Leaky Pen -- Observations on Law and Order -- Gabe's Bar version 4/10/04 4/10/04 Citing a proposed change in ownership, the City Council this week on a 4-3 vote has decided not to suspend the licenses at Gabe's by the Park despite the suggestions of its own penalty matrix. Testimony suggested that it would be an unduly hard sanction against the many employees there and be unfair to the new owner. I would like to make two observations. First: The affect on the new owner should be considered irrelevant. We note that all things good or bad, legal or illegal, done by the present ownership and management affect the perception of the establishment. The perception of the establishment is a large chunk of what is being sold when a bar or any other business changes hands. Anything the old owner does which lowers that value is a problem between him and the new owner. The attorneys or business brokers involved should be able to make the appropriate adjustments. It really ought not be the city's problem one way or the other. Second: It is interesting that the three councilmembers [Benanav, Helgen, Lantry] who wanted a suspension imposed were three of those thought the most flaky leftist [and therefor to many people soft on law and order matters] while the four who voted for no suspension included two retired police officers [Bostrom and Montgomery]. Since I know that these things are always more complicated than our present-day bumper-sticker mentality can usually accommodate, I note this just so I can remind all of us to keep our minds working. [And I love the perception of irony,] Actually, I am glad that I didn't have to make the decision on this matter. It is a lot easier to sit back and comment. And my two observations listed above don't address the concern for keeping employees working. If I had assurance that the new management was going to keep present employees and their existing status in the new establishment, I suspect that if I did have to vote on something like this that I would be inclined be friendly to their concerns. But I cannot help but be amused by both the amount of irrelevance in the proceedings and the wonderful juxtaposition of who was on which side. RS Reply from Midway Barb [4/16/04] I guess we will know more when we find out what ever happens with the other bars who were inolved in this same deal. If the concern is keeping the employees working, there would be even less reason to close the other places. In the Gabe's case, one has to guess whether the new owner will be hiring the same people back; in those cases the employees are all ready on board. LP observation: Good point. And maybe we should further note that Gabe's is bigger than most of the other places. It seems likely that in all of the places that there must have been some employees who either participated in the illegal matters or who at least knew what was going on and the smaller the place the more likely that an affected employee would be so involved. For instance, I don't think that some of the other places have a kitchen. RS |
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