[This is Part Sixteen (!) of the Pride of Phoenix series; see the sidebar.]
by Jerome du Bois
Monday's article in the Arizona Republic about police and code enforcers showing up on Roosevelt Row during last First Friday omits a few important facts, and imputes false power to the artists. But first, let Ginger Richardson give us the background:
Many Phoenix artists believe the city went too far last weekend when it sent more than a dozen police officers, as well as health inspectors and code enforcers, to look for violations at the popular First Fridays art walk.
A police presence had been expected at the event, which routinely draws more than 10,000 people to the downtown area. But gallery owners say they were "blind-sided" when officers and city inspectors arrived, taking notes on everything from food trays to possible building code violations.
"It was the way they did it," said Susan Copeland, a spokeswoman for the Downtown Phoenix Arts Coalition. "It almost felt like a raid, like they were raiding a speak-easy or something."
The anachronistic "speak-easy" reference is telling, since speakeasies were notorious for drinking and other illegal activity, which is exactly what has been going on down on Roosevelt Row for years. Underage drinking. Everybody knows, okay? And that's why the police go down there regularly. Of course, nobody's asking why the underage drinkers are there (art appreciation?), the first important fact omitted from the article.
And now that the city is throwing more money at these fools -- the Phoenix Artist Storefront Pilot Program, the second important fact omitted from the article-- maybe the city felt it ought to check out where the money is going. I sure would. I'd be down there taking notes for a baseline, or making sure everybody is on the up-and-up, codewise.
Which of course they aren't; the third important fact.
There are others. Let's look more closely at these facts.
Underage drinkers are downtown mainly because of Kimber Lanning's Modified Arts and, to a lesser extent, Wayne Rainey's Holga's. For six years at least, Lanning has been running an all-ages music venue almost every week, sometimes more often. Holga's has bands playing outside on First Fridays. Also, there's a band called the MadCaps which play out of the back of a truck down there, too. (One of the players co-owns Carly's restaurant, on Roosevelt Row.) These regular musical events, especially Lanning's, created an underage drinking scene which she has done nothing to curb or discourage. None of the gallery owners has. If they had, the scene wouldn't be there. (When was the last time you saw uniformed private security guards outside Modified --hired by Lanning-- to make sure nobody broke the law or got hurt?) And yet she's got the damned gall to say:
"There is a lot of mistrust out there right now," said Kimber Lanning, who owns Modified Arts. "But I am trying to give them (the city) the benefit of the doubt."
The city should mistrust her right back. She creates the scene, then she asks for help controlling it without helping to control it herself. (The bottom line is obvious: there won't be a viable art scene on Roosevelt Row until Modified shuts down the music. It's like a tumor in the heart of the Row.)
"I am just speechless, and infuriated," City Councilman Tom Simplot said. "They asked us for our help with parking violators and underage drinkers, and somehow, somewhere down the line it ballooned into this horrible event."
No, Mr. Simplot, a horrible event is a drunk or date-drugged teenage girl getting raped behind Holga's on First Friday. Wait until that happens, and you have to face her, and her parents, and then you can talk about what's horrible. (And if you were the one who used the word "Gestapo," you need to clean up your vocabulary, and put on your thinking cap, too.)
One point of agreement seems to be that the extra police presence did help curb underage drinking and the number of people walking around with open containers of alcohol.
"To be fair, the Police Department did do what it said it was going to do," said artist Greg Esser, who owns the eye lounge gallery on Roosevelt Street. "The police presence was very noticeable and people did respond to that."
Yes. People responded by drinking in their cars someplace else --a nearby grocery store parking lot?-- and then driving back downtown and going gallery-crawling, probably literally.
About the "raids:" What the gallerists and artists faced was a legal visit by city officials who are paid by taxpayers to make sure of public safety. And the artists and gallerists whined about it, because that's what they do best.
It was the way they did it, whines Susan Copeland, presumably an adult.
Unannounced. Surprise. Like a raid, huh? Scary!
They say inspectors entered their galleries and pointed out violations that ranged from serving vegetable trays without a food handler's license to not having proper permits for operating a commercial business in a residential building.
Wait a minute! They pointed out things? With their fingers? With their words? And they took notes? And they were right? Jeez, I'm gettin' the vapors in my own speakeasy!
When I worked for Schlotzsky's, and for every other restaurant and nursing home I've cooked in, inspectors would come by from time to time, unannounced. That's the point; you're always supposed to be ready for inspection.
These clowns weren't, but now they're bitching and whining about it. They were "blind-sided," meaning that they should have given warning. Why? Why should they get this privilege when nobody else does? Because they're artists; because they're special. Because they're spoiled and entitled and coddled. Babies.
No one was cited, but the artists fear that's the next step.
As it should be.
The newspaper article doesn't say exactly why the inspectors and code enforcers were there. In fact, the article states, nobody knows how many inspectors appeared:
Exactly how many city and county inspectors were wandering about First Fridays is in dispute. Artists claims that as many as six city divisions were represented; Phoenix officials say they are aware of one or two individuals from two city departments, plus a representative from the county health department.
City Manager Frank Fairbanks doesn't clarify much:
"We're a little embarrassed; we didn't know all of those departments were going to be there," Fairbanks said. "I think the intent was to do an educational effort . . . but I am afraid that the appearance wasn't good."
The second man in Phoenix government didn't know "all of those" departments were going to be there? Why not? and why were they there, in August?
His explanation is almost not English:
"I think the intent was to do an educational effort . . . but I am afraid that the appearance wasn't good."
In other words, it was a warning: straighten up or next time you get slammed for money, for real.
But why were they there then? I think it's because of the ongoing and upcoming approval and distribution of $500,000 in taxpayers' money to downtown gallerists for the Phoenix Artist Storefront Pilot Program. I think those inspectors, and whoever sent them --which real reporters used to find out-- were thinking ahead and doing their jobs. I wonder why the PASPP wasn't mentioned anywhere in the article?
Finally, Ms. Richardson implies that the downtown artists and gallerists have a lot more power than they really do.
Phoenix officials, including Mayor Phil Gordon and City Manager Frank Fairbanks, spent most of the day in high-level briefings, scrambling to reassure the arts community that their studios and gallery spaces would continue to operate and be welcome downtown.
Since Ms. Richardson supplies no quotes or supporting statements, we don't know how "high-level" the briefings were -- who attended these briefings besides the two highest-level city officials? And "scrambling to reassure," eh? How does that work? Yelling into phones in each hand while laying your head on some artist's shoulder?
scrambling to reassure the arts community that their studios and gallery spaces would continue to operate and be welcome downtown.
As if any city official could back up such reassurance. Tell it to Thoughtcrime, who thankfully got their asses handed to them by their landlord after ten years, long overdue in our opinion. (They are one of the reasons Phoenix is in its fix now, unless you think grafitti cartoon storefronts and offensive performances are the recipes for success.) Another downtown tumor excised.
We can't figure out why city officials are intimidated. The downtown artists have no power. Where were DPAC and Artlink before this official visit? Why didn't they know? The city officials didn't bother to tell them, and why should they? What are the artists going to do, pick up their marbles and go home?
If only. Then Phoenix could have a genuine downtown, organically grown, not forced down the public's throat by privileged babies.
Posted by Jerome at August 12, 2005 04:45 PM | TrackBack