OKC: H&8th Nighttime Market

[rdj]

If you haven't heard a group of OKC business owners banded together to hold a nighttime market dubbed H&8th Friday evening.  The event was promptly shut down.  Talking to friends in OKC the event & subsequent agency response are causing quite a stir in the city.

Here is an article from today's Oklahoman:

Oklahoma City, state agencies defend sweep of MidTown outdoor food market
Officials with the city of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City/County Health Department and the ABLE Commission are defending their raid on an inaugural nighttime food market against critics who say the enforcement was selective and heavy-handed.

BY STEVE LACKMEYER
slackmeyer@opubco.com
Published: August 30, 2011


Officials with the city of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City/County Health Department and the ABLE Commission are defending their raid on an inaugural nighttime food market against critics who say the enforcement was selective and heavy-handed.

The raid started about 8:30 p.m. Friday, just 30 minutes after the market, dubbed "H&8th," started up in the parking lot of Elemental Coffee, 815 N Hudson.

A large crowd that included City Manager Jim Couch was surprised to see a force of inspectors, ABLE agents, police, fire and code enforcement officers descend on an event that consisted of three food trucks, a beer trailer, the coffee shop and nearby Ludivine Restaurant.

Organizers admit they held the market despite being rejected for an outdoor event permit. Other violations are in dispute.

One food truck, owned by Big Truck Tacos, was shut down because it didn't have the right license posted; another, the Munch Box, was shut down because inspectors said it had no working electricity or refrigeration, and a cart run by Hugo's was shut down because it lacked proper screening. Both the Munchbox and Big Truck Tacos dispute the reasons used to shut them down.

Ludivine, meanwhile, was cited for having a box of wine outside the restaurant's hallway.

'This was a shakedown'
"There were things done wrong (by event organizers)," Ludivine owner Jonathan Stranger said. "But the show of force was insane ... this was a shakedown."

Records show the sweep on the market involved 27 people; 16 inspectors with the Oklahoma City/County Health Department, three agents with the ABLE Commission, two Oklahoma City licensing inspectors, two Oklahoma City electrical inspectors, two Oklahoma City code inspectors, an Oklahoma City police officer and an inspector with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.

Vicki Monks, health department spokeswoman, said no coordination took place between her agency, ABLE and the Oklahoma City inspectors, and the enforcement action taken by her agency's inspectors was a last-minute decision spurred by coverage of H&8th in The Oklahoman on Friday.

She said the 16 health inspectors were traveling together so that they could "spread out" and inspect food trucks in south Oklahoma City after stopping at the market.
Monks said inspectors' only concern was ensuring food being served to customers was safe.

John Maisch, legal counsel for ABLE, said his agents were only checking to ensure proper licensing and procedures were being followed by Ludivine.

H&8th was organized by Stranger, Elemental Coffee owner Laura Massenat and J.D. Merryweather, a co-owner of COOP Ale Works, with the intention of promoting the emerging MidTown neighborhood.
Visitor speaks out

Brian Bates, who visited the market with his wife, noted people had started gathering about an hour before it was set to begin.

"A dozen or so people were able to get food from Big Truck and the other vendors when several city vehicles pulled up and an unbelievable number of city/county employees descended upon the event," Bates said. "Some appeared to be ABLE employees as they were armed. They moved straight in on the trucks and shut them down literally immediately — as if they knew in advance what they would find and the goal was to stop the event as soon as possible."

Another customer, Josiah Daniel, arrived about 8 p.m. with his wife and two children and saw ABLE agents talking to Laura Massenat, owner of Elemental Coffee, and Kyle Fleishfresser, Ludivine's bar manager, by the COOP Ale trailer at the market. He said the health inspectors arrived shortly afterward in what he called a "SWAT Team" descent on the market. Daniel said he tried to talk to about 10 of the health inspectors as they gathered near a "Keep it Local" table at the market.

"I expressed my frustration with the negative perception their mass presence was causing a new, exciting community event," Daniel said. "They were definitely oblivious to what the event actually was."
Bates, meanwhile, questioned why authorities couldn't have approached organizers before the event began.

"I found the sheer number of authorities and their overall demeanor to be adversarial and counterproductive," Bates said. "You don't send two dozen inspectors to converge onto a handful of high-profile food trucks with any other goal than to shut them down and intimidate them. The entire ordeal seemed to be in sharp contrast to city leaders public stance of progress, cooperation with local businesses and forward thinking."

Bad decision admitted
Event organizers, meanwhile, acknowledge they made one bad decision. Massenat admits that her application for an outdoor event/noise permit was denied the morning of the event because the property doesn't have commercial C-4 zoning (the area is a mix of commercial, industrial and office use). The lack of that permit, however, was not cited in the market's closing.
Records obtained by The Oklahoman, show that Ludivine and Big Truck Tacos applied for other required licenses and discussed their events with the health department and ABLE in advance of the event.
Stranger, owner of Ludivine, said he discussed plans for the market with ABLE Lt. Brent Fairchild three days before the market and was told he had obtained all the appropriate permits and taken all the right steps for serving alcohol at the event.

Jim Hughes, assistant director at ABLE, said the agency contacted Oklahoma City Police on joining them on their surprise inspection after a complaint was filed with his agency. Hughes said that complaint consisted of an agent seeing a story about the event printed in The Oklahoman that same morning.

"We call it a complaint in our system when an agent sees a news story, Facebook, and see information about a catered event," Hughes said. "When they read it, they were not sure the caterer had a mixed-beverage license."

Records show that Ludivine received a mixed-beverage license for the event in the meeting Stranger had with Fairchild.

Both Hughes and Dr. Gary Cox, director at the health department, said their agencies did not have time to contact the event organizers in advance. Records obtained by The Oklahoman show that Oklahoma City code inspectors working with the health department were discussing the story via email at 9 a.m. Friday.

Hughes said a surprise visit is the only way to ensure liquor sales are being handled properly and that he doesn't have the manpower to communicate in advance.

Action not preplanned
Hughes and Cox deny their agencies coordinated their response.

"We didn't preplan this thing," Cox said. "We didn't get a group of folks and say let's converge on 8th and Hudson. It happened independently. We were going to do our inspections and that was it."
Cox said Friday night was an "unfortunate coming together of events" in which his inspectors did not try to intimidate the vendors or crowd by showing up in a force of 16.

"Could we have done it differently?" Cox asked. "Monday morning quarterbacking, knowing there are only four vendors down there, we probably could have only sent a couple of inspectors. But they were on their way to south Oklahoma City and they wanted to arrive at the same time. Sometimes perception can be reality. What happened here was a lack of communication between the event organizers and the health department. Communication can go both ways."

Representatives of ABLE and the city say they don't believe their agencies did anything wrong or could have handled themselves differently. Cox, however, said his agency is using the controversy as a means to see whether improvements can be made in responding to special events and educating food truck operators.

Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-state-agencies-defend-sweep-of-midtown-outdoor-food-market/article/3599409#ixzz1WWcYkvA3

I think it is going to be interesting to follow this story and see if it stunts any of the momentum OKC has generated for developing the midtown area.  I'm also curious to see if by any chance ABLE gets their hand slap, but that's a pipe dream.

[Hoss]

If you haven't heard a group of OKC business owners banded together to hold a nighttime market dubbed H&8th Friday evening.  The event was promptly shut down.  Talking to friends in OKC the event & subsequent agency response are causing quite a stir in the city.

Here is an article from today's Oklahoman:

Oklahoma City, state agencies defend sweep of MidTown outdoor food market
Officials with the city of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City/County Health Department and the ABLE Commission are defending their raid on an inaugural nighttime food market against critics who say the enforcement was selective and heavy-handed.

BY STEVE LACKMEYER
slackmeyer@opubco.com
Published: August 30, 2011


Officials with the city of Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City/County Health Department and the ABLE Commission are defending their raid on an inaugural nighttime food market against critics who say the enforcement was selective and heavy-handed.

The raid started about 8:30 p.m. Friday, just 30 minutes after the market, dubbed "H&8th," started up in the parking lot of Elemental Coffee, 815 N Hudson.

A large crowd that included City Manager Jim Couch was surprised to see a force of inspectors, ABLE agents, police, fire and code enforcement officers descend on an event that consisted of three food trucks, a beer trailer, the coffee shop and nearby Ludivine Restaurant.

Organizers admit they held the market despite being rejected for an outdoor event permit. Other violations are in dispute.

One food truck, owned by Big Truck Tacos, was shut down because it didn't have the right license posted; another, the Munch Box, was shut down because inspectors said it had no working electricity or refrigeration, and a cart run by Hugo's was shut down because it lacked proper screening. Both the Munchbox and Big Truck Tacos dispute the reasons used to shut them down.

Ludivine, meanwhile, was cited for having a box of wine outside the restaurant's hallway.

'This was a shakedown'
"There were things done wrong (by event organizers)," Ludivine owner Jonathan Stranger said. "But the show of force was insane ... this was a shakedown."

Records show the sweep on the market involved 27 people; 16 inspectors with the Oklahoma City/County Health Department, three agents with the ABLE Commission, two Oklahoma City licensing inspectors, two Oklahoma City electrical inspectors, two Oklahoma City code inspectors, an Oklahoma City police officer and an inspector with the Oklahoma City Fire Department.

Vicki Monks, health department spokeswoman, said no coordination took place between her agency, ABLE and the Oklahoma City inspectors, and the enforcement action taken by her agency's inspectors was a last-minute decision spurred by coverage of H&8th in The Oklahoman on Friday.

She said the 16 health inspectors were traveling together so that they could "spread out" and inspect food trucks in south Oklahoma City after stopping at the market.
Monks said inspectors' only concern was ensuring food being served to customers was safe.

John Maisch, legal counsel for ABLE, said his agents were only checking to ensure proper licensing and procedures were being followed by Ludivine.

H&8th was organized by Stranger, Elemental Coffee owner Laura Massenat and J.D. Merryweather, a co-owner of COOP Ale Works, with the intention of promoting the emerging MidTown neighborhood.
Visitor speaks out

Brian Bates, who visited the market with his wife, noted people had started gathering about an hour before it was set to begin.

"A dozen or so people were able to get food from Big Truck and the other vendors when several city vehicles pulled up and an unbelievable number of city/county employees descended upon the event," Bates said. "Some appeared to be ABLE employees as they were armed. They moved straight in on the trucks and shut them down literally immediately — as if they knew in advance what they would find and the goal was to stop the event as soon as possible."

Another customer, Josiah Daniel, arrived about 8 p.m. with his wife and two children and saw ABLE agents talking to Laura Massenat, owner of Elemental Coffee, and Kyle Fleishfresser, Ludivine's bar manager, by the COOP Ale trailer at the market. He said the health inspectors arrived shortly afterward in what he called a "SWAT Team" descent on the market. Daniel said he tried to talk to about 10 of the health inspectors as they gathered near a "Keep it Local" table at the market.

"I expressed my frustration with the negative perception their mass presence was causing a new, exciting community event," Daniel said. "They were definitely oblivious to what the event actually was."
Bates, meanwhile, questioned why authorities couldn't have approached organizers before the event began.

"I found the sheer number of authorities and their overall demeanor to be adversarial and counterproductive," Bates said. "You don't send two dozen inspectors to converge onto a handful of high-profile food trucks with any other goal than to shut them down and intimidate them. The entire ordeal seemed to be in sharp contrast to city leaders public stance of progress, cooperation with local businesses and forward thinking."

Bad decision admitted
Event organizers, meanwhile, acknowledge they made one bad decision. Massenat admits that her application for an outdoor event/noise permit was denied the morning of the event because the property doesn't have commercial C-4 zoning (the area is a mix of commercial, industrial and office use). The lack of that permit, however, was not cited in the market's closing.
Records obtained by The Oklahoman, show that Ludivine and Big Truck Tacos applied for other required licenses and discussed their events with the health department and ABLE in advance of the event.
Stranger, owner of Ludivine, said he discussed plans for the market with ABLE Lt. Brent Fairchild three days before the market and was told he had obtained all the appropriate permits and taken all the right steps for serving alcohol at the event.

Jim Hughes, assistant director at ABLE, said the agency contacted Oklahoma City Police on joining them on their surprise inspection after a complaint was filed with his agency. Hughes said that complaint consisted of an agent seeing a story about the event printed in The Oklahoman that same morning.

"We call it a complaint in our system when an agent sees a news story, Facebook, and see information about a catered event," Hughes said. "When they read it, they were not sure the caterer had a mixed-beverage license."

Records show that Ludivine received a mixed-beverage license for the event in the meeting Stranger had with Fairchild.

Both Hughes and Dr. Gary Cox, director at the health department, said their agencies did not have time to contact the event organizers in advance. Records obtained by The Oklahoman show that Oklahoma City code inspectors working with the health department were discussing the story via email at 9 a.m. Friday.

Hughes said a surprise visit is the only way to ensure liquor sales are being handled properly and that he doesn't have the manpower to communicate in advance.

Action not preplanned
Hughes and Cox deny their agencies coordinated their response.

"We didn't preplan this thing," Cox said. "We didn't get a group of folks and say let's converge on 8th and Hudson. It happened independently. We were going to do our inspections and that was it."
Cox said Friday night was an "unfortunate coming together of events" in which his inspectors did not try to intimidate the vendors or crowd by showing up in a force of 16.

"Could we have done it differently?" Cox asked. "Monday morning quarterbacking, knowing there are only four vendors down there, we probably could have only sent a couple of inspectors. But they were on their way to south Oklahoma City and they wanted to arrive at the same time. Sometimes perception can be reality. What happened here was a lack of communication between the event organizers and the health department. Communication can go both ways."

Representatives of ABLE and the city say they don't believe their agencies did anything wrong or could have handled themselves differently. Cox, however, said his agency is using the controversy as a means to see whether improvements can be made in responding to special events and educating food truck operators.

Read more: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-state-agencies-defend-sweep-of-midtown-outdoor-food-market/article/3599409#ixzz1WWcYkvA3

I think it is going to be interesting to follow this story and see if it stunts any of the momentum OKC has generated for developing the midtown area.  I'm also curious to see if by any chance ABLE gets their hand slap, but that's a pipe dream.

Wow, another case of ABLE and its far-reaching power.  This entity needs to have it's soft parts snipped back a little.

[Conan71]

Another example of cop wilding in OKC.  Wasn't it just a month or so back they rounded up teens waiting for rides outside the theater in Bricktown?

They are earning a serious PR problem

[rdj]

Another example of cop wilding in OKC.  Wasn't it just a month or so back they rounded up teens waiting for rides outside the theater in Bricktown?

They are earning a serious PR problem

Yes.  If you read the comments on the article several people reference that situation.

[Hoss]

Another example of cop wilding in OKC.  Wasn't it just a month or so back they rounded up teens waiting for rides outside the theater in Bricktown?

They are earning a serious PR problem

I remember reading about that.  I guess every city has their problems.  OKC and their wild west police, us and our stupid and inefficient local goobermint.

[patric]

Another example of cop wilding in OKC.  Wasn't it just a month or so back they rounded up teens waiting for rides outside the theater in Bricktown?
They are earning a serious PR problem

Two observations:  We need to overhaul ABLE, and OKC police have too much spare time on their hands.

[Conan71]

Two observations:  We need to overhaul ABLE, and OKC police have too much spare time on their hands.

Agreed.

[AquaMan]

Two other things come to mind. One is that there is some benefit from midtown Tulsa not being located in the center of the universe of state regulators. Two, is what a bunch of prevaricators. The story that they didn't organize a raid, didn't have time to contact the restaurant, didn't know the restaurant already had a liquor permit...is just bs.

I think there may be more to this story since the organizers put on the market without permission. The overkill response may indicate that the pressure to change archaic zoning and liquor laws has hit some nerves. I hope so.

[Teatownclown]

Another reason for less regulation. Save taxpayer money....

[TheArtist]

Another reason for less regulation. Save taxpayer money....

Oooh no no no, "less regulation" is only good when its something I want, not when its about something you want.  And "saving taxpayers money" is only good when its something you want, not when its something I want. 

[Conan71]

"Everyone is a conservative until you want to cut 'their' program"

~Conanism

[carltonplace]

Two observations:  We need to overhaul ABLE, and OKC police have too much spare time on their hands.

ABLE has been harrassing a local 18th and Boston restaurant over a missed signature on their liquor liscence (even though the fees have been paid in full including the new "handling fee"). Its amazing to me that these entities are willing to eschew sales tax income in favor of bureaucracy...don't they know what pays for their bureaucracy?

[dbacks fan]

Why are the ABLE agents armed? I understand the enforce the laws of the state, but why do they need firearms? Oh I know to destroy the illegal liquor bottles the confiscate.

[Conan71]

ABLE has been harrassing a local 18th and Boston restaurant over a missed signature on their liquor liscence (even though the fees have been paid in full including the new "handling fee"). Its amazing to me that these entities are willing to eschew sales tax income in favor of bureaucracy...don't they know what pays for their bureaucracy?

I will try to keep the drift short.  An Okla. DEQ agent walked into my place of business one time looking for an aerial photography company which hadn't resided in the space I was renting for at least 10 years. (Way to keep records, you bureaucrats!).  I told him they weren't there, what could I do to help him.  He explained, then expressed curiosity at what business I had there.  I figured it was pure curiosity and not wanting to do a mental audit on my business.  I had a half-full five gallon bucket of used motor oil in my shop.  He honed in on that and wanted to know what my disposal guidelines were, etc.  I mean serious.  It would take me two years to fill the bucket then I'd give the bucket to a friend of mine who owned an auto repair business and he had a reclaimer take his waste oil every month or so.

He left and I started getting threatening letters from the DEQ about my waste disposal plan and needing to know what all solvents, etc. were on my property and I needed to hire an environmental consultant to get my environmental house in order.  I fired back with several nasty letters of my own and they finally left me alone.  I think the one which might have gotten them off my back was the one pointing out their erstwhile agent had driven past three body shops and multiple car wholesale operations down the block to get to my 2.5 gallons of waste oil.  None of those body shops were operating with the proper exhaust equipment and I'm quite certain the auto wholesalers didn't care where their waste oil was going. 

Never heard another word.  Lesson learned, never invite a bureaucrat on a leisurely tour of your business.

[rdj]

Why are the ABLE agents armed? I understand the enforce the laws of the state, but why do they need firearms? Oh I know to destroy the illegal liquor bottles the confiscate.

Not an excuse (because I think it is a bit overkill), but if you had to oversee some of the bars in this state, wouldn't you want a little heat on your hip?