Oakland's bikers run up against city's nightlife bureaucracy

[Mystic]

Oakland Council members asked to reconsider ban on club parties at cabarets
By Angela Woodall
Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 09/17/2008 12:13:21 PM PDT


Even the Hells Angels would not have stood a chance against today's nightlife bureaucracy.

Just ask the scores of bikers who filed into City Hall on Tuesday during the council meeting's public comment period to ask council members to meet with them and reconsider a ban on motorcycle club parties at cabarets.

"We're not asking for money," Ronald Muhammad said on behalf of the dozens of black motorcycle groups that filled the council chamber. "We're just asking the council not to put shackles on us as we try to do our civic duty and exercise our civic rights."

The controversy arose after several parties this summer at Historic Sweet's Ballroom and Karibbean City in the downtown area. The gatherings drew crowds of 1,000 or more bikers — largely from black clubs — that were policed by a dozen or more officers.

All were largely peaceful, but the sheer numbers, revving engines, blasting motorcycle stereos and congestion caused by thousands of bikes prompted Oakland police to require a special event permit and extra officers.

Barbara Killey, the city's administrative hearing officer, said the city imposed the special event permit requirement several years ago for occasions that likely would require additional police support. It is part of the conditions included in a cabaret license. But the conditions did not name biker clubs specifically until August.

In an Aug. 4 letter, Killey wrote that special event permits will be issued through the special events unit based on an evaluation of whether dedicated police resources are required. The restriction prompted an outcry, event cancellations and the appearance in City Hall of leather-clad motorcycle club members and their supporters.

Even a promoter cannot predict how large of a crowd an event will draw, David Ward of the East Bay Dragons told City Council members Tuesday.

"It is extremely offensive that the city of Oakland has taken a one-size-fits-all approach to the biker clubs," said Geoffrey Peete, owner of Geoffrey's Inner Circle and head of several black business groups. He said the move was business-unfriendly and targeted black biker groups, setting a double-standard based on racial profiling. "African-American entertainment has to be included in this city."

It is the latest in a series of restrictions on nightlife in Oakland that has confused cabaret owners, venue managers and patrons.

An application by Kimball's Carnival to host a fundraising party for the Shadows of the Knight club was turned down recently, although the Jack London Square cabaret has been hosting about four such Shadows of the Knight parties for three years, manager Mike Mendoza said.

The motorcycle clubs go out of their way to avoid trouble, he said. "I'm not sold on motorcycle club parties, but they work."