The Riptide needs you to be there for its entertainment license hearing this Tuesday, July 19 at 5:30pm in Room 416 at City Hall. Many assume that The Riptide had an entertainment license since they saw so many shows there, but that was under the radar and continued with the tacit agreement of the SFPD, but the fire put an end to the bar’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” status.
SFPD, Sunset District Supervisors, and most of their neighbors saw The Riptide as a positive force in the neighborhood. They remember the Sand Bar as the low-life, meth-head bar it used to be before The Riptide ran those bums off. They remember that the public restroom at the end of Taraval on Ocean Beach was closed and surrounded by trash before The Riptide got a crew together to clean the place up and reopen the facility. Most of all, they remember that the end of Taraval was a forgotten and failing commercial district until The Riptide brought life, culture and, importantly, customers to the area.
This Tuesday will be our opportunity to keep The Riptide rolling. There are a couple of NIMBYs set to speak out against the bar’s entertainment license. We want to drown them out and the best way to do that is to out-number them, overwhelmingly. Speaking up before the Entertainment Commission is optional, but the fact is that licencing commissioners are impressed by turnout, so let’s turnout in force.