I'm still not clear to me why late night eateries should pay for the mess created by clubs and bars that clearly overserve patrons. Why don't those places get their licenses lifted, plus a couple of hefty fines?
It's interesting how Victoria and Seattle approach the problems caused by late night rowdies (or jackasses, as the Seattle P-I reporter called them). In Victoria, we might force late night eateries to close. In Seattle, 24-hour restaurants that voluntarily close prompt calls (and newspaper articles) for increased police presence to curb the jackasses, because each time the police (as directed by city hall) cracked down on disturbances/ nuisances, it solved the problem.
From today's T-C (
Wharf Street eateries may face early closings to curb rowdies by Carolyn Heiman) we learn that "The city will test drive its tougher nuisance bylaw today when it holds a hearing that could result in the early closure of the late-night eatery called the Pita Pit."
From a Jan.3/08 Seattle P-I article (
Manager of last Denny's in Seattle can't stomach late-night scene by Robert L. Jamieson Jr.) we learn that there is much anguish around the late night / 24 hour eateries that do close, and there are calls to find ways to keep them open. Because, as the Denny's manager says, he "believes all-hour dining spots are a city's social hub, drawing all types of folks who know it when they smell it -- the aroma of sizzling bacon, onion-laced hash browns and burning coffee. But with diners around town folding, Spokely [businessman who runs the Sodo Denny's] senses that his niche is in trouble."
(Sodo is "South of Dome," and not the "best" area -- it's south of the "nicer" downtown area.)
The Seattle jackasses have guns, which make them much worse than the Victoria drunks. But they both manage to kill off downtown vibrancy, that's for sure (unless you consider mayhem "vibrant"). From the article:
Watch liquored-up young people in tricked-out cars fight in the parking lot, and cuss or loiter and leave gang graffiti inside. Hear the crash of glass as bullets blast through the windows. Listen to employees talk about dropping to the floor when people outside make threatening gestures.
Such incidents -- within the last several years -- weighed on Spokely, the 52-year-old general manager of the Denny's. A few months ago, after weekend rowdiness kicked up, the franchise owner, with manager input, decided to close during the hours that drew the most trouble, from late Saturday to early Sunday.
"We stay open 24 hours because we want to take care of people," sighed Spokely, a warm man who used to run a Midwestern truck stop. "It's usually a pleasant family dining experience."
Denny's hired off-duty Seattle police officers to help, but they're pricey; it costs about $320 for two officers over a four-hour late shift. Spokely says he has a budget only for officers to work late Friday into Saturday.
When hired guns are around, the unruly throng -- commonly believed to be spillover from area clubs -- behaves or doesn't show. When officers aren't in sight, the scene can be a combustible mix of booze, machismo and tempers.
Denny's workers say they have no beef with police response. When they call 911, officers arrive quickly. They just wonder why there's not a more steady, visible presence during Sodo's wee hours.
Fair question. Heightened police visibility keeps ruffians at bay near Pike and Pine. And police presence also keeps weekend revelers in check at Dick's burger joints until 2 a.m.
http://seattlepi.nws...9_robert03.html
So even though Seattle has real problems, folks there also seem to understand that the only way to quell disturbance is to get enforcement (which already exists in the "nice" downtown parts) -- cops on the street, walking the beat, showing presence.
And the jackasses aren't even the kids you'd label as "bad" -- sometimes they're spoiled brats who just don't care:
"This is a Denny's," Spokely said, shaking his head at society's lack of manners. He recalled students from one Seattle public high school last year walking out on $200 worth of food during homecoming. He can't get the principal to return his calls.
As we spoke early on a recent Sunday, he glanced at tables of punk rockers. In spite of the 5:30 a.m. hour, they were chatty and energetic, not to mention courteous.