Politics of Fun Weigh on Street Fair , (June 2006)

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi mostly hears from critics of the 29-year-old Haight Ashbury Street Fair. He has no way of knowing how many of the 70,000+ fair attendees are neighbors who enjoy free-flowing booze and are registered to vote in District 5.

Fair founder and organizer Pablo Heising believes a handful of squeaky wheels are getting an inordinate amount of grease–in the form of police pressure to curb alcohol consumption during the event. Mirkarimi's office, he argues, should count the 'silent majority' of satisfied revelers before assuming that the neighborhood wants a more subdued festival.

Captain John Ehrlich decides each year whether or not to allow open containers of alcohol within the fair, and is hinting that he may not sign off in 2007 unless drinking is somehow restricted. He says his aim is to reduce police staffing at the event––and that he wants to be responsive to community concerns over rowdiness.

In December, Ehrlich failed to find consensus around beer gardens–which he proposed as a way to limit the number of potential problem areas police would have to monitor. Now he’s in the awkward position of asking liquor store owners not sell to alcohol between 5 and 6pm–and bars to not sell out the door during that hour–in order to encourage fair attendees to clear the area.

To local spirits purveyors, that idea is as appealing as unnecessary dental work.

"We are barely making ends meet as it is," said Liquid Experience owner Mike Zawaideh. "Why would you take a bite out of my child's mouth?"

Mirkarimi aide Regina Dick-Endrizzi answered that a little restraint could ultimately preserve the political will for unrestricted drinking during event hours––a privledge vital to the budgets of booze shops and the fair.

“Let’s not kill the goose that laid the egg,” said fair founder Pablo Heising, who next year is handing the reins to board member and band booker Michael Xavier.

Xavier has the energy to pick up where Heising is leaving off. Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, and the 30th anniversary of the fair–so the festivities could reach Dionysian degrees not enjoyed for years.

And count on a corps of neighbors to fight extra hard to prevent that from happening. While some fair supporters, perhaps unfairly, suggest critics' fundamental problem is with fun in general, critics say their main beef with fair day is the leftover litter and the rowdy side-street parties. Overall, many feel offended by the lack of consideration fair-goers show their Haight-Ashbury hosts.

This year, the traffic barricades will be marked with signs indicting that open containers of alcohol are not permitted outside fair grounds. Noise abatement patrols will more closely monitor the decibel-levels of peripheral private parties, and will issue citations as necessary.

But there are only so many officers, so it’s a culture shift that fair critics and supporters both seek. Preventing partiers from, per perilous tradition, gaining access to any available rooftop is the first battle in the war on mayhem: this year, local landlords have been urged to guard their properties.

“The problems are not insurmountable,” said Mirkarimi. “There are people who are inconvenienced and who don’t like the disruption. I understand that. But the fair is an essential appendage to the neighborhood and represents the kind of diversity and entertainment we should support and protect.”

But in what form will the event continue? The city-wide trend seems to be towards taming traditional bashes–see the recent brouhaha over serving brews at the North Beach Jazz Festival.

“Without special events, I’m out of a really good job,” Sgt. Mike Niland quasi-joked. ‘I support the fair."

Ehrlich freely states the fair is not a violent event––recounting only a single fight last year––and that he has been gradually reducing fair staffing for years. But even with Park Station’s recent addition of about 12 full-time-equivalent officers––which patches up a gaping roster hole and restores the crew to about 70 cops––Ehrlich is not ready to drop his guard.

“There haven’t been many fights, but that’s partly because we have so many cops there,” said Ehrlich. “We are the biggest contributor to the fair, no doubt, and it distracts from us fighting bad guys elsewhere in the district. The more controls on alcohol, the less subsidy the city would have to provide."

Taxpayers must decide if the day of jubilation––and the larger cause of partying––is worth the strain on law enforcement. Let Mirkarimi know how you experience the fair on June 11. Please CC The Beat.

ross.mirkarimi@sfgov.org, editor@haightashburybeat.com.