Political favors?

As city attorney, Dennis Herrera has very publicly shut down illegally operating nightspots and strip clubs. Now, his mayoral campaign is flush with cash from the strip clubs that benefited from such enforcement.

Records released Monday show Herrera received seven $500 donations — for a total of $3,500 — from strip clubs throughout San Francisco, including Déjà Vu Showgirls, the Gold Club and the Market Street Cinema.

In 2009, Herrera shut down Heaven Mini Theater, a North Beach strip club operating without permits that Herrera said was a front for prostitution.

“The enforcement actions are there to protect the vast majority of law-abiding businesses that provide entertainment to residents and visitors alike,” said Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the City Attorney's Office.

An even more-publicized case that year was the closure of Pink Diamonds, a Tenderloin strip club Herrera said was a “magnet” for violence and stayed open later than allowed.

Pink Diamonds' landlord was Terrance Alan, a former Entertainment Commission member who also ran the San Francisco Late Night Coalition, a lobbying effort for the nightlife industry.

Alan gave $500 to Herrera's campaign, as did the Late Night Coalition, records show.

Herrera has a comprehensive plan to create jobs in San Francisco that includes establishing an entertainment zone in the South of Market area and supporting an expedited permitting process for businesses there that will create local jobs, according to a spokeswoman for his campaign, Melissa Blaustein.

“While supportive of San Francisco's late night economy, he vigorously enforces codes violation,” she wrote in a statement. “Contributions to his campaign are consistent with his record.”

Getting money from the sex industry isn't exactly scandalous in San Francisco, where a measure to legalize prostitution garnered 42 percent of the vote and a self-professed “erotic service provider” named Starchild has run for several different offices, including the school board.

Herrera isn't the only one to get a financial boost from the sex industry. Former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, for example, got a $100 donation from Michael Phillips, aka gay porn star Michael Brandon, records show.

And state Sen. Leland Yee received donations from several nightclubs South of Market, including $500 from the Endup and $500 from the Catclub.

Revealing donations

Mayoral candidate Dennis Herrera's campaign donor list includes contributions from several adult-entertainment venues and companies.

Déjà Vu

$500

Déjà Vu Showgirls

$500

Gold Club

$500

Market Street Cinema

$500

SFBSC Management

$500

Garden of Eden

$500

Roaring 20s

$500

Source: Ethics Commission

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CheekoToday 12:53 PM

I don't trust Ed Lee when he says he's not going to run for mayor, and then does.....

1 person liked this. Like Reply

REWToday 10:29 AM

Our current Mayor Ed Lee is one of the better Mayors we've ever had, in my view. Trust is the key variable here, I trust Ed Lee, and so do a lot of other voters. You know Ed Lee will do what's best for the City, every time. You can't say the same about Herera, Yee, and the other top tier candidates, not at all. They are running very conventional campaigns - campaigns dominated by pollsters, campaign consultants, and traditional pay-for-play fatcats. You don't know what kind of "deals" these candidates are making for campaign funds - such as the deal Herrera obviously is making with porn clubs in in SF. Leland Yee, they say, cuts a "deal" with somebody every 20 minutes from the time he gets up in the morning right until he goes to bed. With Ed Lee, however, you know you are getting good goverment, he's no career political hack, no deal cutter. Ed Lee is a guy who passionate about making the City work for everybody - business, labor, the regular man-on-the-street, and he has the tools - the ability - to get the job done

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Sales46 minutes agoin reply to REW

Correction: "Ed Lee will always do what is best for the 'city family' every time"

Look at the weak pension reform. Lee is hostile to any taxpayer who even asks about the unsustainable high pay and benefits for city workers.

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LifelonglibToday 11:40 AMin reply to REW

Ed Lee backed down on pension reform.

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