Mailbag

Exit, stage left. When the issues get tough, the tough get going — out the door. That’s the new dramatic response at council sessions now when a divisive issue comes before them for discussion — a prior engagement was just discovered or a new conflict of interest has sprung up.

Two weeks ago, when the Montrose Collection banquet hall permit issue came before the City Council, all three council members who are up for re-election next time around found their ethical bearings. They recused themselves due to various self-declared conflicts of interest (“Montrose restaurant loses battle,” Sept. 13).

If they did not pick and choose which conflict of interest to declare, I would buy their cut-and-run strategy. But too often those conflict-of-interests issues do not seem to bother them in the least — like picking a major campaign contributor to serve on a commission or advisory board.

The Montrose Collection issue put these three potential candidates in a pickle. Go against a popular banquet hall operator who is well-known and respected in the Armenian community, or go against the Thompsons and their Montrose neighbors who played a big role in the past council election getting Councilman John Drayman on the dais.

We are missing a revenue-generating opportunity by not charging admission fees to the best little playhouse this side of Los Angeles City Hall. The fun is more thrilling when you know the players and their script more intimately. Which supporters will they dare antagonize? Can’t make up their mind? Exit, stage right.

The problem may appear complex, but it’s rather simple. Neighbors have claimed that The Montrose Collection, a restaurant/banquet hall facility, has no liquor license, their patrons are noisy when they leave late at night, and they take up all the parking in their neighborhood.

Unfortunately for Council members, the issue has taken the color of an ethnic positional conflict. It really doesn’t matter what their ethnicity is, how much money they make, or if they belong to a banquet hall association. The issue of the Montrose Collection must be judged on the merits of the claims the neighbors are making. They are either true or false. They can be verified or not.