OKELL’S FIREPLACE

The other condition was “APE’s goodfaith participation in negotiations convened by Supervisor Mandelman.”

This was the result of a compromise between Alan, who’d proposed three conditions initially, and Asten Bennett, who had signed the CBD petition of unconditional endorsement for APE.

“I did not say I would do this,” Mandelman explained.

Alan said, “It would be my hope your office would forward” the report to San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield; Karraker argued that because Mandelman excised himself, the conditions should be stricken.

When asked if both sides in the theater imbroglio were negotiating in good faith, Mandelman said, “Yeah. I asked them to come and they did.” Then he seemed to backtrack when he was informed that was a condition of the merchants’ approval.

“It’s a hard thing to say,” he said.

Mandelman said there is an “existential” disagreement between the Castro Theatre Conservancy, which supports the orchestra seats remaining fixed, and APE. An agreement was close but the gap could not be bridged, he added.

“I want us to have peace in our time, but it’s where we have an existential disagreement,” he said.

Nonetheless, “we’re still a democracy that does not control all private actors,” Mandelman said.

The merchants will reconsider the APE endorsement decision at its next meeting, June 1, the first day of Pride Month, Asten Bennett said.

The remainder of the new merchants’ board consists of Aria Properties owner Samereie; Art House SF owner Max Khusid; Skin on Market owner Leon Shannon; Castro Street Chevron President David Shagun; and PO Plus owner Steve Martel.

The board has a maximum of nine slots, all of which were filled in Thursday’s vote. t which runs the Outside Lands music festival in Golden Gate Park, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium near San Francisco’s Civic Center, and the Fox Theatre in Oakland – was announced as the new operators of the 101-year-old Castro Theatre.

Some Castro neighborhood, LGBTQ, and film groups – such as the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District and the Castro Theatre Conservancy – formed

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Gilead