SF Hopes Pending Measure Cracks Down On Nightlife
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This historically hard-partying city is poised to adopt a get-tough ordinance that officials hope will allow the swift shutdown of nightspots that become magnets for violence.
The measure giving San Francisco's beleaguered Entertainment Commission the power to revoke the operating permits of troubled clubs comes after residential complaints about noise, unruliness and gunplay, mostly outside popular spots in the wee-morning hours.
Last month, there was a fatal shooting outside a popular Mission Bay nightclub. And six months ago, a hail of 44 bullets outside a notorious club in the Fisherman's Wharf area left one person dead and four critically injured.
"San Francisco has had a very vibrant nightlife with many clubs who have operated very well without affecting their surroundings," said David Chiu, a county supervisor whose district encompasses the Wharf, North Beach, Union Square and Nob Hill.
"But unfortunately we've had some problematic clubs with histories of violence," said Chiu, saying the city is averaging a club-related shooting a month.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, who this spring questioned the commission's effectiveness, is expected to sign the measure into law this week.
The violent revelry has become cause for concern even in this tolerant international tourist destination where during the Gold Rush, seedy bayside establishments for sex, gambling and drinking were known as the Barbary Coast.
Enraged residents have complained for years that the seven-member politically appointed Entertainment Commission, which regulates and promotes city nightlife, has turned a blind eye to the problem because of the financial benefits partygoers bring to the city. Some critics said the panel should be shut down for failing to take prompt action against clubs with recurring problems.
However, the commission's acting executive director Jocelyn Kane said a few bad clubs have fueled a perception that the city's dancing and drinking venues are unsafe.
"Ninety-nine percent of our establishments are extremely responsible," Kane said. "Stuff happens sometimes, but now we have the tools to act swiftly to determine whether a venue hasn't acted as responsibly as they should."
About 2 percent of the city's 1,500 recognized nightspots now are considered trouble spots, said police Cmdr. Jim Dudley.
The ordinance is long overdue, Dudley said. "If this is used quickly and judiciously, it could help the industry and public safety," he said.
Previously, the commission had authority to temporarily suspend a venue's operating permit but it could only be revoked if the owner falsified the permit application.
But with the Board of Supervisors recently voting unanimously to expand the commission's power to revoke a venue's permit, Chiu said, "There's no more excuses."
Kane said the commission will make the most of its expanded powers. "We do not take violence lightly and we will respond swiftly," she said. "We care about this city and that's why I'm confident we will be here year after year."
For more than three years, Club Suede, the Fisherman's Wharf nightspot, was on the radar of the commission and police. Neighbors repeatedly said the two-story club was too crowded, too loud and did little to tame the debauchery that occurred at closing time.
After 100 police responded to the fatal gunfire outside the club in February, Club Suede had its license suspended. It remains closed.
Newsom chimed in during a spring hearing on the club's fate.
"Enough is enough. I want to put an end to this. This is taking a lot of time, this one club," Newsom said. "People are spending a lot of energy to shut it down, and it shouldn't be this hard."
The episode prompted City Attorney Dennis Herrera to file a lawsuit in April to shut the club down permanently. Herrera and Suede's owners are currently in settlement talks.
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