Justice for All, Even the Liquor Stores

At the ANC meeting last Tuesday, the Commission unanimously voted against a request by the owner of SuperLiquor located at 1633 North Capitol Street N.E. to extend the store hours from the current 9 p.m. closing time, to one hour later, 10 p.m.

This matter does not even appear on the official monthly meeting agenda distributed . . . hours before the meeting? The public had no official notice of this matter.

Cleopatra Jones introduced the motion to reject the application. She said she had spoken with or received comments or letters from constituents who opposed the request.

She didn't speak with the owner. The owner didn't have any notice of the ANC meeting or that it would be voting on his request. And, when I walked into his store shortly before 9 p.m. this evening, I was the first to inform him of what the ANC had done.

Iyob, the owner, opened his store approximately three months ago. In that time, he has transformed an ugly metal grate into a large, well-lit, pleasant window storefront. Someone threw a brick at the new display two weeks ago, shattering a pane of glass that he had since covered up in such a way as to make it unnoticable. The door to the store is well-lit and he says he has been diligent to keep all loiterers away. I have not seen any outside his store (they are all across the street at Yeong Fong, waiting for their orders to be filled).

Naturally, he was a little upset at the development. Does the government want to run him out of business? He would have liked to have told his side at the ANC meeting, but he didn't have any notice. He says that other similar stores already are open until 10 p.m. and he cannot compete if they are permitted to be open one hour later. He is concerned that his livelihood is threatened. Are the commissioners against small businesses, he asked.

I suggested to him that with several new commissioners taking office next month, that the ANC's method of conducting business would likely change. Liquor stores are not well-thought of in our neighborhood, due to some elements that they might attract. But before the Commission takes action adverse to any specific business, it ought to hear that business's side. The hearing date is December 4.