Community Meeting about the Haight St. Fair

The Park Precinct will host a community meeting on 12/1 @ the Page St. Library to discuss the Haight Street Fair. Capt. Ehrlich has suggested a beer garden idea to reduce the amount of drinking in public. The organizer's reaction is unclear from this note, but seems like a reasonable compromise to me.

Our next Community Forum on Thursday 12/1 6pm at the Page Street Library will focus on the Haight St. Fair.

I am attaching the letter that the Fair organizer Pablo Heising wrote to the Board of Supervisors. I urge you to read it. He is very passionate which is understandable as his livelihood depends on street fairs.

The Haight Street Fair has traditionally allowed alcohol to be consumed anywhere within the perimeter. There are booths which furnish alcohol beverages that are sponsored by the fair's promotor. Liquor stores also sell alcohol which can then be consumed within the confines of the fair. My estimate is that over 90% of the alcohol consumed on the street is sold by retail stores. Mr. Heising estimated that around 70,000 people attended the 2005 Fair. We have discussed having beer gardens as the only place where alcohol can be consumed. This would change the design of the event currently in the approval process by the street closure (ISCOTT) committee.

It is the experience of the SFPD that allowing unlimited amounts of alcohol to be consumed inside a public event requires more police officers than a restricted format or an alcohol free event.

At a meeting Mr. Heising agreed (see attached letter) to hold meetings about the fair in November. The Haight Ashbury Street Fair, a non-profit corporation, gets the alcohol permit from ABC. Information on charities should be available on the State Attorney General website ag.ca.gov/charities. Mr. Heising said that he would make available the amounts disbursed through the non-profit. I agreed that I would show SFPD costs.

The SFPD assigned 1 Sergeant and 15 Officers to spend their entire regular shift at the fair. This was accomplished by taking officers away from their regular duties at other stations. In addition, the Tactical Unit had a squad at the fair from around 4pm to 7pm. Park Station had several units from the night watch divert from their regular beats to assist the units at the fair. There were 35 officers on overtime at a cost of more than $19,000. The State of California provided ABC and State Parole agents. Other City Departments such as DPT & DPW provided assitance, but I do not know what were their costs or who paid for them.

It is my responsibility to see that the needs of the community are represented and the SFPD operates efficiently. Overtime budgets are declining so money that is spent here means that it is not available for other issues.

I have recieved many e mails including some from people who live in the area. Please let me know what you think.

Captain John Ehrlich

You can email Capt. Ehrlich at SFPDParkStation@ci.sf.ca.us