less than 5 of i. V. C. Or sfvc members have made use of the jam permit. With no consistently suitable symline for reopening, we find ourselves staring down the barrel of a 15to18month minimum with no enter in sight. Weve seen cities like austin put lifelines together, and sacramento has put something similar together. Meanwhile, our home state, which makes up a disproportionately large share of the arts and entertainment for contribution to the g. D. P. Has not come up with a meaningful solution to preserve the cultural and economic strengths. We come to you with the hope that we can continue to be part of the fabric of our city and start to build back better out of the crisis in the heart of our city. With that, ill kurn turn it oo casey for some insight into this hearing. Hello, and thank you for allowing us to put forth this presentation on our behalf. So october 28, with the help with the vice chair, the San Francisco democratic county feral committee unanimously approved a resolution calling for city leaders to provide emergency Financial Support to Entertainment Venues for the duration of their closures in 2020 and 2021 as mandated by the government due to the covid19 pandemic. With the unanimous support from the citys democratic leaders, the San Francisco Venue Coalition is turning to stool hall to approve city hall to approve a relief package. It is critical for all of us to survive this pandemic so we can contribute to the economic recovery of our city. Our venue relief package includes the following asks. [inaudible] we are fully aware of the citys budget shortfall and challenges brought on by this pandemic, and we also feel its critical to make our leaders understand the bleak state of our industry. This is what it will take to preserve arts and culture in San Francisco. Additionally, we are advocating for a Legacy Business Program specific to venues with eligible criteria reduced to ten years. Third, extend the commercial eviction abatement through 2021. Fourth, permanently waive taxes and licenses to Entertainment Venues, as outlined by mayor breed last month. Next, refund property taxes from last year and extend it for at least 18 months. And finally, and were hoping you, the Entertainment Commission, can be our champion specifically on this item, wed urge the sfmta to review any permitting and fees relevant to venues. We also ask for the management and issuance of m. T. A. To transfer any permits to the Entertainment Commission. Sfmta costs should be fair, affordable, predictable, and standardized. We are urging that 2019 fees be reduced or be issued as a credit for future use to ease our reentry into operation, and we are requesting that venues have the first right of refusal for temporary Parking Spaces directly in front of their venues. I will send a more detailed version of this venue relief package to executive director weiland to be sent to the commissioners and put in the minutes of this hearing. We are grateful for the entertain being commission and the office of Workforce Development for their continued work on our behalf. Again, thank you for inviting us, and we are opening to any questions you may have. Ive dealt with you since i was the owner of glass cat, and i think the last time this was brought up, we asked for you guys to come up with some points and scenarios, which you have. Theres other groups like cmac and stuff, if youre able to get a group together, i would like to meet with you guys, and maybe because weve been talking about coming up with a bunch of things to maybe present to maggie or to ben, the president. Because i know that talking to, like, city nights, ray bobbitt, the stimulation is hopped up, and theres no income coming in. But i think we can maybe try to champion something to try to the Mayors Office and see if oewd can do something for us. Because youre right. Were the first to close and the last to open, and unless the vaccine really works, it probably wont happen until april before the general public will get the vaccine. So in the meantime, we have to pay our rents, and we have to pay our taxes. So if you want to meet, id be happy to meet with you guys. I know that ben works with the bar alliance group, which is the smaller group. My forte is the larger groups, but i know what your pain is, and id like to meet with you guys, maybe, on your own time and brainstorm, maybe meet some of those points, and we could submit it to maggie or ben and up the process and see what we can do. May i respond . Sure. Commissioner lee, thank you. I absolutely the independent Venue Alliance has been saying all along, we want to work with someone. And i have no doubt the other grount wou group would want to, as well. Cmac, i havent heard a word from them since this. Im not sure that thats still a word. Do you know them to be so right now . Ben . Yeah, cmac, im still the chair of it. Now is not the venue for this, but the Entertainment Commission is not the time to discuss this, but there are things that we are working on that directly address the things that youre working on. This is the commission hearing, and so im sure that everything here pertains to the Entertainment Commission. Yeah, dont mix things here. But i will say the ideas that youre going to put forward are ideas that we have discussed, and i think i dont know if all of them are on the table, but certainly, there are people that we have spoken with in city leadership that are excited to address those. The problem is, lynn, things dont move in triage. Were not an emergency room, right . So theres a slow process for getting things through, and hopefully, they will happen, and theyll happen as quickly as possible. Its just with if you put your foot on the gas and try to make it work, it still takes month. Here, with the venue here that were in, its a public space for all of you to put out the concerns that you have and the and the issues, the very serious issues that your industry faces, and i think thats very, very helpful to get it on the Public Record, and then, we kind of take from here and then continue to try to move the things forward. I think commissioner thomas had a question. [please stand by] just more of a technical question maybe you or the executive director can explain. Im just wondering, cant we vote to make this an action item at our next meeting so that this doesnt kind of get lost and we kind of drive this . Yeah. Yeah. And maybe what is supposed to come out of this is an urged letter to the board for action. Yeah, commissioner, you can definitely do it more like informally before theres draft leg. We can add this as a discussion and action item for the december 1 hearing. Happy to do that, and then, you know, you would all work on that letter to share out, and it would be to the board and the mayor. Right. I mean, i defer to president blyman, but im thinking just to keep the momentum going, maybe if we did a vote now that we put this on calendar at our next meeting, it could create that you cant vote, but youve made a request of me and then i hear you. Yeah, got it. Okay. We dont need to vote on that. We can just ask the president , which youve done. Yeah, and i also think just so everybody knows, like, theres a very concerted effort to have something have something, and i dont know if its gonna happen or not gonna happen because things get crazy, but i think there actually will be things that we can that we can of substance that we can actually put presentations on and vote on and things coming up really soon, and from what im hearing, like before the recess. But again, i dont want to you know, i dont want to cross things, but there are a lot of people working on this right now. Thank you. All right, any other questions or comments . Just thank you for this presentation. You did a good job putting it together and presenting it. Thank you. Thanks for listening, guys, we really, really appreciate it, and again, any help that you can give, i know its there, so thank you so, so much. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, before we close this, i just want to say, the actual list of helpful things that you guys have come up with that would help the industry, they are of substance, and they resonate with me, and i think that you know, im not sure everybody can be helped with everything, but i think its a very reasonably and well thoughtthrough list that smacks of somebody doing their homework, so thank you for that. Yep. Thank you, all. I see that alison and lynn wrote some notes for you all in the chat too, commissioners, so if youre interested in following up with that, im happy to connect you. Let me know. Cool. And then i think its important that we open this to Public Comment. Senior analyst, do we have any Public Comment for this item . Apologies, i was muted. Im doing a screen share and im checking over right now to see if anyone has their hands raised. If you are interested in saying something, please click on the raised hand button. I do not see any hands raised. And i do not see any chat questions currently. If you guys do want us to bombard your next meeting with Public Comment, we can. And we absolutely will. Were not allowed to say that, but honestly, i dont think just personally, i dont think like, we get it. Its just were the Entertainment Commission, right . And so we regulate, like, basically sounds, licenses for live performance, and we care very deeply at least i do personally about the future of performance in San Francisco. But you know, we are what we are, and we have a limited but were small but mighty, i like to think. So we appreciate hearing from you. We have a voice. Well pull it forward. I dont think, you know, anybody should come out and talk to us about this with some i dont personally need any more convincing that this is a serious issue. Sure, thank you. All right, im not hearing any more Public Comments. Were going to close this agenda item. Thank you again for coming. Hopefully we will have something from our leaders soon, so hang in there, and this is a really rough pandemic were going through. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. All right, the next agenda item is no. 6, hearing of possible action for permits under the jurisdiction of the Entertainment Commission, and i will ask Deputy Director to introduce the items on the agenda. Hi again. Good evening. Lets try this round two, correctly, okay. So the first permit applications tonight are for a place of entertainment and extended hours premises change in ownership permits for 1660 geary boulevard, formerly known as town music studio. The new business name will be ktv box. The new owner, edmund chang of little suite inc. Plans to maintain it as a karaoke business, and although he is applying for both the poe and until 2 a. M. Daily, but he wanted to maintain the original licenses from the previous businessoner. There is a possibility of using the ehp license on friday and saturday nights, but this is to be determined in the future based on the businesss needs. Case tv box will not serve alcohol. You will see in the application there is consideration of serving boba tea and prepackaged food, but edmund has decided to suspend this until further notice and not have any food or beverages on site for patrons. He conducted Neighborhood Outreach and sent a copy of the letter included in your file to the 33 Business Owners in japantown mall where the business is located. Additionally they collected 16 letters of support, which are also included in your file. There was no opposition to this permit, and northern station approves the permit with no added conditions. Here to speak to you tonight is the new owner, edmund chang. Edmund, if you want to unmute yourse yourself. Okay, hi, everyone. Hello . Hi. Are you hearing me . Yes. Okay. Yeah, my names edmund, edmund chang, yeah in japantown area. We have, like, the 10 karaoke room. Its a private room, yeah. We [indiscernible] and then, yeah, any we try getting small entertainment business over there. Any question on my application . So the location is an existing location, right . Youre just taking over . Yes. Is that the one on gary between laguna and webster . Yeah. Its that one, right . On gary. And you have experience running karaoke bar before . I doing, like, entertainment, yeah, before, yeah. I doing the safe entertainment running, you know, hosting the concerts like within, like, 5,000 people. So kind of promoter, right . Promoter, yeah. Okay. Yeah, ive been to that karaoke bar before. Its had many owners. A lot of people like to go there, unfortunately cant go there now, but so youre just kind of wanting just to take over the existing business and running it the same way . Even before i dont know what they do before, but now we going to do karaoke only, no alcohol. Just for fun, for family fun, you know, for any, like, friend or families, they can stick together, you know, getting some in a private room, yeah. Okay. I dont have any real questions because i know its just a karaoke bar, but i pass it to any of the other guys. Good luck to you. I mean, keep that karaoke business going. Its been around for a long time, so hopefully youll be successful. Thank you. Other questions . I have a quick question. Go ahead. Hi. Thank you for being here. With regards to your karaoke rooms, the doors, they have windows, correct, so people can see in . They have rooms, they have the small window open, yeah from outside to inside. Okay, very good. And then i know that you were applying also for the extended hours permit for the future use. Are you expecting a lot of people to do karaoke until 6 a. M. . No. Maybe just some for, you know, holiday, not for every day. Just for some time in case we need that we have the permit for that. I understand. Thank you very much, and good luck. Thank you. Other questions . I dont actually have any questions. Sounds very straightforward to me, but i wish you luck on this and karaoke is amazing. Commissioner wang, you dont have any questions . I saw you unmute. Im going to open this up for Public Comment right now. Any Public Comment on this agenda item . Currently looking, and i do not see any hands raised, and i do not see any chat comments. Were going to close Public Comment on this. Thank you very much for your presentation, and we can have a vote. Ill raise a motion sorry . I have a motion if were willing to entertain it. I second. Oh, can we just state the motion . Its the motion to approve with conditions. Are you still talking to me . We might have a technical issue. Am i raising the motion . Yeah, i think you are, commissioner. Oh, sorry about that. It cut out on me. So my motion was to approve with the recommendation of the Good Neighbor policy. I second. Before we vote, just the Good Neighbor policy is a standard policy that we blanketing on all everything that we vote on, right . So just for the sake of keeping things, i know you love this. Do we need to actually restate the Good Neighbor policy in general . It is the staff recommendation. Okay. Well okay, sorry. Commissioner thomas . Aye. Commissioner lee . Aye. Commissioner perez . Aye. Commissioner blindman . Aye. Commissioner aye. Congratulations, your permits been approved. You can follow up with our staff at your earliest convenience and they will give you the next steps. Thank you for coming. Thank you, everyone. Good luck. Do we have another applicant . We do. I like being called commissioner. Sorry. [laughter] yes, we do have a second permit. Oh, no. The second permit application tonight is for a place of Entertainment Permit for arcana located at 2512 mission street. The owner of arcana dwell llc recently underwent a cu to have nighttime entertainment added as a principal use to the premises. Now that they have successfully been approved by the planning department, naz is applying for a poe permit to have entertainment at arcana. Proposed programming includes an array of live performances, such as music, art and comedy shows, plus social and political gatherings and multicultural events. The proposed kind of programming is still to be defended, but they have applied for a daily use of the poa until 2 a. M. Naz conducted Neighborhood Outreach and sent the attached letter to the 32 residents near the business and left a copy of the letter in the lovita building at the end of the block which houses hundreds of residents. There is no opposition to this permit and mission station approved the permit with no added conditions. Here to speak tonight is the new owner, naz. Good evening, everybody. Can everybody hear me . Okay, great. My name is naz, im a nonbinary artist, activist, as well as an Asylum Seeker from iran. I moved here more than ten years ago, and while i was in school i started working as a prep [indiscernible] server and i moved up to event manager positions, and finally i had the courage to open up my own business in the lovely mission district. So as the director explained, we are focused on cultural, musical and Performance Art as entertainment to keep alive one of the most important characters of San Francisco together with local artists, performers and musicians arcana will show case and promote these types of events. We are focused mostly on live instrumental musical performances like bands or solo performs, dance, poetry night, readings and community gatherings. This is part of a larger use Conference Center in culture, healthy cue seen in the past year ive been actively engaging with our Community Stakeholders and neighbors. Our obligation has been unanimously approved, receiving 125 letters of support including from mission economies Development Agency and mission Merchant Association during the Public Comment you also received about 20 phone calls and the application included our place of entertainment that we will be requesting. I hope that the commissioners can approve the permit for arcana as it is a vital asset of our venue. And im available to answer any further questions. Thank you. Questions . Umm, hi, how are you . Can you so have you obviously you worked in doing everything in the bar services and beverage industry. As far as the managing of any kind of venue of this, you know, do you have any experience that you can share with us as far as, you know, booking the acts or if you have a complaint from a neighbor, what you know, did you have to resolve any issues and any other places that you might have worked at . Yes. So i worked at two bigger venues that i that are much bigger than what arcana was going to be. One of them was San Francisco speak easy which is an american theatrical venn yau right in the middle of chinatown. I started as a server there and moved on to Service Manager position. We never actually because it was an underground venue, we never had complaints from neighbors specifically. We always just had to work issues out with the fellow officeholders and was in the same building as the china life building basically, and we had incidents with patrons just violating whatever issue there was with servers or other patrons or walking out with their drinks in their hands and such. If it was directed to me, i would always just try to deescalate the situation, explain to the patron what the issue is, how to address it, and we really never nothing ever turned out to be a big issue. And it was mostly handled. And how long were you in that position . As the Service Manager . A year. Before that i worked another year in the same venue as a server. So you dont have any issues telling your patrons to behave themselves because they had a little bit too much . Absolutely not. I have specifically been working in bars and i worked at the starlight room when it was the starlight room, and because of tourists, we have a lot of just patrons drinking too much, asking improper questions from other patrons or servers, and i never had an issue with acknowledging the wrong doing of anybody. The situation was always handled, as soon as i acknowledge it, everybody apologizes and just moves on. Okay. How about your sound equipment . Are your entertainers going to bring in their own equipment . Are you going to have inhouse . I think for now we will not have anything inhouse. We will have the musicians will bring their own sound equipment, although i just want to mention we are mostly going to rely on just not so much of amplified music with amplifiers but more of the sound of the instrument itself its a very small area. So our whole property lot is 2300, but only half of the front of the building is our venue. Half of the back of the building is all restrooms and storage and kitchen. So its actually very small venue. I dont think we really need a lot of amplified sound. Have you done any soundproofing at all or any draperies in front of the windows or the doors . You know, because ventilation, you know, you have to keep the doors shut. Yes. So when people go out, the music, even though its acoustic, a small place like that will go out in the street. Have you planned for any of this . So all of our so we are actually remodelling, doing tenants improvement in the venue, so the we replaced the store and the window there. We actually closed off half of it with a wall, and so thats already, like, one third of that wall of the front entrance is gone, protected by wall. But the are double insulated themselves. We are putting 200 square foot of acoustic tile around the areas where we will stage our performers, and as well as we will have a heavy duty thick theater curtain, actually, right after you enter the property after the door and the window. And doors, theatrical curtains do actually work really well at soundproofing. Okay. Sounds like you know should be a fun venue for you. I mean, i know the speak easy was actually quite large. Yes. Too bad it didnt last, but good luck to you. I think the sound, if its acoustic, you should be okay. If you do bring in or they insist on bringing in amplified sound, you know, theyre going to give you a sound test, right, so that it fits your space. Its just a little difficult to monitor. Youre going to have to monitor it maybe, you know, on your smartphone. You can monitor the decibels if they start bringing in their own equipment. Definitely. We will probably do sound checks before patrons arrive or anything happens and ill make sure all the performers know not to go ten decibel above whats allowed. Okay, good luck. Thank you so much. More questions . Question. Yeah. Hi. Thanks for coming in. Can you expand more on your Community Outreach and what was the response that you got . Definitely. So about a year ago, i started reaching out to [indiscernible] the District Supervisor encouraged me to talk to [indiscernible] mission and mission Merchant Association. So during my outreach, we tried to come down to a mutual agreement where we agree on affordable prices, specifically hiring local staff and just because theres many workingclass families that live in the mission area, to make sure that our entertainment and our beer and wine license and everything will not affect the neighborhood in any negative way, and rommero, which is a Community Advocate working through meda, he was my mentor. He helped me put down my visa plan and everything [indiscernible] throughout the Business Program that they have at meda, so i just everything i do i really, like, check to make sure im on the same page with everybody, and he wrote a really beautiful letter of support for us for our conditional use application. He is extremely busy, so i just didnt want to bother them more during especially during covid because they are just extremely busy with helping the community. But he sent a beautiful letter of support, mission Merchant Association also sent a letter of support. We did not get a letter of support from united to save the mission or cuatro for the specific reason of them wanting me to enter a mutual private agreement, like a memorandum of understanding with them, which i found extremely unreasonable, specifically because of the amount of outreach i did and my own background and everything i possibly did in the past year to just make sure that they know i will be a good addition to the neighborhood. But we also have no opposition from them. Did you hear specifically from any resident and neighbors . No. I did Neighborhood Outreach through starting from, like, next door to just talking to the neighbors, sending out letters specifically after covid because i didnt feel comfortable reaching people, like, in person or knocking on their door or anything like that. I did include my personal information, the letter that you received, nobody reached out to me. Everybody who did wished me luck, and so there was nothing negative. Well, i also want to wish you luck being a person of color business owner, woman and queer. I have a lot of respect for you, and thank you for creating this space to put forward your culture and be a part of the vitality of the community. Best wishes to you. Thank you so much. Questions . I did have one important question. Why in gods name did you get a cu on a property that just seems like so much work. [laughter] because in order to be a full Service Restaurant and get the beer and wine license, because in the mission theres a mission alcoholic use district which does not actually allow anyone to apply for a full bar permit anymore and theres only beer and wine licenses left, only 167 in the district are allowed to do so, and its just at 142 or 48, so its just extremely difficult neighborhood to basically do anything in, actually. And so everything as you go through kwnl in order to be able to get conditional in order to be able to get any permit. Well, congratulations. That is a huge undertaking. So i own a bar just two blocks, after tea, and we looked for use for our back patio, and holy moses. Everything. [indiscernible]. Congratulations. Thank you. Any other commissioners . Any comments . Questions . All right, im going to open this up to Public Comment. Senior analyst rice, can you yes, we have one person with their hand raised, eva mah. I will allow them to talk. Eva, do you want to unmute yourself . Hello, can you hear me . You have two minutes, thank you. Yeah, im also a gender queer person who has lived in the mission for many years, and i have been working with naz for the past six months. I am a spanish teacher. We do spanish twice a week. Im also a musician, and i just have to say ive seen nazs commitment to learning spanish, to supporting local music, and has been a you know, getting advice from me on what bands to bring in, acoustically, of course. It is really respectful of the neighborhood. I could not be more excited about having naz in the neighborhood bringing in their commitment to social justice and another live music space, so thank you for supporting nazs Entertainment Permit. They know the neighborhood they are coming into, and their commitment is very real. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Analyst rice, Senior Analyst rice, anything else . I am looking, and theres nobody else with their hand raised and there are no comments in the chat. All right, im going to go ahead and close Public Comment for this. Is there a motion . Id like to make a motion that we approve this with staff recommendations for the Good Neighbor policy. Seconded. All right, commissioner thomas . Aye. Commissioner lee . Aye. Commissioner perez . Aye. Commissioner blindman . Aye. Commissioner fallson . Aye. Commissioner. Aye. And commissioner wang . Aye. Your permit had been approved. Congratulations. Please follow up with our staff at your earliest convenience. We are so excited for spaces like this to open, especially a net new spots, net new spots, not preexisting spots. So congratulations. And do let us know when the opening is. Well come down from teeth. I will. Thank you so much. Good luck, naz. Thank you. Yeah, good luck. Good luck. Thank you. All right. Moving along. All right, final agenda item is commissioners comments and questions tonight. Just wondering if we have whos got something to say . Im just happy to see people investing in new businesses in our industry again. Amazing. Yeah. Great point. I hope its a lot easier. I mean, thank god for prop h, but yes i mean, its it kind of shows you that if you really committed, if youre willing to wait a year to get your conditional use in this town, because its not easy, you know . Terrible. So hopefully that will change this coming these next few years. Yeah, and prop h should go into effect in january, correct, ben . Well, we realized that now we have to implement it, right . Yes. That didnt occur to me that id have to be a part of that. Thats always the challenge. Nobody else is going to do it. Ill be there with you, ben. Well, yeah, anybody else have comments . I just have a couple. So first of all oh, commissioner perez . Please. I would like to say happy thanksgiving to everyone, so happy holidays. Happy thanksgiving. Happy thanksgiving. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. So i have two quick things. So one, i was quoted in edeter very aggressively, but i stand by my quote, and you know, i said it before, 99 of the operators of Hospitality Industries are trying to follow the rules right now, and theres a really small amount, like less than 1 , but not insignificant of people who are just taking advantage of the situation. They are essential profiteering. They are opening the doors as business as usual. They are cranking music and partying, and i personally just want to say i think its morally reprehensible, and the rest of us are trying so hard to not spread this virus and to do things right and to see other people just flippantly just misbehaving and throwing the rools out. Its really offensive to me, and its a real detriment to all the people trying to follow the rules. Thats one thing. And then im looking forward to thanksgiving. Im thinking im going to follow this week because were stuck at home, im going to follow commissioner lees recommendation. Im going to put on my tv and turn the sound way up and then turn the screen off and just kick up my feet and just listen to my tv like a regular old american. Make sure its commercial free, okay . Kick my feet up and just listen to my tv like usual, yeah, it will be great. Im still confused about that whole conversation. Can we not get into it right now . No, no. Call me later, dave. Ill tell you. Yeah. I will. A lot of times if you use a hammer on the screen, it will turn the screen off but the sound keeps coming up. Thats the way to do it. But i do have one followup comment, then, about the bad behavior. Yeah. I think its also too, but not to count the people that maybe are not educated enough or they dont want to read the fine print, but they have to not just because youre hooked up with a food provider, you have to have the food providers take the orders or do the and bring the things. They cant just be next door to each other thinking thats a compliance. I dont know, to me its like, you know, one thing to just follow outline the rules and do it well. If people are masks on and buts in seats and no more than six people per table. Its the places that are having parties with hundreds of people, and they are all over the place. Its just a few of them, but you can find them and its really offensive and its really, really morally wrong, as far as im concerned, and i want to go on Public Record saying that. Yeah, yeah. No, its just that i talked to them about it, and they go, oh, no, you know, as long as we connect with that guy next door, we can do it. I dont think you can do that, you know . Sure. The food thing is another thing. Parties inside with djs is completely different. Spreading covid. Anyway, thanks, everyone. Is there any Public Comment on my and all of our great commissioners comments and questions . Youre on mute. Apologies. There are no hands raised and there are no chat comments. Awesome. Well, happy thanksgiving, everybody. Were going to adjourn the meeting at 7 07 p. M. Happy thanksgiving, everyone. Happy thanksgiving. Bye. President yee welcome to the november 17, 2020, meeting of the San Francisco board of supervisors. Madam clerk, will you please call the roll. [roll call]
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