[Dixielandjazz] Free Jazz festival (supported by beer & wine companies) vs. No drinking in public parks!

[David Richoux]

Hi all,

This was in a recent San Francisco Bay Guardian (alternative weekly  
newspaper) about an upcoming North Beach Jazz Festival (not OKOM,  
but...)

Dave Richoux

http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=525

New events coalition raises a ruckus after a second North Beach  
festival is denied a permit to sell booze
By Amanda Witherell
Members of the newly formed San Francisco Outdoor Events Coalition  
gathered on the evening of May 3. It had been a long, discouraging  
day, and the mood was somber.
Robbie Kowal of the North Beach Jazz Festival apologized for not  
having an agenda ready. "Frankly, I was too busy fighting for the  
future of my festival at City Hall today," he joked, but nobody  
really laughed.
Earlier that day, the Recreation and Park Commission Operations  
Committee voted to deny the jazz festival the right to sell beer and  
wine inside Washington Square Park. The decision followed a precedent  
the committee first set last month regarding the larger North Beach  
Festival (see "Last Call?" 5/3/06).
Alcohol sales provide the bulk of the funding for the free music, but  
commission president Gloria Bonilla suggested they explore other  
money sources and sponsorship.
"The idea that there can't be successful events in the city without  
alcohol, I can't buy into," Bonilla said at the meeting.
Unfortunately, the jazz festival isn't solvent enough for such a firm  
policy and can't afford to lose the source of 75 percent of its  
funding less than three months before the event.
"She wants us to pass the hat," Kowal said at the coalition meeting.  
"We did that last year and we got 78 bucks."
North Beach Jazz Festival is a big generator of fun and revenue for  
the city, but its organizers say they don't make any money off the deal.
"It's a labor of love," said Kowal, who is considering canceling the  
festival despite the signed contracts and purchased plane tickets for  
performers.
Twenty-seven individuals came to the hearing to speak in support of  
the festival, including Board of Supervisors president Aaron Peskin,  
who represents North Beach and has been critical of how the North  
Beach Festival beer gardens prevent underage people from entering the  
park.
The three-member committee encouraged the Jazz Festival promoters to  
pursue other options, like beer gardens on barricaded streets, but  
took a hard line on booze in the park.
"What I'm interested in is a consistent and fair application of the  
policy. We've said no alcohol. While I appreciate having Supervisor  
Peskin come speak to us today, I think we need to be consistent in  
this policy," Commissioner Meagan Levitan said at the hearing.
Rec and Park general manager Yomi Agunbiade and director of  
operations Dennis Kern have said "a growing public concern" caused  
them to recommend against the sale of alcohol for the two North Beach  
festivals.
"Rec and Park has a new general manager and a new director of  
operations who are very experienced but come here from other cities,"  
Kowal said. "There's some missing institutional knowledge. We are not  
Walnut Creek, we are not Chicago, we are not DC. We're San Francisco,  
and we have our own unique culture."
On May 8, a select group from the coalition met with senior staff  
from the mayor's office to express its growing concern over increased  
fees and decreased city services and to discuss the grave  
implications of Rec and Park's recent decisions for other outdoor  
festivals in the city. After the meeting Kowal was optimistic and  
said the mayor and supervisors expressed support for the festivals,  
but he acknowledged, "We don't live in a city where the mayor can  
say, ‘This is how it's going to be.’ It's going to come down to the  
commission again. If people want to see this festival survive, they  
have to come to City Hall on May 30."
That's the date that the full Rec and Park Commission will decide  
whether to overrule the Operations Committee and allow booze back  
into the park during the two festivals. SFBG