Entertainment Commission backs San Francisco Music and Entertainment Venue Recovery Fund; asks staff to send support to Board

The San Francisco Entertainment Commission voted Jan. 19 to forward a measure to establish a city Music and Entertainment Venue Recovery Fund and to ask staff to send a letter of support to the Board of Supervisors and budget committee.

Honey Mahogany, who presented the proposed ordinance (BOS file 201414) to the commission, said the fund would prioritize legacy venues and provide grants for expenses including rent, mortgage, payroll, unsecured property taxes, liability insurance and utilities. She noted Congress had included the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant in federal relief but said local aid was needed sooner and at larger per-venue amounts for many high-overhead businesses.

"The fund shall benefit entertainment venues and shall give priority to venues based on a list of qualifications, including legacy business status and venue size," Mahogany said when describing the ordinance. She told commissioners the Small Business Commission recommended an initial $1,500,000 in city funding and that staff were in talks with the Controller and the Mayor’s Budget Office to identify a local source; private fundraising would also be sought.

Several commissioners pressed for clarity on how grants could be used to support venue staff as well as owners. A commissioner asked whether payroll costs could be tracked to ensure grants subsidized employees; Mahogany said grants could be used for payroll but that tracking mechanisms would require further discussion with the Office of Small Business.

Commissioners also requested proactive outreach to cultural districts and smaller independent venues, citing concerns that previous city and federal programs tended to favor larger operators. A friendly amendment to the motion asked staff to include such outreach in the transmission to the budget committee.

The commission voted unanimously to forward the commission’s recommendation with staff considerations and to direct staff to submit a letter expressing the commission’s strong support to the Board of Supervisors and the Budget and Finance Committee.

The next step is Budget Committee consideration of the ordinance and identification of a local funding source; the presenter said the item was scheduled for the committee in early February and that staff hoped to have a funding source identified before then.