City Ink: After killings, committee leaves club’s licenses alone

An Augusta Commission committee danced around the sheriff’s request to suspend or revoke the alcohol and business licenses of a nightclub where two people were killed last month before giving the owner a pass.

Then the committee bowed and approved owner Ollie W. Lee’s request to add dance to her business, Private “I”.

Richmond County sheriff’s Investigator Jose Ortiz told commissioners that crime has been escalating at the club, including three people being shot and killed on the property in 2018 and a double homicide in the parking lot Dec. 7. Last year’s reports included robberies, fights, guns and drugs inside and outside the club on Thomas Lane behind the former Regency Mall.

Commissioners questioned Ortiz about the activities of sheriff’s deputies who work the parking lots rather than the management that was keeping the club open until 4 a.m. in violation of their license.

After peppering Ortiz with questions about what special-duty deputies were supposed to do during closing time and such, Commissioner Bill Fennoy said, “I’m trying to find out why there is a issue of what time they close when we have members of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department who supposedly know what the law says.”

Ortiz said the club originally had a restaurant license that allowed it to stay open until 4 a.m.

“But when they lost that license, nobody told us,” he said. “We had no clue they had turned in that license, so we didn’t know they were supposed to close at regular bar hours. When we found out is when we actually told them, ‘Hey, you can’t stay open till 4 a.m.’”

“Did they discontinue?” Fennoy asked.

“Once we approached them, they stopped, but again, the night the shooting happened they were going to stay open till 4.”

Ortiz said he knew that because the club had texted, trying to get deputies for the parking lot at the last minute, but none was available.

Who’s Calling the Shots? Ortiz said that when he asked who decided to keep the club open until 4 a.m., nobody there could tell him, which worried him that a person who couldn’t get their own license was having someone else hold it.

Commissioner Sammie Sias asked Ortiz whether he thought club management was doing something to attract folks that want to come in and do their “ugly activities” in or around the club.

Ortiz said that every time management had been notified of a violation, they corrected it.

“Now, staying open after hours after we told them they can’t is somebody who’s making that decision that’s not here or willing to tell me who it is,” Ortiz said.

Commissioner Bobby Williams asked that since so many guns and drugs were in cars in the parking lot, should the owners be responsible for searching vehicles.

“No,” said Ortiz, “but when they’re allowed to come in the business with guns and drugs, and they know that, that’s the kind of people that are going to show up because they know they can get in.”

Although customers are checked for weapons at the front door, some still get inside with them, Ortiz said.

“Do you think (management) should be responsible for something that started somewhere else?” Bobby Williams asked.

“I don’t think they should be responsible for something that started somewhere else, but you have a common theme there where you have a guy who got shot in 2018, being the same guy who robbed someone in 2019, being the same guy who shot someone December 2019,” Ortiz said.

“He should have been in jail by now,” Williams replied.

“You’re absolutely right he should have been in jail,” Ortiz replied. “We lock a lot of people up, but they get right out. He posted bond and got out.”

Positively Not: Speaking on behalf of the owner was attorney Tanya Jeffords, who’d been hired that day.

Jeffords said the club was a resource and that commissioners shouldn’t suspend its license but instead use the resources of the sheriff’s office to provide it with security and resources.

“She’s promoting positive after-hours entertainment,” Jeffords said.

Seriously?

Commissioner Dennis Williams asked whether the sheriff’s office had provided any type of citations or anything to let the club owner know there’s been an increase of incidents there.

“Any time there’s been an incident, they’ve been given a warning before a citation,” Ortiz said.

Besides, when arrests are made at the club, management knows it, he said.

Fennoy made a motion to leave the business license as it is and for Private “I” to get with the sheriff’s office to talk about recommendations to improve the safety and security of employees and patrons.

Crowd Control: Before approving a dance license for the club, Commissioner Marion Williams gave the owner some advice.

“If you play Toby Keith and Alan Jackson, you’re going to have a limited crowd,” he said. “The type of music will designate the type of patrons. If you play that rapper song ’Tear the Club Up,’ that’s what they’re going to do. But if you play Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, ’5 O’Clock Somewhere,’ you’re going to have another crowd. You would not have that to deal with, so you need to understand what kind of music you’re playing ‘cause that’s the kind of crowd you’re going to get. So, if you want more problems …”

Blowing in the Wind: Commissioners were considering amendments to the city code to accommodate sidewalk cafes in the downtown entertainment zone when Commissioner Ben Hasan asked Planning and Development Director Rob Sherman whether sidewalk tables created a conflict with the city’s smoking ordinance.

“The smoking ordinance said it has to be a reasonable distance from the door,” Sherman replied. “Since it’s stated that way, we tell businesses, ‘If you allow smoking at the tables, the wind can’t be blowing into the door or windows. If the wind’s not blowing into an open door or window, you’re OK. The wind can’t be blowing into the building. If it is, there’s a problem.”

“So we need a wind ordinance,” Hasan said.

Quasi-Satisfactory: Committee members once again rejected Mayor Hardie Davis’ parking meter program because they have too many unanswered questions about enforcement and where the fine money will go.

Commissioner Sammie Sias quizzed City Engineering Director Hameed Malik; Augusta Traffic Engineer John Ussery and an SP Plus parking consultant about the enforcement and collection process.

“If someone receives a citation, what is the process for that citation to be adjudicated? Sias asked. ”What are y’all recommending for that, because I haven’t seen a clear way we would do that.

“In normal life, if you get a ticket, you either pay it or end up before a judge. So in this case, if they decide they ain’t going to pay it or dispute it, what is the process?” Sias asked.

Ussery said, “It’s written into the proposed ordinance. Any sworn officer of the law or commission designee can enforce the parking restrictions. That means the management company, the sheriff department, the marshal, anybody who can normally write a ticket. If the ticket is contested, they have 10 days to appeal the ticket in writing.”

“To who?”

“The management company. After the management company does its investigation, if the ticket is upheld, as part of the process, we’re going to set us a quasi-judicial authority to hear the case, basically a retired judge. If it’s still upheld, the last option is to make an appeal to Superior Court.”

Sias said he wanted to hear more about the “quasi-judicial process” which he did. I’m not sure he was satisfied, though.