Kirkwood Neighbors versus Night Club (Atlanta: attorney, license, mayor)

[captaincatfish]

Originally Posted by cwlawrence

^^^

I swear, some people just don't bother reading before they post.

What the above post states is all fine and good but misses the point here: David Johnson legally committed to operating a certain type of business with certain restrictions - that was how he was able to get into that space - it is because he violated those laws and covenants that the neighborhood is upset.

This is not like someone living on Memorial complaining about a gas station, this is not like Buckhead, this is not about race, this is not about being a crybaby, this is not about gentrification, this is not about whatever issue you want it to be about. THIS IS ABOUT AN OUT-OF-TOWN BUSINESS PERSON BREAKING THE LAW AND A COMMUNITY THAT WILL NOT STAND FOR IT [PERIOD].

First of all, thanks for the update, and the video as well...I had posted in this thread a while back, and I was wondering what had happened, if anything, since then...

The only possible beef I have with you here, is thinking David Johnson did the offending graffiti himself...now, let me do a 180 for a minute---if it's true that he either A) sprayed the garage himself or B) paid someone else to spray it, to garner sympathy for his plight, then I wll join the chorus of voices crying foul...most definitely...

But, I will also withhold judgment on him until I know ALL the facts in the case...and if it WASN'T Johnson's doing, then I concur---somebody needs to find out who did it, and throw the bleeping book at them, because this is 2011, and frankly, as a black man myself, I'm more than a little sick and tired of all this 'racist/racism' stuff...enough already---either learn to get along, and respect each other and each other's differences, or just shut the holy crap up whining back and forth about it all the time

[ATLTJL]

I don't see how he is breaking the law. He is operating a bar, just like he said he was going to.

People are complaining that it is too "club like." Well, what does that mean? From what they are complaining about, it sounds like they think a "bar" should close at 11pm and a "club" stays open until 2. A bar can stay open until 2 as well. What makes a bar become a club? A small dancefloor? I saw the pictures of that place, it has tables everywhere, it can't be that much of a club.

A club is a big warehouse type space with a prime sound system that brings in well known DJ talent. A bar is a place where people can get booze, but it can also have an unknown DJ playing music for a small group of people to dance to.

I don't see how he is breaking anything he signed up to do. If he is actually violating the building convenants, then the building management can take it up with him and if he doens't comply, they can take away his lease. The way they are going about it by trying to get his liquor license to not be renewed means they know he isn't breaking any law and they are trying to figure out a way to get rid of something they don't like. If he is breaking any law, then they can call the police and pursue proper legal channels to shut him down.

[JPD]

This graffiti story doesn't pass the smell test.

[ChubbyDecker]

Mr. Johnson was probably hoping than the Reverend Jesse Jackson who happened to be in town this past weekend would come to his defense by holding some sort of rally or march over this incident.

[captaincatfish]

Originally Posted by ChubbyDecker

Mr. Johnson was probably hoping than the Reverend Jesse Jackson who happened to be in town this past weekend would come to his defense by holding some sort of rally or march over this incident.

I really do wish people would stop this knee-jerk 'guilt by association' stuff about Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Amos N Andy, Deputy Dawg, or anyone else who claims to speak for me and everyone else in the black community, anytime something happens in the black community...

Because quite simply, they don't...if they are championing some cause, and I smell a rat (i.e. grandstanding and playing to the media), then I will by-god open my mouth and SAY 'I smell a rat'...once and for all, black people are not some monlithic entity, controlled by some offscreen 'planetary brain', who run around with tubes of Chapstick at the ready to pucker up and smooch those gentlemen's hindparts when they drop trou...if we think they are wrong, and are barking up the wrong tree, we are intelligent enough to say so...

Please understand, I'm not swiping at you personally, but this 'black folk + black folk in trouble = CALL AL AND JESSE!!!' stuff really gets old after a while...

[arjay57]

I tend to side with the neighborhood. The people who make their homes there, who invest their money and hard work in the community, who raise their families and support the schools there -- they should be the ones with the final say.

There are scads of more suitable places in Atlanta to go drinking, fighting and hanging out until the wee hours. Kirkwood is quiet little residential neighborhood that has slowly been clawing its way back from crime, neglect and poverty. Why stomp on the flower just as it's coming into bloom?

Atlanta doesn't have an ocean or a riverfront. We don't have money for parks, boulevards or big civic projects. But the one thing we do have that could propel us forward is great neighborhoods and a high quality of life. That's our greatest single resource and we should guard it carefully.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by captaincatfish

Please understand, I'm not swiping at you personally, but this 'black folk + black folk in trouble = CALL AL AND JESSE!!!' stuff really gets old after a while...

I totally get that, captain, and appreciate the frustration. The dangdest thing is that it's the folks with the megaphone who descend into these situations and claim to speak "for the people." I don't know how you keep them from doing that or disassociate yourself from them.

[ATLTJL]

There are scads of more suitable places in Atlanta to go drinking, fighting and hanging out until the wee hours. Kirkwood is quiet little residential neighborhood that has slowly been clawing its way back from crime, neglect and poverty. Why stomp on the flower just as it's coming into bloom?

I totally agree with this. However, the community must decide what it wants to be FIRST and then make laws accordingly.

You can't approve something, then decide you don't like it and try to shut it down after the owner already got the business going legally. He has already invested time and money into it. If you don't like it, fine, write laws preventing it from happening again. He'll probably be out of business soon, and then you can get on your merry way.

However, you can't retroactively go back and just shut someone down who went through all the proper channels just because it didn't turn out the way you envisioned it.

If you don't want the guy around, write noise ordinances. Make cruising laws. Have strict public drunkenness laws. Whatever you want, then you're free to make him play by whatever rules you set. I think that's fine, then he has a choice to either comply or pack up and go somewhere else. I just don't think it's right to yank the guy's liquor license. What message does that send to anyone else who wants to invest? If we don't like what you do, we're going to shut you down....but only AFTER you have put time and money into your project!

For a community that is trying to clean up, it seems like Kirkwood doesn't have much foresight.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

You can't approve something, then decide you don't like it and try to shut it down after the owner already got the business going legally. He has already invested time and money into it. If you don't like it, fine, write laws preventing it from happening again. He'll probably be out of business soon, and then you can get on your merry way.

If you approve something, then it turns out to be something else, of course you can take action to shut it down. I agree that he'll be out of business either way, though. These types of places never last very long. The urban nightclub business is very fickle, and customers almost always abandon this week's hot spot as soon as a newer place comes along. Look at Jermaine Dupree. He couldn't keep his nightclub in business and he surely has much deeper pockets than the owner of this place.

[cwlawrence]

OK, once again (and I will speak slowly):

David Johnson was permitted to open up his business under false statements that he made in several legal documents, including his liquor license application.

Rather than suing him for the various violations of contract he has perpetrated, the neighborhood has decided to follow the most democratic route first, that of his liquor license application hearing.

The laws that he is in violation of pre-existed his locating the bar/club (or whatever you want to call it) there.

So, this is not about being unhappy because something turned out different from what was expected.

This is about being unhappy that someone lied and continues to violate the law.


Also, speaking of the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Kirkwood Bar & Grill's Twitter feed has been sending the news stories to Reverend Jackson's Twitter (along with Al Sharpton and Barack Obama's Twitter)

somebody needs to find out who did it, and throw the bleeping book at them, because this is 2011, and frankly, as a black man myself, I'm more than a little sick and tired of all this 'racist/racism' stuff...enough already---either learn to get along, and respect each other and each other's differences, or just shut the holy crap up whining back and forth about it all the time

Amen!