Jim Meko Wants to Destroy The Eagle?

Apr 5, 2007 at 12:04 PM
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SF Bay Times: Are we Losing the Eagle and the Hole In The Wall?

Sadly I'm not able to find any notes about what specifically Jim Meko has issue with about these bars aside from music. I do think that the guys who own the two are pretty nice guys. When I lived at 11th and Howard, I had far more trouble with the (mostly straight) patrons of the 11th Street Corridor of nightclubs; the homeless encampments in front of the earthquake damaged and abandoned Catholic Church; and big clubs and restaurants doing Valet Parking.

Anyone know where the Hole in the Wall wants to move to? Or what Jim Meko's real agenda is?

UPDATE: Besides Jim Meko's response below, he's also written an expanded rebuttal here. Ah, aren't local politics fun?

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[this is good]

Jim Meko does not want to destroy anything or anybody.

The folks from the Hole in the Wall are fighting hard for their permits -- all's fair in love and war -- but they're making things up as they go along. I don't even know this guy from the Bay Times who said all those awful things about me. I'm easy to find. Do a Google search. You might discover along the way that I'm trying to do good things down here in SoMa. If he had bothered to contact me, 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 anyway. It's turned into a nasty and divisive fight and I deeply regret it.

I have been talking with Jeremy Paul, who represents the Hole, for a month 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.

Thanks,

Jim Meko

Jim Meko Wants to Destroy The Eagle?

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