Commission Gives Unsafe Brett's Structure a Pass

Neatly tucked into the March 7 city commission agenda was a small bombshell about Brett’s Waterway Cafe: a resolution that the city would no longer bother Brett’s about the fact that city engineer (and deputy city manager) Charles George has officially declared that the structure upon which Brett’s rests is unsafe.

City commissioners do not have the authority (or, at least, guts) to override such a serious safety order. But they also clearly have no appetite for extended litigation. Brett’s challenged the safety declaration in court and lost a couple of rounds, but then it won one. And the city fathers stopped fighting.

Debate at the commission meeting danced all around the issue: liability insurance, unspecified other expert opinions, etc. But the proposition on the table was to cease all arguments with Brett’s. Commissioner David Sturges – who has a good friend who has a side gig bartending at Brett’s – even graciously recused himself. (Unlike some fist-pounding he did last year on Brett’s discussions.) So all sorts of things were in the air.

Except for the one question most citizens would ask: Is the Brett’s building safe, and if it’s not, what is the city commission going to do about it?

Good luck with that question. The city commission voted 3-1 to make the question disappear.

Don’t you wish you could do the same thing with your personal problems and questions?