By Amanda Nowinski

The future of nightlife on Mission Street, one of the city's loudest and most congested strips, is a bit uncertain of late. In the past three weeks a handful of Mission bar and club owners have been cited by the San Francisco Police Department for not having the proper permit to host live music, dancing, and DJs.

Police officers cited Bruno's May 17, though the eight-year-old music club applied for the necessary license more than two years ago. The famed jazz club has been forced to suspend music shows until after a May 29 hearing.

Sup. Tom Ammiano, who represents the Mission District, told us he is furious about Bruno's citations and last week placed calls to Police Chief Fred Lau and Mission permit officer Sandra Ganster. "This is exasperating," Ammiano said. "Bruno's is a good place – it's good for the neighborhood, so it's really frustrating that this is even happening."

Ganster insists the recent crackdown is only due to neighbors' complaints. Permitting, though, has long been a contentious issue for club owners, who argue the city's permitting process is unnecessarily complicated and decentralized. Club owners have specifically complained that police are in charge of both issuing and enforcing permits. Sup. Mark Leno is introducing a charter amendment for the November ballot that would put permitting in the hands of a new commission (see Hall Monitor, page 10).