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I
was born in 1968 at Kaiser Hospital right outside District
5 on Geary
Blvd. I spent much of my childhood growing up, playing,
and working at my parent's antique and used furniture
shop, HARRINGTON BROS., on Valencia St. in the Mission
District.
I graduated from St. Ignatius High School in the Sunset
District, where I was a part of the Service Club, Varsity
Soccer, and an all-league midfielder on the lacrosse team
(for the record I never ran for any student body office).
I graduated from  U.C.
Berkeley
where I majored in Architecture and Peace and Conflict
Studies and had an area of emphasis on Affordable Housing.
Aside from classes I spent a great deal of time in the
Wurster Hall Fabrication shop designing and learning how
to build furniture as a way to gain a better understanding
of the types of materials being used in affordable housing
and modern design.
While at CAL and living in the Mission, I began to organize
events primarily in SOMA warehouses. This was an early
lesson in organizing and bringing people together, especially
youth that had traditionally been separated along racial
lines. While attending CAL, I helped to create an incredible
multi-use arts and music space called MR. FIVES. MR. FIVES
was located in a beautiful space on Rose St opposite from
the front door of Zuni Cafe. The small business featured
dancing with a beer and wine license but also showcased
emerging playwrights, lecture series, live jazz (MR. Fives
was where, in 1991, the Broun Fellinis, Charlie Hunter
and Alphabet Soup played some of their first shows in
the City ... when there really were no outlets for young
jazz in the city). The space opened a little after I turned
21 and was my first involvement with establishing a small
business. The business was incredibly successful and influenced
the shifting idea of what an entertainment space could
be about in San Francisco. In total there were 5 partners,
a couple of whom were leaving SF and the group decided
to close the space at the peak of its popularity.
In 1992, I helped to spearhead the creation of a monthly
event called INFORMAL NATION (in-form-all-nationalities).
IN served as a community- based fundraiser created by
an emerging non-profit which would become known as FOUR
FINGERS AND A THUMB (FFAAT). The mission and the vision
of FFAAT was to gain funding to create a SF based after
school "urban arts" program which would be called
the FFAAT ACADEMY. The Board of Directors of FFAAT (which
maintained stability as a unit of 10-15 people for almost
4 years) was between 20 and 25 years of age. We were adamant
that the Board needed to be of an age that was close to
the age of the clients the 501(c)3 would serve. It was
also key because there was a strong emphasis on the relationship
of Hip Hop culture and the vision for the Academy. At
that time, the concept of an after school youth center
which would include the "hip hop arts" was not
exactly palatable to funders ... times have changed. Hip
hop is now widely seen as the dominant cultural force
for youths from a variety of classes and nationalities,
particularly here in San Francisco, whereas at that time
it was seen as a social threat.|
Around this same time I was very involved with furniture
design and interiors and soon founded the design studio,
CATHARSIS FURNITURE CO. in the Mission on Valencia St.
The design studio operated successfully for over 3 years
during which I designed and fabricated more than a hundred
various furniture pieces, attended the ICFF (International
Contemporary Furniture Fair) shows with designs, and built
out a variety of interior commercial design work including
a pro-bono design for the HARM REDUCTION COALITION office
space which was concentrating on needle exchange as a
means to reduce the spread of AIDS. I balanced my time
between design/fabrication, FFAAT development, and continued
to be involved with a variety of events around the city
and was getting more anxious to see a new live music and
event space in the city that I felt was lacking.
Another event series that I put together from 92-94 was
an incredible spoken word series called SPEAKING MINDS.
At the time there was a developing new way of combining
traditional spoken word with hip hop culture. I teamed
up with local poet/mc MICHAEL FRANTI and proceeded to
produce about a dozen events that were usually held in
the great auditorium at the WOMEN'S BUILDING and drew
crowds as large as 400. The events would always balance
poets from older generations with emerging new younger
poets and would always try to blend styles of spoken word.
Performers included Will Power, Jack Michelin, devorah
major, Pomo Afro Homos, Blackalicious, Azeem, Franti,
etc. Each event benefited a different community organization
such as the Black Coalition on Aids, Glide Memorial Church,
Clarion Alley Mural Project, etc.
During the years that I operated the design studio on
Valencia St., I would often walk down an alley around
the corner to go eat lunch on Mission St. I usually would
walk down Clarion Alley and always enjoyed the proportions
of the space and some of the quiet the alley would provide.
I soon began to make a connection between the mural work
in BALMEY ALLEY to the walls of Clarion and to the neighborhood
of the North Mission. One day I came across a resident
leaving his warehouse space on the alley and introduced
myself to someone who said his name was RIGO. I asked
him if he might be interested in collaborating to create
a mural gallery along the alley fences. Uncoincidentally,
Rigo had been discussing the exact same idea with his
housemate Aaron Noble. We all hooked up and formed a collective
of artists and activists which would later be known as
the CLARION ALLEY MURAL PROJECT. The mural alley is approaching
its 10th year in existence and attracts thousands of visitors
every year.
As the 1996 Mayor's race developed, a proposition was
put on the ballot that proposed a citywide youth curfew
of 11pm. Prop L. I realized that not only was this an
unconstitutional injustice towards teens, it could also
become a justification for the police to stop and search
anyone one the basis that they looked or dressed like
a teen (or a hip hopper). At the time this dressing style
would have described most urban young adults up to the
age of 25. I called a meeting together of a large variety
of progressive and primarily under-funded youth organizations
to form a coalition to fight this proposition from passing
at the ballot. The collective of organizations came together
and became known as the YOUTH UPRISING COALITION (YUC).
PROP L recieved very little opposition at the time from
the various members of the Board of Supervisors except
for Sup. Angela Alioto, who was beginning to draft legislation
to create the San Franciscco Youth Commission. Although
I had been aware that it was through the Board of Supervisors
that most policy issues were to be debated, it became
clear that in order to eventually effect real change in
SF, it would have to be at the level of the Board. After
PROP. L was defeated at the ballot, I advocated that YUC
begin the process of organizing our own ballot measure
in order to increase funding in city-wide after school
progams (very similar to Tom Ammiano's legislation last
year). The work I did with YUC introduced me to a number
of great organizers such as a recent transplant at the
time named Chris Daly, Eric Quezada, who would later co-found
the Mission Anti-Displacment Coalition, and Jose Louis
Pavon, who was at the time in high school and is now a
coordinator at Coleman Youth Advocates.
One of the great live music venues that I grew up going
to shows at was the KENNEL CLUB. For one reason or another
the space had been sitting closed down for a couple of
years. I contacted the landlords of the building and began
the long and frustrating experience of opening another
business in San Francisco. At least a year and a half
after submitting my permit application to the SFPD, and
after close to a year of figthing at hearings at the San
Francisco BOARD OF PERMIT APPEALS, the City gave me the
right to reopen 628 Divisadero as "Place of Entertainment."
The broker who represented the owners of the building
said that he had never seen anyone pursue such an uphill
battle with so much conviction. However, anyone who has
sought change in the complicated world of SF land use
planning knows all about the type of conviction that is
required. In the fall of 1997, and after a pretty serious
facelift, including an mural installation by TWIST (a
friend from the citykid music and arts scene), I finally
opened the doors of JUSTICE LEAGUE.
The purpose of the JUSTICE
LEAGUE
from the beginning was to fill the void in the San Francisco
entertainment landscape and to create a home for the emerging
musical communities of dj culture, experimental hip hop
and international rhythms. Having grown up in the City
music scene, I was pretty moved by the fact that so many
clubs (particularly the live venues like Slims, G.A.M.H.,
and the Fillmore) basically refused to book the music
(hip hop) that almost all San Francisco youth listened
to. However I will say that while running the Justice
League I basically gave carte blanche to rock promoters
because I very much wanted to bring in rock promoters
to have as much musical diversity in the room as well
as stay true to the overall diversity of the Kennel Club.
I would later realize that although Justice League was
a great name, it would have been stronger to bring the
space back to the name the Kennel Club.
Having endured the disappointment of never realizing the
FFAAT ACADEMY youth center, I nevertheless got back in
the saddle and became involved in 1997 with the community
development plans of a new youth center in the EXCELSIOR
DISTRICT of San Francisco. By this time I was putting
long hours into the booking and running of the Justice
League, however, I was intent on seeing some type of musical
content included in the design and programming of the
new building which was being planned by the Mayor's Office
of Children Youth and Families. I argued vociferously
that this new center should include a state-of-the-art
recording studio and training center so that SF youth
could have the opportunity to not only learn about the
recording arts but actually record their own musical material.
I felt that the fact the city was turning out such few
musical success stories was partially due to the fact
that we were not encouraging youth to take their craft
more seriously and at a younger age. In 1999 and after
a couple years of planning and community involvement,
the brand new EXCELSIOR
YOUTH CENTER
opened with a fully functioning recording studio for SF
teenagers. It has served and introduced hundreds of teens
and young adults since its existence.
In 2001 the ownership group that owns SLIMS entered into
negotiations to purchase the Great American Music Hall.
This triggered a realization in me that in order to stay
competitive with this new two-headed booking machine,
I needed to renovate and rethink the Justice League model.
One of the independent promoters that I worked with while
running the Justice League was Allen Scott (Mystery Machine
Productions). His first show at the JL was doing promoting
a show with a band named SOUND TRIBE SECTOR 9. That show
went on to be a great event and I did over 25 shows with
Scott over the next two years. I decided that Allen Scott
would be the right person to partner with and recreate
the historic space at 628 Divisadero.
After a lengthy renovation period and having to endure
the seemingly mandatory delays due to the building department
permit process, THE
INDEPENDENT
opened in early 2004. I, along with my partners, Allen
Scott, John Larner, Ryan Cox, and Sean Ivery, completed
a major renovation which included the installation of
one of the best live music sound systems in the City.
In a recent SF WEEKLY Best of the Bay issue, the Independent
was awarded "The Best Place Live music Venue in the
City" after having been open for less than 4 months.
It was around this time that I submitted an application
to be considered as a Supervisorial appointment to the
newly chartered San Francisco SMALL
BUSINESS COMMISSION.
I appeared before the RULES COMMITTEE (Sups. Bevan Dufty,
Tony Hall, and Matt Gonzalez) and was excited to have
been one of the selections for the commission. After 14
years as an entertainment entrepreneur, I am keenly aware
of the issues which small businesses face as well as the
important role that small businesses play in the fabric
of San Francisco. My goal as Commissioner is to use my
diverse background to bring something new and exciting
to the Commission and to stimulate debate about urbanism. |
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