As the owners of Jimmy’s Music Club continue to seek the reopening of their landmark Willow Street venue, they are employing an unusual legal strategy to get around the temporary ban on new alcohol licenses in the Carrollton area.
Instead of asking the City Council to grant them an exception to the moratorium, they are asking the city’s alcohol commissioners to rule that the latest iteration of that moratorium is illegal altogether and thus inapplicable to Jimmy’s.
Last month, over the objections of club owner Jimmy Anselmo and his supporters, the City Council passed a moratorium that requires any business in the Carrollton area seeking an alcohol license to come before the council first. The temporary ban is intended as a stopgap until the new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance is approved, but as that process has dragged on, a previous version of it expired. Because city law prohibits an outright extension of a moratorium beyond two years, Councilwoman Susan Guidry’s office altered the new ban’s boundaries to exclude some streets on the far north and east sides, but Jimmy’s location at 8200 Willow Street remained within it.
For the majority of the moratorium’s existence, the Willow Street spot wasn’t the Jimmy’s of legend. Instead, it was leased by Anselmo to a bar called the Frat House, which Guidry said last month had been such a disturbance to neighbors that it was ultimately shut down after an NOPD raid found 29 underage patrons inside. After the proposed new operator of Jimmy’s Music Club — a company called Lucky Tab LLC — applied for a liquor permit last summer, they were denied in December on the basis of the existing moratorium.
Many Carrollton-area businesses have opened with alcohol sales in the past few years in spite of the moratorium, including Oak Wine Bar, Tru Burger, Cowbell and the upcoming Mellow Mushroom. Usually, they have first met with the local neighborhood associations, hammered out a “good-neighbor agreement” that restricts their hours and imposes noise and litter restrictions, and then been given a waiver to the moratorium from the City Council.
Jimmy’s, however, is taking a different route, attorney Mike Tifft told the Alcohol Beverage Control board on Tuesday. Because the city code says that liquor-license permits that are denied can be appealed to the Alcohol Beverage Control board, Tifft said he plans to request such an appeal based on the premise that the moratorium was extended illegally.
In short, Tifft is asking the commissioners to overrule the moratorium, noted Commission Chair Rocky Seydel.
“You’re asking us in effect to rule on something that the City Council has already entered their opinion on, so it’s a matter of some moment, of some weight,” Seydel said.
Commissioner Jerry Speir, who also negotiates good-neighbor agreements with Oak Street businesses as a member of the Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association, suggested that Jimmy’s pursue the more conventional path of a moratorium waiver, and moved to deny hearing the appeal.
“Either way it’s going to cost you money, take you time,” Speir said of the moratorium waiver. “I don’t think it’s a burdensome or inappropriate process.”
Commissioner Nyka Scott said she wanted more information on the appeal, however, and Seydel asked city attorneys to file a written response to Tifft’s petition. The matter is now set for the March 19 meeting.
This is not the first unconventional strategy that Jimmy’s has employed in trying to reopen. Previously, Tifft said he asked Guidry to allow the previous moratorium to lapse and wait a short time before enacting a new one, essentially creating a window in which Jimmy’s could receive a liquor license. Because the City Council went forward with the new moratorium, Tifft told the board he feels compelled to challenge it in its entirety. They don’t currently have plans to seek a waiver, Tifft said.
“In my years of practice, the council defers to the wishes of the neighborhood association,” Tifft said after the meeting. “We see that as a dead-end avenue.”
The mayor’s office also characterized Tifft’s strategy as a challenge to the moratorium, and Tyler Gamble, a spokesman for Mayor Landrieu’s office, said after the meeting that their belief is that the Alcohol Beverage Control board “is not the proper body to take on that argument.”
[Update, 8:54 p.m. Tuesday: Kelly Butler, the land-use specialist in Councilwoman Guidry’s office, wrote in an email that, “I have not seen the motion submitted by Lucky Tab, LLC and the video of today’s meeting is not yet available online, so I cannot comment directly on the hearing held today. I have met with Mr. Anselmo and other interested parties in this matter and have determined that the issues involving the status of the subject property are varied and complex. I question whether the ABO board is the appropriate forum for determination of these issues.”]
Club owner Anselmo, who is battling cancer, did not attend Tuesday’s hearing because of a doctor’s appointment, his wife said.
Among other Uptown issues before the board, nuisance charges against both Grits bar and The Uptowner banquet hall were postponed until March as well. The case against the Chippewa Food Store was dismissed, as city officials said they had done some investigation on the establishment but that a case against it was placed on the docket by mistake.
To read our live coverage of the meeting, see below:
So everything that has made NOLA great you now want to destroy. If it isn’t banning certain restraunts on Maple because they are a chain (Jimmy Johns). it is now a Music Venue who has everyone play from Sublime, to Pearl Jam , Dr John, and FAts Domino. You want to keep buildings up that have zero historical significance, some that are partially burned, others that are mansions that are in disrepair. Susan Guidry, if you want this city to look like Harahan, maybe you should move and run for office out there. This is ridiculous, a new buisness venture wants to bring back live music and bring in much needed tax dollars. It is 100% ok to have live music 2 blocks over on Oak st, But, it is against the law on Willow. Guidry, why don’t you do what you do best, try and take down free speech signs on Carrolition and send off duty NOPD cops to check for underage drinking on Maple, while major crimes are being commited in your district. I have emailed and called your office at least a dozen times, why can i never get answer on these matters. I am a voter in your district, I live in the 7100 block of Freret, i want to walk to these events. Next time, I am coming to city hall and I will ask you these same questions. Hopefully, you will not ignore me like you have over the 10 emails and 5 phone calls to your office. Just remember, you work for the people. i have many more questions, hopefully you will be prepared.
To Lyle and Drew:
If “everything” that has made NOLA great, where are the 130,000 who left New Orleans, 7 years after Hurricane Katrina? I read every day that NOLA is tops in all the “up and coming, brain magnet” polls and surveys, yet appears to have nothing to show for it except the same crime, drunks, addicts and still NO JOBS. And certainly no alcohol tax revenue from any of the bars or even great restaurants that serve alcohol which was supposed to pay for fixing the streets, lights. Or pay for NOPD consent decree or any of the “still” lowest paid public employees of the nation.
By the way, “underage” drinking is where most criminals, dead beats, panhandlers/homeless get their start. (why not ask the Mayor’s son regarding drunk driving?). And just because one can die for one’s country when they are 18, does NOT mean they have enlisted, gone through boot camp, or served even a single day in a war zone. NOTE: “Can-die-for-one’s-country” is NOT the same as “in-the-line-of-fire” or “served-in-a-war-zone”.
By the way, there are OTHERS who live in the Freret area and they just want to “WALK” and stay alive. Not dodge bullets, get car jacked, raped, or get they daily drugs from drug dealer.
And if you goto City Hall, be prepared to answer the above questions on WHY the 130,000 didn’t come back, or why there are virtually no Fortune 500 companies in New Orleans, or why New Orleans has the highest poverty rate even with all the so called alcohol taxes from Bourbon St for the last 50 years.
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Our plan from the beginning was to make the age for entry 21+
If Tipitina’s can’t compete w/ the House of Blues, how can Jimmy’s? All the “good” acts want to go to the Blues Club as musicians also have bills to pay and now even Tipitina’s is financially suffering.
When a Music Club financially suffers, they do all sorts of things to make ends meet. i.e. more beer, loosen the rules, book any music act to bring in the crowd even if it’s the gangster or frat type crowd as they buy alcohol.
It says at the Jimmy’s Music Club website, that it was purchased from a run down “wino” paradise, Al’s Pool Hall in 1976. But some time later, perhaps 2000 or after, it became the Frat House. The question is, “What really caused Jimmy’s to close in 2000?”
There are only so many MUSIC ACTS to go around and even the good music acts have only a couple of good years. Notice how all the New Orleans musicians have to LEAVE New Orleans to make a living.(And could you really pay musicians more?)
Adding another local music venue to New Orleans is financially ridiculous when even Tipitina’s can’t compete with those venues downtown. You would think Tipitina’s could at least make their building look better from the outside, but they, after 30 years, appears they can’t afford it. And it appears even though it says it’s smoke free, the employees and wait staff do not enforce the smoking ban and there’s weed smoke during acts. (Typical New Orleans drug addicts and weed heads.)
Plus, the good musicians don’t need LOCAL or PHYSICAL VENUES like they did in the 80’s and 90’s to showcase their music. They now have iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, etc to get the word out and hence have better bargaining power with local music venues and even festivals. That means, music venues receive much LESS profit from acts than they did in the 80’s, 90’s etc.
52 WEEKS OUT OF THE YEAR
And in the overall yearly music view perspective, there are TOO many festivals in the New Orleans area that play live music. The public audience, overall, needs and wants a break from LIVE music, festivals, sports events and have relaxing peace and quiet weekends. That’s why music venues are suffering and resort to more alcohol and gangster, hip hop music acts to pay the bills.
Do you really think the public wants or can listen to LIVE music or watch football games, championships games, movies, Mardi Gras, attend festivals 52 weeks out of the year?
The House of Blues have been in New Orleans for a long time, but is the French Quarter a better place since they have been there? They may not cause many problems and are properly run a club with no complaints, but does it make New Orleans financially better? Hard to tell after 20 or more years.
Heck, the parent company of House of Blues, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (LYV – NYSE) appears to have taken a 163 million dollar loss the last 12 months.
The 80’s and 90’s had a totally different music environment than it does now. Music venues have to compete with festivals, iTunes, Facebook and Twitter and don’t near have the bargaining power with musicians like they did 20 years ago.
LIVE MUSIC CLUB FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY
House of Blues versus Starbucks from a financial point of view.
HOUSE of BLUES
– Live Nation Entertainment
(LYV – NYSE)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=lyv&ql=1
(Market Cap 1.9B)
And by the way, the “neighborhood” would probably be more open, as well as, prefer something along the lines of say, a coffee shop, which, by the way, appear to be far more profitable to the owners/investors, as well as good for the neighborhood and city from a tax dollars view. Starbucks also has one of of the best health care plans for both it’s full time and part time employees. How many bars and live music venues can even offer a health care plan? Dive bars can’t even fix the building. Do you really think they can even afford to offer a health care plan?
STAR BUCKS (SBUX – NASDAQ)
(Market Cap 41.2B)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SBUX
FINANCIAL DISTRICTS:
Areas with Starbuck’s on every corner are typically in “financial” districts.
GHETTOS:
Areas with Live Music/Bars/Lounges on every corner (or where alcohol is primarily served) are typically in ghettos.
COSTS OF CROWD CONTROL:
Just so you know, Live Music Venue and Bars don’t really make money like they used. A lot of the tips and sales revenue is used to pay for “Bouncers”, Off-Duty Police, On-Duty Police, and security equipment and monitoring. Live Music Venues and Bars spend a lot of money on Crowd Control; hence, that’s why many are broke, the building are run down (a.k.a. dive bars), or are looking to get out of the business.
The cities also have to spend money on “rehab” and supporting single moms cause the father can’t hold a job cause he’s at the bar drinking with his friends.
From a financial perspective, Live Music Venues and Bars are all BIG TALK and small bank accounts. At the end of the day, the bouncers, police, crowd control, etc still need to be paid.
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So bars make for the crime? Homeless, murderers, drug addicts..all created from bars? Soscioeconmic status, mental health, simple lack of common decency, different morals, values, or lack thereof..none of the above are the MAIN factors correct? If you want to talk politics, what about the revolving door the judges have set up in the court system? Or how about the 13 and 15 year old males who targeted and murdered a Hispanic man because “he was Hispanic,” I am curious as to what bar they were getting wasted in, prior. Are you speaking from the position of a school teacher, perhaps? Or a social worker? People who witness the systematic decline of society because…wait for it..all the kids out drinking in bars? Your ignorance is profound, but not surprising. You make about as much sense as the people who plant themselves right next to an establishment such as a bar, some of which have been there for decades, and then do nothing but complain. Real estate 101: location, location, location. If you do not like living by a bar, then don’t. If you don’t like driving through school zones, not being subjected to the sounds of children, then don’t move next to a school. If you do not appreciate, nor understand the culture of New Orleans, then move. And if you would like answers regarding where the taxpayer’s dollars are going, your best bet would be to question our all knowing politicans. Try Ray Nagin for starters. 😉
Only two businesses on Oak St. offer live music and alcohol, The Maple Leaf Bar, which predates the moratoriums, and Oak Wine Bar, which was put through a torturous approval process for being a “bar” even though it table-serves food. So strictly speaking, yes, a good-neighbor agreement can be a way to go about reaching a compromise, but for Jimmy’s there’s way too much uncertainty. It’s a late-night music venue and bar, which means these neighborhood associations will look on it more harshly, and if existing GNA are any precedent (stringent rules on hours, parking, loitering, noise, go cups, etc.) then a compromise will take a very long time to work out, if ever. Attacking the legality of the new moratorium is the better bet.
I have to say, it’s so weaselly, like plagiarism, to ever-so-slightly massage the boundaries and then call the whole thing a new moratorium. If that’s the way Susan Guidry operates then I’m really disappointed in her.
How sad that a war veteran and historical innovator of the Uptown music scene is refused a license to operate his famous small business.
I first saw Ellen Degeneres in one of her very first comedic routines.
Susan Guidry has absolutely zero knowledge of Uptown. It’s time for a replacement.
It is revolting that Guidry and Mitch KNOW Jimmy has cancer and they tell him to wait A FEW YEARS and THEN TO REAPPLY!!!!!!
That neighbourhood association unfortunately does not represent the will and wishes of the neighbourhood itself. The people of Carrollton want Jimmy’s and they want the moratorium lifted as it legally should have been. The actual majority of residents (who are excluded from these actual ‘associations’ have never wanted a moratorium, have never wanted our neighbourhoods rezoned ‘residential’, and have never wanted our decision-making power ceded to a couple dozen people who live in one tiny corner of the area and somehow merit far more attention than the thousands of residents who hold opposing opinions.
The council has been made aware of the neighbourhood’s desire not to have a moratorium. It was requested that no moratorium be brought for a vote until a community meeting could be held at which the Council could hear what the actual residents and property owners think. That request was ignored and the moratorium was presented to the council as having the unanimous support of the neighbourhood.
Without discussion, the council voted 7-0 to pass it.
These moratoria are illegal. They are an attempt to remove the alcohol licensing, permitting, zoning, etc. procedures from the administrative offices in which they belong and instead require that any person or business who wishes to invest in New Orleans has to go before the council and beg for their approval.
This is a clear abuse of power and does nothing but hurt the potential for economic opportunity among residents who need it like nothing else.
I wish Jimmy and his attorneys the best of luck as they are fighting for everyone in New Orleans with this case not just a single music club.
If we can get rid of these abusive moratoria and take these ‘neighbourhood associations’ back out of the mix, we can finally return to the pre-Katrina world of actually being able to go to a restaurant in Uptown for a late dinner instead of having to drive to Jefferson Parish if you want something to eat after 9pm most nights.
The entire concept of giving neighborhood associations extraordinary input into the process smacks of “pay to play”. In order to have a vote in these groups, one must be a dues paying member.
I cannot believe nobody has taken up this issue on behalf of those excluded due to financial means.
Drew,
That’s a great question. Just who make up these self-appointed “neighborhood associations”? Since they have so much influence on our councilmember they should provide names. Similarly, who is Jerry Speir? If he spearheads (speirheads? 🙂 the good-neighbor agreements AND sits on the ABC board then that’s potentially an abusive concentration of power. The public didn’t elect him to such a position of authority so it’s in the public interest to get details about who he is and who he speaks for.
Susan Guidry could very well be surprised in the next election to see that the actual neighborhood association membership roll is a lot smaller than the number of Jimmy’s supporters who vote in District A….
Kelly Butler, I always find both you and Mrs. Guidry’s “excuses” to be rather comical. Here is a link to the video of the ABO meeting, which was posted as early as 4:30 this afternoon,February 19th. Hope this helps! http://nolacitycouncil.com/video/video_legislative.asp
We will continue in our attempt to contest this illegal moratorium, which is our right to do, at the next ABC Board meeting. I do not see how trying to deal with Ms. Guidry and Mr. Speir for a waiver would prove productive when she herself wrote the illegal moratorium and appointed Mr. Speir, who is on the board of the Carrollton/Riverbend Assc. to the Alcohol board. What a conflict of interest! Too many people have come to us saying that it is their intention to make sure there is never an alcohol permit at this location again. And after our alcohol permit which was applied for July 17th sat in permits for almost six months till Dec 27th which was also illegal, we felt like this was the right thing to do. Ms. Butler made the mistake at our meeting with Ms. Guidry by saying that the moratorium was over a different area because they tightened up the boundaries. It does not take a lawyer to look at the boundaries and see they are essentially the same.
janselmo@bellsouth.net
Let me also say my health is fine and my current status is stable. I also wonder how the Mayor’s spokesman commented so quickly when I can’t get them to talk with me after repeated attempts for a meeting.
Meanwhile over on Freret Street businesses are opening and serving alcohol and the world has not ended.
Given the somewhat distorted view of neighborhood associations held by some of the responders, Uptown Messenger would do all a service by publishing a story on the associations. In my limited involvement with the Central Carrollton Association, I have been heartened by the civic consciences of the members and the efforts they make on behalf of the common good
Larry,
Don’t ask others to do your work. Ask your own organization to find out why it is that so many of your neighbors increasingly view the associations negatively, and then make an effort to change that perception. Perhaps my opinions and observations can help you start:
With regard to businesses, the associations aren’t so much about dialogue and harmony and inclusiveness and mutual respect, what I believe “civic conscience” to truly mean, but about a few (passive-)aggressive types seeking to shape the neighborhood exactly and only the way they want it, into an inauthentic bland and ultimately unsustainable Mayberry stage-set kind of way. Revealingly, despite the uniform fixation of these few on that phony vision of New Orleans, not a one I know of has ever risked his or her own dime in a venture toward that end. Better that outsiders take on the risks and the work — and had better do it how they like it. It exposes an attitude of clubby entitlement that is disturbing, Your association was the one that led the drive to shut down that unfortunate little Japanese coffee shop* on Carrollton,wasn’t it? Maybe your association had perfectly good reasons to oppose the business, but there was a strong whiff of collusion between your association and some of the others in the area, like CRNA and MARI, both of which I used to be a member of as a resident and business owner in the neighborhood. Is that the civic conscience you speak of, the ganging up on those you deem aren’t like-minded? Your argument should have had plenty of merit on its own to go so far as to close down a business without having to resort to hints of a phantom voting block that will punish our councilmember come election day. Evidently you don’t speak for a very large number of voters in the area as that coffee shop claimed it gathered 500 signatures from area residents in support of its business. How many members does your association claim to have?
Myself, I’d already distanced myself from MARI and CRNA after witnessing the untenably hostile treatment that Oak Wine Bar received when it sought to bring life to a decaying property on a dead-at-sundown stretch of Oak St. Anyone who sat through those meetings can imagine the intense resistance that Jimmy’s will face. But look at the result on Oak Street now — it’s thriving! — no thanks at all to those organizations. So here’s to Jimmy’s, and here’s to New Orleans. Finally these neighborhood associations have met a fighter that all the rest of us can get behind.
* https://uptownmessenger.com/2011/08/carrollton-coffeeshop-rejected-alcohol-sales-at-walgreens-on-claiborne-approved-by-city-council/
I wanted to add a suggestion that the Uptown Messenger could do a service by profiling the neighborhood associations and their activities to clear up some of the misconceptions about those groups that some of our neighbors have.
Larry, I would actually agree with you that neighborhood groups suffer from public misconceptions. However, I believe that Uptown Messenger has already done the service you are requesting. In fact, and I don’t say this lightly, but I don’t think there is any single source of better information about the benevolent work that neighborhood associations do in this city. Judge for yourself — I’ve tried to collect all our reporting on neighborhood groups in the last two and a half years under one category, which you can find here: https://uptownmessenger.com/category/neighborhoods/
For those who choose not to peruse that link, I’ll review. Off the top of my head, I have reported on Larry’s group (Central Carrollton Association) doing an interesting range of civic activities: cleaning up the cemeteries, raising money for improvements to the Nix branch library, organizing a holiday lights festival and neighborhood block parties to try to welcome more neighbors into the group, and pressuring the city to fix a dangerous section of Lowerline Street next to a school. I think the Japanese food store mentioned elsewhere may actually be the only land-use issue I’ve covered with CCA, though again, I’m working from the top of my memory here and certainly stand to be corrected.
This pattern repeats itself with neighborhood groups across Uptown, and with some, a cool thing happens: you find them deeply engaged in important citywide civic issues in uniquely local ways. A few examples: the Irish Channel association, with its close proximity to a number of Uptown’s large housing projects, makes its primary activity the support of recreation activities. Yes, they also take positions on land-use. But they spend far more time, energy and their own money in support of the Lyons booster club, because they see the firsthand the good that recreational opportunities do in the city — as well as the gap left by “official” city entities.
Another: the Carrollton-Riverbend Neighborhood Association, which is being demonized here. You know what I’ve heard them discuss, and work on, and organize around — far more than any bar? Bringing the Priestley campus back to life as a school serving the neighborhood. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Anne Wolfe or Betty DiMarco (two association leaders) before the City Council or Planning Commission, but the good Lord and every RSD superintendent knows they are at every single meeting where Priestley’s future might come up. (And I don’t think any of them actually have school-age kids.) And it’s worth noting — as you’ll find in our coverage — they’ve supported far more ABOs on Oak Street than they’ve opposed. I wasn’t there for the Oak Wine Bar meetings though I was for the Mellow Mushroom, and while the process wasn’t always pretty, it was always clear they (as a whole) wanted businesses on Oak — as witnessed, ultimately, by their support.
Finally, you like that pretty fountain in Coliseum Square? The pretty water that comes out of it? Proud of your tax dollars for supporting something so attractive? Well, don’t be. That’s the work of the Coliseum Square Association, alone. Those guys pay for its repairs when needed, they manually keep it clean, and I’ll leave it to your imagination how it would look if given over to the city.
(I said “finally” but there’s so much more: the Freret Neighbors United has been hard at work replacing their tree canopy that was so obliterated in the storms, and they also love hosting political debates. Audubon-Riverside has been investigating the closure of their closest fire station. State Street Drive is getting together a new Little Free Library. Milan built a phone tree to network reports of open-air drug deals and gun battles. They fight blight. They have holiday parties for kids who couldn’t have their own. And on and on.)
I’d even argue that, for many of the higher-functioning groups I’ve mentioned here and others, this charge of unaccountability is likewise baseless. They publish agendas regularly, they hold meetings in public places, they hold annual meetings where they select new board members from the public, and so forth. They don’t hide! They actually put themselves out there — isn’t it a little ironic that Mr Speir is being called out by name for being “unaccountable” by anonymous commenters (and to those of you who use your real name, thank you). Once, the Coliseum Square group had an agenda item to discuss noise from the Eiffel Society — so the owner showed up, responded, joined the board and is now on his second term.
Uptown Messenger has written on all of this, for these groups and many more. Not just printed press releases — we’ve sent an actual journalist to cover these things. Often me, but sometimes we’ve even paid others to go when I couldn’t. I think the work these groups do is important, and I’m not sure these groups have a better friend in the media than this website.
Yet, this perception problem persists. These opinions that neighborhood groups are overreaching and unreasonable somehow get held by pretty fair-minded people. And I believe it’s because these land-use issues are the sole things that neighborhood groups do that directly impact people far beyond their own neighborhood boundaries. Why do people dislike them? Because they want to go to a place like the legendary Jimmy’s in Carrollton (as do I), they hear some neighborhood group is opposing it, and ergo, neighborhood groups oppose the things they want. Doesn’t matter how many things the neighborhood has previously supported, or how many good works the association members have done.
Larry, I heard a while back of a technique used by one neighborhood association board to help inform its own opinions, and I guess I wish I saw it used more today. Hundreds of households voluntarily pay dues to each of these associations — so they must be doing something right, right? So, before their meetings, this association in particular would do an email poll of their members about whatever issue they were going to discuss. That way, if the people who lived closest to the place in question were the only ones who showed up, theirs weren’t the only opinions being represented in the room. Now, the association board didn’t hold itself to the results of the email poll — they reserved the right to hear the details of the issue and make their decision as leaders. But, at least they had some additional context for the decision — and when they wrote their letter to their council person or city planning, they’d just make note of the poll results to. “As a board, we voted this way for these reasons: _____. Also of note, an email poll of our members showed this: _____.” There’s nuances to it, but I think it would help counter this constant charge that the decisions made by neighborhood groups are being made by disproportionately small numbers of people.
I ardently support both civic involvement and local business. Uptown Messenger is intended to champion both. I don’t think our society is worth much without either, and I genuinely think there’s room for both. I actually think that both alcohol-serving establishments and neighborhood groups both get an unfair shake from the other side, and I also admit that both sides in their excesses are sometimes guilty of the things they are being accused of.
Our columnist, Owen Courreges, recently chose to write a column lampooning one neighborhood group for their decision on a land-use issue. I was emailed afterward by a member of another association — someone I know well and respect quite a bit — who felt that piece was insulting to associations in general. I made many of the same points to him that I’ve made here, and I offered to let him write a response. For his own reasons, he chose not to take me up. So I’d make the same offer to you. I’d genuinely love to publish your thoughts on the role of these associations in New Orleans civic life, and there’s a solid base of reporting here for you to build a case upon.
And now, I’ve got a Jimmy’s supporter waiting in my inbox to extend a similar offer to.
Mr. Morris-
“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29874.Martin_Luther
hell, just the stuff I have seen with you would give most PTSD… and you see and cover all daily…I say the best way to shut these fools up is to stick with-
http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp
That said- I can also understand why masks’ are needed with-
http://thelensnola.org/2013/02/07/too-late-to-save-face-but-time-for-lsu-to-settle-ivorvan-heerden-lawsuit/
and you are the only one who gets to peek, so you have every right to state the obvious,
Lastly, I attach the embarrassment (photo by Cheryl Gerber) from that first Freret Market as a reminder on how far we have come.
Best From Freret,
Andy
Mr. Anselmo, the property owner of 8200 Willow had the right and the duty to see that the former tenants, The Frat House obeyed the laws of the city. He should have checked his lease or had a lease that covered his rights and stopped the noise/trash/ property damage that occured, but he didn’t and the result was the ABO license was revoked.
Now he wants the ABO license back so he can rent to a new tenant. One has to wonder what Mr. Anselmo’s actions or inactions will be if there are once again problems? The buck stops with the owner…and he should step up…but didn’t.
The Frat House did not have it’s license revoked. My name will be on the license as a manager.
ksvb3, The Frat House’s license was not revoked. We could have avoided all of this by buying their corporation but did not want to buy their liabilities or history. I have been actively trying to rectify the situation but have been roadblocked from doing so.
Susan Guidry just lost a repeat of the 5k she would have received and my vote.
Who’s willing to replace this awful woman? She doesn’t know or care about Uptown, Uptowners, or our traditions.
Hey Jimmy in the 1980’s did you ,or did you not,have a problem with the LAW, because of the underage drinking in your establishment-This area is now a respectable family neighborhood ,Please open your venue on OAK-St, YES! bring back the live music,-but not on Willow St-have a little consideration form the children and families in the Carrollton -neighborhood-
Hey Jimmy in the 1980’s did you ,or did you not,have a problem with the
LAW, because of the underage drinking in your establishment-This area is
now a respectable family neighborhood ,Please open your venue on
OAK-St, YES! bring back the live music,-but not on Willow St-have a
little consideration form the children and families in the Carrollton
-neighborhood-