2 posts tagged “hole in the wall”

SOMA Leadership Council, as maintained and presumably updated by Jim Meko, but doesn't give much indication for the current anti-bar push.

Jim Meko is ALLEGEDLY trying to shut down two hugely popular gay bars in San Francisco.

Meko is (was?) a contributor at Fog City Journal, with a grand total of three columns there from last year. Here's a quote from his 11/27/06 piece:

A word to my "yuppie loftdweller" friends ... when I was the newcomer to the neighborhood, they had a different name for us: it was "faggot." It wasn't said with a smile and it was often bellowed from a passing car. You froze in your tracks if the car slowed down. The modicum of safety you now enjoy in this neighborhood was painstakingly -- and often painfully -- achieved by building a sense of community and finding common ground with those who came before.

And yet now he wants to rip a vital organ from the community body. Two, in fact. It doesn't make sense. The SF Bay Times story notes that Meko seems to have a history of doing this sort of thing in other neighborhoods, but it doesn't seem to mention that he hasn't had a lot of success.

More blog stuff here. Everything goes quiet after the elections. He doesn't (at least from his writings) seem to be a fan of the Gavin Newsom anti-fun movement, so what's his motivation here? A modern day Carry Nation? A personal/historical grudge against one or both bars? The irresistible charms of a developer? I can't figure out what Jim Meko is up to. The leather community is the core of LGBT organizing and activism, more politically connected than people realize. Obviously more than Meko realizes. And he's going to take them on by attacking these two bars? Uh, okay.

UPDATE: At the Metblogs SF post, Meko (or someone claiming to be him) left the following comment:

I have been talking with Jeremy Paul, who represents the Hole, for quite a while and about two weeks ago we arrived at a compromise that I was hoping the neighbors would accept. But then the folks from the Hole started spreading all this crap against me. I didn't write the DR, didn't organize the neighbors, haven't talked to the Planning Department and am certainly not out to close the Hole (or the Eagle). I'm not the enemy of fun that they make me out to be. I do hold a seat on the Entertainment Commission, one that has been set aside to represent the interests of the neighbors. Now that this article has come out, with all these lies, I'm not so sure how interested in compromise these particular neighbors will be.

John's recollections about meeting me are ludicrous, I don't know this guy at the Bay Times and he didn't even bother to contact me. If he had, this is what I would have told him:

I think both the Hole and the Eagle are great bars and I hope they go on forever. One of the things that makes them so much fun is the outlaw factor. Joe Banks and John Gardiner operate right at the edge of what's legal and acceptable but they've been established in this community for so long that I'd fight to defend their right to continue that tradition. My complaint is that they didn't give any thought to this new neighborhood they decided to move into. Huge difference. Nearly a hundred neighbors in close proximity. 98 units of affordable housing at Folsom/Dore. 140 units of SRO supportive housing with drug rehab programs going in directly across the street. Joe and John got bad advice about that location. I wrote a letter to their real estate agent last July outlining the challenges they would face but they decided to bully their way through all of this. It's turned into a nasty and divisive fight and I deeply regret it.

Who to believe? I don't know. But I don't think either bar is going away.

Jim Meko is an SF Entertainment Commission member and also on the Western SOMA Citizens Task Force, and he's trying to get venerable South of Market bars The Eagle and The Hole In The Wall shut down. From what I've read of Mr. Meko, he seems to be believe he's a Planning Commission of one, and the community should probably step out to remind him he's not the only, or the deciding, voice in such matters.

Dear Friends of SOMA Gay Culture,

Hole In The Wall Saloon has become famous since it opened some thirteen years ago. At the depth of the AIDS epidemic, when gay South of Market seemed to be dying, "The Hole" became a joyous retreat for our community with an accent on art, fun, and music. A thinking man's bar.

Anyway, the building where it lives now is rapidly falling apart. For years we've been looking for a more secure location, and in October of 2006 we bought a suitable property on Folsom Street.

Shortly thereafter, a man named Jim Meko handed us a letter. Allegedly, he had already delivered a copy to the seller's realtor before we bought the property. We'd never seen this letter. It stated that he and the neighborhood did not want another bar in the South of Market area (despite the fact that we had already been here for twelve and a half years). So we held a neighborhood meeting and presented our plans. We assured everyone that we would address all concerns with haste and sincerity. Still, Mr. Jim Meko countered that if he stood at the intersection of 8th and Folsom streets, he could hear loud music from inside Hole In The Wall on any given night. He stated that The Eagle Tavern, our second establishment (which has been a gay bar for more than twenty-five years now) was a terrible nuisance and that he was constantly annoyed by the commotion from its Sunday community benefits. He finally stood up and exclaimed the following to our new neighbors: "Don't trust these guys! They're bad bar owners!"

This last accusation cut the deepest. We've tried hard over the years to be a positive force in our small corner of the world. We clean and police the streets in front of our establishments. We donate time, money, and energy to charities and clubs that we see making a difference. Most importantly, we respect our employees as human beings with rights. Since the beginning, we've provided them with health insurance, paid vacations, and a yearly retreat at The Russian River. Despite Mr. Jim Meko's characterization of it as a nuisance, The Eagle Tavern raises tens of thousands of dollars for charities and civic organizations each year. Finally, we can't count how many gay men have sworn they met their life partner at the Hole In The Wall Saloon and consider it a sacred place. We're proud of these things and believe ourselves to be far from "bad bar owners".

We were soon informed that a hearing was being insisted upon by a second neighbor at the urging of Mr. Jim Meko and that others had now been persuaded to oppose the bar's relocation project. We personally called this second neighbor. He had never been to Hole In The Wall. He had been to The Eagle Tavern once.

At this point, the future of the Hole In The Wall looks grim. The floor and foundation are in bad shape. The bar's days are numbered. We can't afford to purchase another building; and in any case something similar to all of this would be the certain outcome. South of Market, in the hands of the small-minded, has slowly turned petty and intolerant. Not only is Hole In The Wall certain to close if we can't re-locate, but the future of The Eagle is in doubt as well. Mr. Jim Meko's main complaints were directed against it, and he sits on the city's Entertainment Commission.

What we're asking for is your spiritual and verbal support. We need testimony from people who know the Hole In The Wall and The Eagle Tavern and consider them important. A short letter sent directly to

President Dwight Alexander
San Francisco Planning Department
1660 Mission St. 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94103

would be wonderful. Your presence and willingness to speak for a minute or two at our hearing on Thursday, May 10th beginning at 1:30 would be of immense help. It will be at City Hall, Room 400. In any event, the destiny of both the Hole In The Wall and The Eagle Tavern are up to their fans now... As is the future and spirit of all of South of Market.

Sincerely,

John Gardiner & Joseph Banks, Proprietors
Hole In The Wall Saloon & The Eagle Tavern
E-mail: info@holeinthewallsaloon.com

San Francisco Bay Times: Are we losing The Eagle and The Hole In The Wall?
Via Metblogs SF