Aging rockers from Jefferson Starship led a protest on the steps of City Hall to send a message to San Francisco officials: We built this city on free rock and roll.
Thursday’s protest and a hearing inside City Hall that followed marked the latest twist in a battle with the city to hold a free concert in Golden Gate Park for the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.
The June 4 show might still go on but it hit another major bureaucratic hurdle.
San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Commission ruled after a nearly 3-hour public hearing to uphold the Feb. 7 decision of its permit department to deny a permit for the concert. The department says its denial was issued because the concert promoter had made “numerous misrepresentations” about security and crowd control, leaving officials concerned about public safety.
However, the commission told promoters at the hearing that they can resubmit an application to address the department’s concerns.