Ed Garren’s Weblog

A Killing on Fourth & Washington

Spoticus, the big purple octopus at 4th & Washington (downtown) is dead.  His carcass may sit on the building for a while, but the Greek Cusina closed on December 31, a victim of a series of failures and the depression.

Timing is everything, and few could have fully assessed the extent of the current economic downturn.  But Ted Papas is a survivor, and it’s not the recession that killed his restaurant, at least not the downtown one.

Two things, conspired to put a stake through the restaurant’s heart.  Mr. Papas started some renovations in his building without getting some permits, and that fell into the cross hairs of Randy Leonard’s HIT squad.

I need to be very clear that I like both men.  Randy and Ted are in many ways, very similar men.  They both are strong willed, stubborn, survivors, and “hands on”, “what you see is what you get” kind of men.  One could sit back and look at their squabbles and almost find it amusing, except for one fact that seems to have been lost in the lack of due process that prevailed in this affair.  The closing of the Greek Cusina puts about 50 people out of work.  One of them is a dear friend of mine, who was one of the first casualties.  Her job as events manager, was scheduling wedding receptions, birthday and graduation parties and such in the beautiful Minoan Room on the third floor.  Due to the renovations which had not been approved by the city, the HIT squad closed the building above the 2nd floor.  This included the Minoan Room, offices and residences.  While I understand the initial fire safety concerns that closed these facilities, what followed was premeditated suffocation.

The city decided to impose a 24 hour, 7 day a week “fire watch” on the building, ostensibly until an additional high tech smoke/fire detection system could be installed.  There was a working “sprinkler” system in the building, but apparently that  was not sufficient.  The city demanded the additional system, which was not cheap, that had an automatic alarm at the closest fire station, so that it would automatically signal either smoke or fire and send the fire department coming instantly.  In the meantime, Ted had to pay for the cost of the security guard service that patrolled his building 24/7.  Of course it was a city approved contractor, and that was not cheap, $500 a day.  But, the smoke/fire alarm system got installed, so the fire watch should have ended, right?  Well, not exactly.  For whatever reason, it remained, for over a year, it has been in place, to the tune of five hundred dollars a day.

So the price tag for the fire watch started adding up, and since Ted’s ability to earn money was significantly compromised with the closure of his biggest income source  (the Minoan Room), he couldn’t pay the bill, so the city put a lien on his property.   With the lien in place, Ted could not get the necessary financing to complete the renovations to his building to bring it under code.

Then, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (O.L.C.C.) somehow got involved, due to alleged violations.  Suddenly, every alcohol sale had to be within the letter of the law.  One example, normally when a customer in the dining room would purchase a bottle of wine to have with their dinner, the wine would be brought to the table.   The OLCC ruled that could not happen since technically the dining room was not in the bar area, so after the server poured the glasses of wine, the bottle had to be returned to the bar.  Imagine how that went over with customers?  The OLCC was “encouraged” to place the restaurant under heightened scrutiny by the City.  That scrutiny chased away even more customers.

During all this time, I was at a couple of City sponsored meetings, and the question of a restaurant to host a meal for the group(s), I suggested the Greek Cusina.  Both times, city staff said “Aren’t they closed?”  The first time this happened was about a year ago.

So clearly, the word was out about closing the Greek Cusina around City departments.  Someone’s mind was already made up.

Because my friend was the first casualty in this war, I had a vested interest in trying to resolve it.  I talked at length with Ted, and in one of those conversations talked with a couple of City inspectors (one of whom was a police officer), and had a brief conversation with Randy Leonard.

There was a lot of passion over these issues.  In a sense, it was like dealing with two siblings who were fighting, both proud, both having a deep sense of being “right”, and both determined to prevail.  What was also clear was the City’s determination to close the Greek Cusina.  Randy had the power of his office, and his HIT Squad, Ted was just one person, trying to keep his business open.

I also need to add that I got to know a lot of people who worked for Ted over the last few years, and all of them shared about what a generous employer he was.  My friend was dealing with the declining health of her elderly mother, and Ted was always flexible, allowing her time off to deal with her mothers doctor and hospital visits.  If she needed an advance on her salary, he was there for her.   That kind of generosity, and treating employees like “family” is rare in today’s world, and the loss of it is one more aspect of this that is difficult.  If one looked at the demographic of Ted’s staff, he employed many more minority staff and people over 45 than most employers.  Being an immigrant, he understands prejudice and hunger in a much more personal way than most.  The loss of his generosity will be missed as well.

I don’t like bullies.  Part of my feelings about this relates personally to being “big enough to go bear hunting with a stick” (6′1″ and 260#), part of it is a genuine distaste for any abuse of power.  Power is a very interesting thing, the more you have of it, the less it should be used.  Sometimes people confuse passion with power, but ultimately, the person who has a lot of power shouldn’t use it to hurt others.   This urination contest between Randy and Ted has cost 50 people their livelihood, and that’s what has made me so disgusted by the situation, and specifically irritated by city leadership that used it’s power to punish rather than assist.

In the rush to “punish the evildoer”, 50 people are now out of work, and one of the landmark hospitality establishments in the city is now closed, and gone forever.

As much as one might want to place the blame at the feet of one commissioner, there are three others and the mayor.  In the midst of a depression, it is inexcusable for the city to encourage or allow the destruction of a business that employs 50 people downtown.   Moreover, if this could happen to one business, what might stop it from happening to others?