I really wanted to leave this nightclub and crime issue and turn to some other topics this week. Yet, quite easily, they pull me back into the fray.
First there is a thoughtful blog by David Hickey on the bad old days of prostitutes, crime and drugs on every corner in the Sofa area of downtown (before it had that name) in the late seventies. It was a very bad scene.
A coalition of neighbors and small business owners, including the nuns from Notre Dame High School, said “no more.” They worked with Chief Joe McNamara and me, got the support of the city council, and then did the most difficult thing of all—walked the streets with flashlights and tablets. They took down license plate numbers and harassed those who were making their lives miserable. These individuals had great courage. It was citizen activism at its most basic, intense, and admirable.
Another less thoughtful blog equated the downtown night clubs with the entertainment industry and opined that the Arena was drawing the problem people and gang members.
You remember the line about walking and chewing gum. Either that or he was a paid mis-director. What this blogger so foolishly called the “entertainment industry” resulted in three shootings and more than one death in the recent past. No neighborhood in San Jose needs to tolerate that situation and no one should defend it.
Then the “Business Journal” offered in its opinion page that Cindy Chavez and the council acted rashly in giving the police chief the right to close such dangerous spots for a short period. Rashly! When shots are hitting bodies and the work of a generation is at risk, it is very easy for those who never go downtown after eight o’clock to offer advice. San Jose has often been cursed by leadership by the faint of heart. Cindy Chavez was very strong and deserves a lot of credit. There are some who need to get out of their ivory towers. So many people now want to lecture from the calm of their office on the 12th floor or their home in the “Grand Duchy” of Monte Sereno.
This is action time. In typical San Jose fashion we are protecting ourselves from the crime and pestilence of drugs and violence and anarchy that threatens our well-being. Such is how it should always be in our city.
Tom,
If bars restaurants, and nightclubs are not entertainment venues; then why are the permits needed for a bar, restaurant or nightclub called entertianment permits? Wouldn’t that make them entertainment venues?
As for the arena and Bomb concerts. Those particular concerts (hosted at the arena) attract just the wrong element to San Jose. Basically the “Bomb” concerts are targeting poeple who fit the profile of the cruisers and gang members.
I still ask, why are you down on all the bars, restaurants and nightclubs? Only a few have had problems? So why ruin business for all of them.
By the way, don’t you own buildings with these bar owners as well? Are you looking to put them out too? Because your message and antics are hurting business for the good people downtown.
So keep screaming about how the sky is falling! You should be really prowd of yourself.
What people are forgetting is that the Boo Bomb concerts make a LOT of money. And if you open a nightclub, this bad element seems to have a lot of money to throw at cover charges/drinks. So they try to make as much money as they can!
I was downtown the other night and saw some “unsavory” people, and I said to my friend who was from San Francisco, “I bet they aren’t even from San Jose”. And there is a new wave of people from other cities coming to our “safe city” because they know they can get away with more.
Mr.Walker – no, not all the bars and restaurants are bad – just the 5 or 6 clubs where people get shot and attacked with broken bottles. I would say that is a fairly rational standard that all should be held to – I am not amazed that the few club owners and their apologists and lackeys are so crazed to change the subject – they are making a lot of money terrorizing the city. Yes, the BOMB concerts are a problem – but let’s stop the smoke screen. No one is concerned with Original Joe’s or the Hedley Club or Sonoma Chicken or The Tied House or Mission Ale House or Sofa Lounge, the Police are not the problem either. If people don’t wake up soon, and Cindy Chavez has led the Council in that direction, there will be a real tragedy in our city. If the slum lords and quick buck artists have to leave – we’ll be a better city for it. TMcE
I think as long as we have bars in downtown, your always going to have that certain element like the drunks and the bar room brawls that happen that the police are going to have to contend with; But shootings? That’s a whole other story. San Jose is the safest big city in the nation, I think San Jose has this reputation to live up to, so instead of taking the lets wait and see what happends attitude and then responding, the police have taken an offenisive approach; sort of a preventative measure based on what they have already seen in the past, or maybe they have so much calls for service on a saturday night that it’s just easier for them to be in the area in full force. Who knows, maybe if the police weren’t there to stop all those late night fights after the bars close. The murder rate would be alot higher. Either way, With all this debate going on, I don’t know what to think anymore.
you guys make me laugh. How can you look at someone and say “they are not from San Jose”
Also, why attack these bars and nightclubs? They are not handing out guns/weapons for people to hurt each other?
Wake up people, these are your fellow san joseans or san jose nieghbors. like it or not they also like bomb concerts and hip hop. I agree with singlegal and support of opening more venues with more variety of music and culture. Bottom line is we want thier money spent in our downtown.
Place cameras down town, crack down on people actually commiting crimes. Send the message to real criminals loud and clear WE DONT WANT YOUR BUSINESS HERE and welcome people who are actually out to have fun at night.
“What this blogger so foolishly called the “entertainment industry” resulted in three shootings and more than one death in the recent past.”
Just curious, but what deaths were these, when did they occur, and how were they related to the entertainment industry?
Also, a couple of years ago a girl was shot in the head, and died, outside a Palo Alto nightclub, but I don’t remember reading about how this was negatively affecting Palo Alto. Of course, it should never have happened, but it can happen anywhere.
Finally, if you really want to accomplish something that benefits all of San Jose, and not just downtown property owners, then start clamoring for a ban on loud car stereos. These are the lowlifes who are negatively affecting downtown, and all of San Jose, on a daily/nightly basis.
If we had a “carry law” and all honest people had a weapon, the bad guys wouldn’t be so quick to shoot if they thought they might get shot back at! 38 states now have carry laws.l
Jerry
Tom,
As I understand your point people from other cities should not comment on what goes on in San Jose.
I’ll keep that in mind when I’m asked to vote on a BART-to-San Jose sales tax that would do so much for downtown San Jose!
Monty S.
Monty—I’m not sure that is exactly what Tom is saying, but you are correct that, in general, San Jose’s attitude is “butt out, we know what is best for the cities that surround us.” Great way to make friends. If San Jose were graded with a report card it would say, “Does not play well with others.”
Monty and Morgan – no , don’t butt out – just make your comments reflective of the “real” situation. I remember when Downtown neighborhoods were overrun with “johns and drug dealers and prostitutes in the late seventies, Chief McNamara and the people who lived there were lectured on constitutional nuances by a Los Gatos lawyer of the ACLU, one Tom Ferritto, Councilman – it is easy to do so, when people are not outside ‘your’ window, at 3AM, shooting up, screaming, threathening, and you get to have a nice nights sleep in the West Valley. I, and San Jose, welcome the support and advice of those who live in the region – we need you – just remember that we have to live in that advice. Oh, and some of my ‘best friends’ live in Saratoga! TMcE
The bottom line here is that the nightclub legislation that Cindy Chavez passed through on a unanimous vote was a knee jerk reaction to an unfortunate situation. What the ‘apologists’ want is a solution to the problem of irresponsible club owners that is a collaboration with business, the police, and city hall—which the newly created entertainment ordinance was definitely not. There was absolutely no public outreach on this issue- nightclub owners were called into a meeting with police AFTER legislation passed, and the proposed changes were put up for public viewing at 2 pm the day before council voted on the issue.
Most of downtown club owners have put their money, time and energy into downtown, with very little in way of a thank you for their contribution. Police tactics reduce the number of attractive customers. Look at Dan Doherty’s very thoughtful blog on the subject- a responsible club owner asking some serious and relevent questions and getting the proverbial nose-thumbing from City Hall.
I’m sure I fall into the category of the despised ‘apologist’ but even as a long time downtown worker, downtown resident, and occasional club goer I prefer that my government and my city do not pass vague and reactionary legislation in response to one (very frightening, to be sure) incident. The ‘sky-is-falling” rationale that I’m seeing so much of by the authors of these blogs is only damaging downtown’s image and is not a true reflection of what’s really going on between 10 and 2 on a Friday night.
Welcome to government as defined by Cindy Chavez.
As a current downtown bar-goer here are some thoughts:
1. More posts from business owners: The post by Dan Doherty got to the heart of the issue – not what someone who “thinks” they know about downtown. Maybe some solutions can come from their participation.
2. It was nice to see an arrest (called in by a downtown business) of a drug dealer on Santa Clara Street last week. I would be interested to know how many drug-related arrests we have had downtown (versus harassing people). I agree it would be easy to “do business” in San Jose considering we think this is a utopia where no one commits crime.
3. The downtown late night crowd is OVERALL a group of good people have fun a great time in downtown San Jose. I bet OVERALL that the majority of the bar-goers are citizens of San Jose or adjacent communities (SJSU etc.). There are a handful who are not. Let’s think…not everyone who goes out in SF lives in “The City”.
5. And…to repeat myself…I wish people who post on this have first hand experience. Not a once-a-month downtown visitor, “I went to a bar after a Sharks game” or a daytime visitor. Then we would have a fruitful discussion.
Until then…more of the same!