As reported by Off Seventh, the protest group led by Campbell Johnson (a non-resident of Shaw, head of the Urban Housing Alliance, and member of the choir at Shiloh Baptist Church), and Queen of Sheba have been tasked by the ABRA with negotiating the terms of QoS's liquor license. If QoS and the protest group are unsuccessful at reaching an agreement, the ABRA will decide the issue on July 13.
This is not an uncommon path to obtaining a liquor license, so all hope is not lost for Queen of Sheba. Regardless, every month without a license puts a financial strain on this great restaurant in Shaw. Show your support for Queen of Sheba by stopping by for a meal (or two or three), or at very least a delicious smoothie, this weekend.
4 comments:
Thanks so much for keeping the scope on Shiloh and their slum properties. I really appreciate it- you probably helped get them written up! Cheers.
What the hell is wrong with the DC government? What possible sense does it make that this independent business owner needs to negotiate with a group headed by a non-DC resident? Thanks to you and Off Seventh for keeping everyone informed - we'll be stopping by QoS this weekend...
Excuse me, but if Campbell Johnson isn't a neighborhood resident and isn't technically representing Shiloh, how does he have any "standing" to protest QOS' license? If they don't represent Shiloh, why does QOS have to "negotiate" with Shiloh? (That, of course, begs the question of why they should have to negotiate the terms of the license with anyone--why not with the liquor store across the street?) And why do the opponents keep getting another chance to shoot down the license application?
This is outrageous and smells of corruption or at least craven political pandering to Shiloh. As much as I dislike the church, the real culprit here is ABRA. We should put as much heat as possible on ABRA and demand explanations about why they are allowing this to proceed in such an blatant irregular and unfair way. A little media attention probably wouldn't hurt either.
Daddyfiveoh - I believe the group representative need not be a closeby resident as long as all 5 protestants of the group are.
But yes, I agree--this needs media attention. Why the ABRA has allowed this to become such a drawn out process is beyond me and seems highly ineffective--and highly political--on their part.
In addition to wanting QoS to thrive, this is an important issue because other restaurants will be hesitant to open in Shaw if the ABRA continues to bow to special neighborhood-harming interests like Campbell's.
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