Trouble!

The police chief has submitted a report to the city council asking to revoke (or not renew) the "dance hall permit" for Club Leon in downtown Manteca. They cite such problems as, during the last year or so there was a fight in the parking lot, a bouncer threw a guy out of the club and a woman was hit by someone in the club.

Additionally, they are accused of having minors in the hall (although it's unclear if that's a problem since there's no claim of underage drinking) and the employees purchased booze from the local supermarket apparently contrary to the states rules about where they buy their supplies. The chief's report accuses them of "trying to pass off counterfeit money" although it seems more likely a customer had passed them a bad bill and that's how the whole matter came to light.

Furthermore, the ubiquitous "numerous complainers" (ever present in council documents) are mentioned but as usual none of the members of the League of Numerous Complainers have actually come forward or said what they are complaining about. Maybe they are jealous or competitors or just they just don't like "their kind?" Who knows, none of the "numerous complaints" are listed.

So is it really fair to punish the owner of the club? The club owner hasn't been accused or convicted of any crime. What more could the management do? The place is popular. That fact alone makes it almost unique for a night club in Manteca! Things do happen at popular places.

I could see blaming them if, say, they had a drink special for anyone who got in a fight in the parking lot, but there's no evidence of anything of the sort. To the contrary, it looks like the owner has done the best he could to run the club properly. Although there have been some infractions with the ABC, they corrected those and paid with a temporary suspension of their liquor license. The things such as finding the doors locked has been corrected and wasn't repeated. (The doors were locked after the police told them to "keep out the minors," then they cited them for locking the doors.)

The council should renew the dance hall permit. First, because there really is no other choice -- the owner has done nothing wrong and has a right to operate a successful business. In the Stockton/Maxim case just a few weeks ago the federal court ruled that having discretionary permits for live music is "unconstitutional." The reason being that live music is a form of constitutionally protected free speech.

It's also possible there is a "culture clash" going on. The report hints that someone from the police dept visited the club almost a year ago and sort of "laid down the law." Curiously, this was before most of the "trouble" started. They "warned" them that if they call the police too much they could lose their permits! Think about what a perverse incentive that creates.

Instead of warning them not to call them too much, the police should be helping them and encourage them to communicate with the police at the first sign of trouble, and not wait till there's a melee going on or something.

Lets hope the council keeps both the law and common sense in mind and gives the successful local business a chance to thrive in Manteca. In this economy, Club Leon should be getting an award, not being threatened with closure!