STOP THE “SCREW DOTTY’S” JIHAD
OK, if you walk into a Dotty’s,
here’s what you’ll find: You can order
an adult beverage – beer, wine or liquor.
You can smoke a cigarette. You
can watch TV. You can play video
poker. You can order something to
eat. In other words, a tavern. Or bar, if you prefer.
But Dotty’s doesn’t “look”
like a bar. At least not the traditional
kind of bar some members of the Clark County Commission think of.
The décor is decidedly
tailored to a female clientele. There
are curtains and homey wall decorations instead of sports banners and
pennants. And the poker machines are
embedded in stand-alone consoles with very comfy chairs rather than embedded in
a traditional bar-top where you sit on an uncomfortable bar stool.
So some members of the Commission
– at the behest of Stations Casinos, which doesn’t like the competition – are
trying to run Dotty’s out of business by maintaining they’re “slot parlors,”
not taverns; claiming they don’t meet the standard whereby gaming is only “incidental”
to the overall operation.
Problem here is that almost NO
TAVERNS – girlie or manly – can meet that test. The gaming revenue, not the booze or food, is
what keeps these businesses in business in this gaming town. So if the County Commission is successful in
screwing Dotty’s, it’ll only be a matter of time before they screw P.T.’s Pub
and most of the other “traditional” taverns in town.
Which, frankly, would suit
Stations just fine.
If the latest “Screw
Dotty’s” ordinance is approved (a workshop on the proposal was conducted
yesterday), the Las Vegas Review-Journal
reports that all tavern owners…
- Will have to mount all of their poker/slot machines “on bar counters that are at least 42 inches tall.”
- Will be required to install machines in the bar which are “a minimum height of 40 inches.”
- Will no longer be able to serve “pre-packaged or reheated prepared items to meet the ordinance’s existing requirement to serve hot meals.”
- Will be required to hire “at least one worker dedicated only to the tavern restaurant operation each hour the kitchen is in operation.”
- Will be required to have full-service kitchens “be in operation at least 16 hours a day, up from 12 hours.”
Does anyone believe for a
nano-second that such micro-managing of private businesses is the kind of
limited government envisioned by our Founding Fathers?
As for the 42-inch height
requirement, what about disabled persons?
Why can’t a tavern owner, if he so chooses, specifically tailor his
business to people in wheelchairs without putting in ANY kind of bar
whatsoever? And why not 41 inches? Or 42 ½ inches? What’s so magical about 42?
Oh, and in a previous
lifetime I managed a very large, high-end seafood restaurant in Ocean City,
Maryland. Got news for you: Almost ALL
of the food items served were delivered to us on trucks “pre-packaged.” Even fish delivered fresh off the boat
arrived in a “pre-packaged” box.
On Tuesday, Dave Mesker urged, in a
letter-to-the-editor published by the LVRJ, the Commission to…
“(L)eave these people alone. They pay their taxes, they employ people and provide a different place to gamble for those who prefer an alternative to a casino. It really seems the only people who have a gripe with this alternative are Clark County commissioners and those who operate large casinos.”
What he said.
Or as Beth Brown put it so eloquently in a separate letter-to-the-editor
on Thursday…
“I have never been in a Dotty’s in my life, but it’s so obvious that the Clark County Commission is poking at them to reward Nevada Resort Association members for campaign support. The Clark County Commission needs to get its priorities straight.”
What she said.
DRIVE-BY MUTHINGS
--> I don’t know about you, but
I find the TV commercials urging a “No” vote on Question 3 - the “margins tax”
- to be quite bland and uninspiring.
Cookie-cutter even. Do you
agree? If so, do me a favor, take a look
at THIS “No on 3” spot and let me know if we should put it up on the air: Click here
--> I almost never vote early. So I still haven’t decided who to vote for in
a lot of races, especially judicial races, this year. But my early picks can be found here. These are TENTATIVE choices at this point if
I was voting today. They are subject to change at ANY time right up the point
of casting my ballot. Check back
regularly for additions and changes.
--> Secretary of State Ross Miller took some $70,000 worth of “gifts”
while in office, many from lobbyists and other special interests. He seems to think he should get brownie
points for disclosing the gifts and maintains they pose no conflict of
interest. He’s wrong on both
counts. The Law of Reciprocity cannot be
repealed any more than the Law of Gravity.
Miller is hopelessly conflicted, period.
--> Liberals say we need more
money for education. Once medical
marijuana begins selling legally sometime next year, 75% of the revenue from
the excise tax on pot will go to…education.
So clearly anyone wanting more money for education can help the cause by
encouraging more people to smoke pot.
Problem solved!
--> Most candidates and elected
officials think running for office is all about politics. It’s not.
It’s about marketing. And if you
want to attract energetic volunteers and lots of donors, you need to (a) be
strong on the issues philosophically, and (b) not be run-of-the-mill boring. In that regard, the best candidate I’ve seen
on the ballot this cycle is Assemblywoman Michele
Fiore. Can’t wait to go to her
Halloween Party next week!
REMINDER: VOTE TODAY IN $100,000 TEACHER
CHALLENGE
Remember, you can (and
should, please) vote every day for Brenda Moynihan in her
effort to secure a $100,000 grant for C.T. Sewell Elementary School in
Henderson.
CLICK HERE to vote. And remember, you can vote every day until
the deadline on November 30th.
You know, just like in Chicago elections!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Soak your jack-o-lantern in
diluted bleach. It’ll last so long it’s scary.” – Halloween tip from CapitalOne
No comments:
Post a Comment