Two clubs face loss of liquor licenses
On Thursday night, a state Liquor Board officer stopped by Tommy's Nightclub & Grill in the University District with the bad news.
Tommy's was one of two Seattle clubs — the other being Tabella Restaurant & Lounge in Belltown — facing revocation of its liquor license within 20 days because of the number of citations it had received.
Mulling that news overnight, Tommy's manager Jeff Andrew on Friday decided to shut the beleaguered business that very day.
A previously scheduled "indie" hip-hop show Friday night would bid farewell to the regulars.
"It's depressing," said Andrew, whose mother owns Tommy's.
"It's the same old story. This isn't new for nightclubs. The Liquor Board and the Seattle Police Department have a problem with hip-hop. But it's the music of today's youth."
Even before this latest blow, the future of Tabella was shakey.
On Friday, Edwin Mirsky, an agent for Ewing & Clark Commercial Brokerage, said that "we are in contract and there is a deal pending" on the property where Tabella has operated since 2005. Mirsky declined to comment on what the sale would mean for the club's future.
To be dealt what Andrew called a death sentence by the liquor board, a nightclub must receive more than four citations in two years. Tommy's received five, alleging that it served an underaged patron, over-served a patron, that an employee was drinking and that there was an incident of disorderly conduct involving a firearm.
Tabella received eight citations for allegedly serving liquor to a minor, over-serving liquor and disorderly conduct involving firearms and drugs.
The clubs have 20 days to contest the notices at a hearing or their licenses will be pulled, said Brian Smith, a spokesman for the liquor board.
It was the second of two recent blows for the clubs.
Both were among 15 Seattle establishments targeted in a two-week, $52,000 Seattle police sting operation in August called "Sobering Thought." All but one of the 15 were cited.
David Osgood, an attorney representing Tabella, called the sting operation fundamentally flawed and said it "won't hold up before a judge."
Kauser Pasha, Tabella's owner, did not return messages left for him. In the past, Tabella has denied the city's allegations, saying Mayor Greg Nickels is looking for a scapegoat to advance his agenda that nightclubs be required to obtain a special city license.
For nearly a year, Nickels has urged the Seattle City Council to pass an ordinance requiring such a license, saying it would give the city the tool it needs to shut down clubs that are the scene of repeated violence or other problems.
Last month, when the time finally came for the council to say yes or no to a licensing ordinance, it essentially delayed its decision for a full year.
Nickels was critical, but already his administration had begun working other avenues — one being to build a case against clubs strong enough to persuade the liquor board to revoke their liquor license.
This year, the Legislature passed a law stating that the liquor board, in issuing or renewing a license, must give greater weight to such recommendations from cities and counties.
The sting operation that led to this week's action against Tommy's and Tabella involved 40 Seattle police officers, working 900 hours over a two-week period, according to a memo from the mayor's office.
Linda Pierce, Seattle Police Department assistant chief, said future sting operations "could be a possibility," but wouldn't comment further.
The liquor board has only 16 officers working in King County, in which some 2,400 businesses, from bars to convenience stores, hold liquor licenses.
"We give a lot of weight to the locals," said Smith, referring to the wishes of local governments concerning liquor establishments. But the board did that even before the new law, he said.
In July, though, the board refused a request by Nickels to issue an emergency suspension of Tabella's liquor license.
Such suspensions are devastating; because an establishment must stop serving liquor immediately, it can mean the end for a business. In turning down Nickels, the board said its enforcement division concluded that there were "no grounds" to cite Tabella or suspend its liquor license.
The next month, the city conducted its sting operation.
Osgood, lawyer for Tabella, said that in looking at the citations "it's clear the police targeted two places and did a token effort everywhere else so it looks like they're being fair."
Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr replied: "The fact that they [police] went into Tommy's and Tabella and found so many violations suggests they were deployed in the right places."
Jeff Andrew said he doesn't plan to run a nightclub after closing Tommy's.
"I'm out of the bar business," he said. "Maybe I'll go back to fishing boats. That's what I did when I was a teenager."
Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com