In July of 1999, the SFLNC was formed when two members of the late-night scene, Sunshine Jones and Stephanie Tucker both were separately told that the permits they would need to have a late-night event were not available. A little research revealed that there was no written moratorium on permits, just an unwritten policy by the police where permits are issued.

A handful of other interested people joined them to bring members of the late-night community together to save the future of San Francisco's nightlife and arts scene. Growing steadily, the SFLNC has continued to build a diverse member base, and has moved from a small grassroots organization into being a political force in the City of San Francisco.

No, we are a registered Political Action Committee. This status allows us to make financial contributions to politicians, and work to affect positive legislative change supporting late-night issues. It's possible we will also form a separate non-profit at some point, but for now, being a PAC is the most effective status for us.

As in Pac Man? Not quite. PAC as in Political Action Committee. The money raised by PACs is also often referred to as 'soft money,' although that's not entirely an accurate comparison.

Basically, a PAC is a group or committee created to raise money for the purpose of electing a candidate, or more often than not, to defeat an opposing candidate. PACs are generally formed around a trade or business, or based on common beliefs or agendas. For instance, there are PACs that represent the interests of those in the technology sector or the agriculture sector, or from an ideological perspective, there are pro-life PACs and pro-choice PACs.

The first organized Political Action Committee was formed in 1944 by the Congress of Industrial Organizations, the CIO, in order to support the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Because the CIO was a union and prohibited from using union money to support a federal candidate by the Smith Connally Act, the PAC circumnavigated that prohibition by soliciting funds from individual union members who chose to 'volunteer' contributions.

PACs can give up to $5,000 to a candidate's committee for each individual election bid and $5,000 a year to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC, or party committee during each calendar year. They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee.

According to FEC rules, a PAC must register within 10 days of its formation and provide names and addresses for the PAC officials and members and any connected organizations. Affiliated PACs are treated as one donor for the purpose of determining contribution limits.

Our membership is made up of anyone who has an interest in the future late-night entertainment in San Francisco. We are djs, record producers, music and retail store owners and employees, visual artists, groovers, clubbers and ravers, clubs and venue owners and employees, and rockers and musicians. We think that anyone who has ever gone out and enjoyed nighttime entertainment in San Francisco has a vested interest in what we do, and should become a member of the SFLNC... including you!

San Francisco has been a mecca for late-night entertainment since the Gold Rush, and throughout the years had many all-night dance venues. But in the late 90s, there were a number of busy and popular nightspots that closed their doors, such as the Trocadero Transfer, Club DV8 and Club Oasis/VSF, and none were replaced by another venue with full after-hours permits.

Many of us in the club scene assumed that the closures were due to normal attrition or management problems. But when it became apparent that no new permits were being issued to replace those that were closed, and that there seemed to be an increasing pressure on the venues that remained, it was clear something else was happening, and the SFLNC came into being.

We can never recreate those days of nightlife in the City, but we're working to make the future even more varied and interesting, so that everyone has more choices of where to go and what to do at night in San Francisco.     

Certainly the real estate boom in the SoMa was a factor in some ways: new buildings put neighbors closer to clubs than in the past, there is now a higher residential density, parking is more congested, real estate values shot up (though post-dotcom-boom, they leveled off). But this doesn't directly correlate to losing nightclub venues. In fact, many of the new residents in the Soma area moved there specifically to be closer to the restaurants, music and clubs that they love.

And SoMa is a very diverse area; many residents are long-time, low-income residents, not the "yuppie dot-com loft dwellers" the media portray.


We think that a key cause of previous problems was a lack of constructive communication between the business owners, law enforcement, neighbors and patrons. Clubs had occasional problems, neighbors complained, police responded, and an adversarial relationship developed.

The SFLNC has worked to bring about a new open dialog with neighbors and neighborhood associations, in order to help create a positive environment where the needs of residents, businesses, visitors and nightlife venues can all be addressed.

For more information about the results of the poll the SFLNC commissioned to find out what San Francisco resident voters really think about late-night and club issues, read the report on our September 2000 poll.

The SFLNC believes that the drug issue is being unfairly used to single out and discriminate against those who enjoy the music, dancing and fellowship of late-night culture. Drug abuse occurs throughout our society, not only at nightclubs and all-night dance parties.

As members of the late-night community, we are advocates for both education and personal responsibility. We support the harm-reduction model of addressing this issue. Elements of harm reduction include free water, unbiased information about drugs, and safe environments and venues. DanceSafe is a nonprofit dedicated specifically to harm reduction; visit their website at http://www.dancesafe.com for more information and links about this issue.

The Entertainment Commission became the body that issues permits for entertainment in San Francisco in July 2003. This new system is fairer and more responsive than the previous system which was completely handled within the San Francisco Police Department, and where the police had sole authority to issue, monitor and rescind permits for entertainment.


The new Entertainment Commission is a seven-person committee made up of appointees representing the entertainment industry, neighbors, city planning, public health and law enforcement, working together to make the decisions on permitting issues.

Terrance Alan, who has been chair of the SFLNC for the past two years, was appointed to the Entertainment Commission, and was then elected president of the EC by the other commissioners. We are excited to see how this new commission will change the availability of entertainment in San Francisco, and put some new life back in our nightlife.

There are many ways you can help:

Become a Dues-Paying Member
Jump on board the SFLNC bandwagon as a dues-paying member.
Your dues will keep us going to continue to change how entertainment is handled in San Francisco.

Spread the word
It could mean setting up a booth or promoting hand-do-hand at a venue to let people know what's going on, or just carrying some SFLNC information with you and encouraging people you meet to get informed and get involved.

Volunteer
In addition to promoting the SFLNC at a venue, we need phone volunteers for candidate phone banks, and people to take on general office tasks like stuffing envelopes, etc. We put notices out to our general mailing list when we need people, so keep an eye out. To be put on our special volunteer mailing list, send an email to John Wood john@sflnc.com.

Write Letters and Speak Up
Your voice really does make a difference, and your legislators want to hear from you. When there is pending legislation that affects late-night culture, speak out for your perspective. When there is something at the San Francisco city level, come to the hearings, and take advantage of your right as a citizen to speak for three minutes.

Donate
Make an online donation on our website to support our ongoing efforts, or mail a check made payable to the SFLNC, P.O. Box 77406, San Francisco, CA 94107.

Support our Events
Come down to our rallies and bring your friends. Come to our nighttime fundraisers, and go to the benefit parties that different promoters so generously throw for us. CLICK HERE to see a calendar of SFLNC events and other dates of interest to SFLNC supporters.

Throw a Benefit
If you're a promoter, designate an event, or a weeknight, or a whole week, as an SFLNC benefit. A great deal of our operating capital comes from these kinds of benefits, and we'll help promote your event to our list. We couldn't make it without the support of promoters doing benefits for us. For details about how it works, send an email to info@sflnc.com and we'll get back to you.