Virginia Beach Reneges On Vow To Compensate Business Owners
Just when you thought the midwits running Virginia Beach had reached peak incompetence with this spring's idiotic resort-area shutdown, this happens:
After inviting businesses to file for compensation if they lost revenue during the moronic closure of the resort area in April, the city has denied every single claim.
Color me unsurprised.
A city that showers its favorite developers with loot, that helped build a wave park two blocks from the ocean as a playground for wealthy surfers, is giving the middle finger to the little guys struggling to stay afloat along the lawless stretch of Atlantic Avenue from Rudee Loop to 31st Street.
Let’s back up.
There were two mass shootings at the oceanfront this spring. One in March, another in April. A total of 14 people were injured.
What the council won’t say out loud, but I will, is that spring is Thug Season at the Beach. Gang bangers, urban youth and college students descend on the resort area, fights break out and so do guns.
Instead of wading into the crowds, making arrests and taking the guns from the miscreants, Virginia Beach police are what they call (behind the chief’s back) “blue scarecrows.” They stand, adjacent to the hairballs, hoping their mere presence will be a deterrence.
It isn’t.
Instead of rounding up kids with guns on the resort strip, the city boasts state-of-the-art “shot spotter” technology that tells authorities where shots were fired so that ambulances can get there quickly to transport the wounded to the hostpial.
Frankly, that’s embarrassing.
Wringing their helpless hands in April, city council members decided that the couldn’t control the undesirables that swarm the beach every spring - hey, no one wants to be called racist - so they instituted a 9:30 adult curfew on weekends.
Here’s what I wrote at the time:
They’re waving the white flag in Virginia Beach. After an almost 3-hour public hearing at which speaker after speaker begged their representatives not to impose an adult curfew at the Oceanfront for the next two weekends, city council members surrendered to the thugs and closed the place.
It was an embarrassing admission that these elected officials are incapable of doing their jobs. The vote was 10-1 with only Jennifer Rouse voting no. Her reason was terrible: She prefers declaring the Oceanfront a “gun-free zone” because as we all know, a few “no guns” signs would cause all the gangbangers to leave their guns at home.
Frankly, I can’t think of a part of town where I’d want a gun MORE than at the Oceanfront on a Saturday night.
This is not a city run by Mensa members… Yep, they’re punishing law-abiding tourists and locals who like to stay out past 9:30 to prevent thugs from shooting each other.
The courts stepped in and stopped the insanity, with a Circuit Court Judge ruling that the curfew was illegal. It lasted exactly one weekend.
Still, businesses lost plenty during the thug surrender and its aftermath.
Shamefaced city officials quickly announced that businesses that suffered economic loss were eligible for compensation.
Apparently, they were just joking.
Monica Kiraly and ali Abay say four businesses they own on Atlantic Avenue suffered financial losses from an all-ages Oceanfront curfew in April. Kiraly estimated their two pizza shops each lost roughly $13,000 from two weekend nights without customers.
Their dessert restaurant and cafe also took a hit.
When they learned they could submit a claim to the city for financial compensation, they took time out of their busy schedules to draft letters and prepare reports.
In June, the city denied their claims along with multiple others, citing Virginia Beach’s sovereign immunity. No business claims for the curfew have been approved, according to city spokesperson Ali Weatherton.
“It was a waste of time,” Kiraly said. “We spent hours on that.”
Yep, looks like a big bait and switch by Virginia Beach. In order to tamp down anger by businesses, officials tossed them a bone of compensation that they never intended to honor.
According to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, six business owners have requested compensation thus far. The businesses include restaurants, commercial parking lots and a nightclub.
Some listed loss of gross business revenue, employee wages and tips. The city redacted all of the monetary figures citing a law regarding investigations of a claim, according to a response to the FOIA request made by attorney Kevin Martingayle and provided to The Pilot.
“It’s shameful,” Martingayle said. “I don’t think they want the public to know what the total adds up to.”
You bet they don’t. That would only magnify the stupidity of what they did in April.
Yet, according to the story, the mayor still believes the curfew was a swell idea.
This is the guy - Bobby Dyer - who famously said this about his city:
“Before 10 p.m. you’re living in Mayberry. After 10 p.m. you’re living in Tombstone.”
Here’s an idea: Pay the businesses trying to stay alive in Tombstone.
You owe them.
