Bay Guardian updates, and BAR gives us the District 6 rundown

First off, thanks to the Bay Guardian (and the SF Weekly) for keeping up on the story of the attack on San Francisco nightlife.  The March 23rd Bay Guardian  cover story tackled Mayor Newsom's puzzling behavior and catches up with various politicos and players to keep us informed on what is happening with our local government and the SFPD.  I particularly appreciate the fact that they made Larry Bertrand the cover boy.  This week, they got a response from Captain McDonough that  paints him as a tireless protector of quality of life in San Francisco.  From the sound of things, there is a community meeting being held in SOMA on the 21st of April.  Might be worth attending.

The Bay Area Reporter today, made the valid point that whoever wins District 6 in the next elections will be handed the nightclub hot potato upon entering office.  I myself plan to make it my business to find out each of their opinions and support the candidate who best represents my interests.

supe President Chui steps up, but hey, where's the Chronicle?

Board of Supes president David Chui demonstrated some hyperbole-free leadership today by proposing that the Entertainment Comission (or some other government body) should have the right to permanently shutter problem nightclubs.  This is good news, in my opinion, as the EC is currently hamstrung by its lack of enforcement capabilities.  Since David Chui is not campaigning for the  pale glories of the Lt Governor's office,  his focus seems to be on what is best for San Francisco.  He has earned my interest by this action, and I will certainly attend any public hearings on the subject to support this proposal.

I was interested to note however, that I got this story, not from our local rag, the San Francisco Chronicle, but from the San Jose Mercury News.  the Chron seems to be limping toward oblivion these days. This is the sort of story that seems right up the Chronicle's alley, except it does not conform to their vision of a populace terrified by rampaging nightclub attendees.  I have read reports hither and yon, of reporters leaving the Chronicle like rats leaving a sinking ship.  I end up getting most of my local news from http://sfappeal.com/, http://www.sfbg.com/, http://www.nbcbayarea.com/ and the microscopically local news from Noe Valley Voice and The Mission Blog.  I like having all those diverse opinions available to read, but it saddens me that the once mighty Chronicle's reportage has deteriorated so.

Oh hey, here's the Chronicle story, and its even written by a real person! Glad to note they have not given up entirely on reporting.  For a far more sober and cynical view of these recent events, you should definitely check out Jamie Z's blog today.

We wait on Gavin to speak out for 8 months, and all we get is...

this?  Boy, am I disgusted.  Where was the Gavin when the ABC began hounding every all-ages club in San Francisco?  What is with his failure to mediate that has led a few frustrated nightlife advocates to go after the city with a lawsuit?

And here's a story that simply quadruples my cynicism about effective and informed SF city government.  The SF Appeal found some crazy copy in a grant proposal accepted by the ever-useless Public Safety Commision.  Perhaps if those clowns bothered to read something other than SFGate, they might realize that its been years since anyone has been brave enough to try throwing a rave within the city and county of San Francisco.

Lastly, I appear to be one of the few people that is sorry to see Terrance Alan leave the entertainment commision.  Whatever else his connections or interests, he has been a tireless advocate for free and open nightlife in San Francisco.  As a long time resident of this fair city, I recall the notorious police raid on one of Mr. Alan's parties that prompted the creation of the Entertainment Commission in the first place.  If any of you out there have a good written account of that police raid, please share it with me here. 

I have not been very active in my blog, sorry folks.  I am working on doing something a little more public in the next month or so.  I won't write about it till after the fact, but if you know me, I promise to invite you.