Some of my colleagues believe I have
given them one too many chances when I voted in favor of the 60 day
trial period for extended hours. When I made that vote I believed that
their poor judgment and poor decision making could be corrected and
that any business that has provided 26 years of good service to our
community shouldn't be written off as if they had committed a capital
offense. Aside from bruising the ego's of some of my colleagues on the
Board of Aldermen and ignoring Captain O'Connor's orders to close at
the appropriate time, have they committed such horrible or horrendous
offenses that would warrant us to not try everything in our power to
bring a business that has operated in Davis Sq. for 26 unbridled years
into line with newly developed policies being set by the Board of
Aldermen.

There is no arguing they were wrong and out of line,
but while doing business over the past 26 years in the same location I
have only recently heard about noise and littering complaints. I
haven't seen or heard of any evidence relating to Health Department
violations. I haven't heard complaints about customers being cheated or
treated poorly; in fact it's been just the opposite. Nearly 200 people
signed a petition to allow the extended hours. Dozens of people took
time out of their evenings to appear at two separate public hearings
and give testimony in favor of the extended hours as opposed to one
email received and four individuals appearing in opposition. This tells
me that they have been providing a good product and good service to the
people of our community for the past 26 years and that the service,
although not perfect, is appreciated.

As far as noise and
littering complaints are concerned, it's not fair to hold the Golden
Light Restaurant accountable for all the noise and littering that
occurs after 2:00AM in that end of Davis Square. The Golden Light can
and should accept some of the responsibility but 2:00AM closing times
for bars holds much of the responsibility for that noise as well. We
must work together to ensure that the city and all of the businesses
that we allow to remain open past midnight play a roll in maintaining
peace, quiet, and cleanliness in the neighborhoods after closing time.

Any
time I make a vote that affects someone's livelihood or someone's life
work; I have always and will always error on the side of caution. Such
is the case with my vote on the Golden Light Restaurant. At this point
in time I have provided every opportunity for them to understand and
operate in an appropriate manner within the guidelines of the City of
Somerville. After all the testimony that has been given and all the
discussions that have taken place and everything we have gone through
on the Board of Aldermen I will have no hesitation whatsoever to roll
their hours back to midnight seven days a week if any further
infractions or abuse of operating hours is to occur. I can say this
because I have now done everything I possibly could to help them.

Bruce M. Desmond

Alderman at Large and Chairman of Licenses and Permits