11th Hour Decision: Let there be BINGO! (At least for 90 days)

By Lauren Smiley

Waiting for "Bingo!" at Army Street Bingo has been suspenseful for more than dauber-wielding grannies in the last couple months. The eight non-profits who hold games there to fund-raise for their charities have worried they'd lose a major source of revenue since the police denied their 2009 permits in November. (Read our story here.)

This afternoon, with hours ticking till the New Year, the police informed the non-profits they wouldn't slaughter their cash cow. Yet.

The non-profits will be issued 90-day permits for the time it will take for Chief Heather Fong to "digest" Captain Tom O'Neill's recommendation on whether to issue new permits or not that he delivered this morning, O'Neill told us. Plus, the city attorney must review O'Neill's interpretation of local bingo laws and check that his recommendation complies with city codes. O'Neill wouldn't reveal what his recommendation was, but he says for the present it's a "win-win." "What they were interested in is they won't be out of business when the princess turns back into a pumpkin tonight," he says. "They'll be able to continue to operate."

Even if Chief Fong would deny the non-profits permits for the rest of the year, the decision may end up being made in Superior Court.

This morning, the court issued an injunction on the previous bingo permit denials until the court can consider the legal matter at a hearing on January 30th, says Martin Glickfeld, attorney for the San Francisco Community Service Center (the official name of the hall). Glickfeld had argued that stopping the games would cause "irreparable harm" to the hall, since the players would move on to other bingo parlors and not come back even if the hall got their permits at a later date. Plus, his client, Tom Rosenberg, the manager of the hall, wouldn't get his $1550 rent from each non-profit's weekly session.

Sgt. Bill Coggan (who denied the permits in November) says he doesn't know how the police could grant a permit to entities that were breaking the law.

"If the powers-that-be want to do something else [other than deny the permits], they're going to have to find out how to get around all the violations. I'll be curious to see how that's done....Are we supposed to let it go forward even though it's illegal? I think that's a violation of our duty."