Action Must Be Taken Now

I recently attended a police community meeting at Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center that usually has six people in attendance. This time there were 36 people with Officer Fred Crisp leading the meeting of unhappy neighbors who had the frightening experience of hearing gunshots late at night only to realize that their cars had been hit as had the building they lived in. It was very lucky no one was killed.

A nearby club owner had trouble at his club that same night, had to call in the police and, while it was difficult to prove that the troublemakers at the club were the same people who shot the rounds of bullets along the 400 block of Francisco Street, the neighbors were up in arms. One man brought the bullet in a plastic bag, said it was going to cost $500 to fix his car. Another man put the club owner on warning that the neighborhood would not tolerate another incident.

After much talk and not a lot of solutions, the neighbors were still not happy. I asked the owner of the club if he would consider paying for the damages incurred by the residents on Francisco. He agreed to look into his insurance policy and he will report back at the meeting this month.

It is clear to me that the practice of club owners subletting their clubs out to promoters who offer to bring in big crowds is risky. One, the promoter is not liable, the club owner is, and two, certain promoters are not as responsible as others. This same problem exists on Broadway and there have been many incidents of violence on the weekends including bullets fired and stabbings. On Saturday, a man was shot in the face on Broadway and there were numerous other arrests made.

Action must be taken now.

There is discussion at the Entertainment Commission about having all promoters be required to obtain a business license before they can work in the City. That certainly makes sense to me.