June 09, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Art galleries cited in alcohol raid

by Bill D'Agostino

Art lovers got an unexpected lesson in law enforcement Friday night when a popular monthly downtown art event was raided by state officials, who cited two galleries and a café for illegally serving booze.

Alcohol was seized from Pacific Art League, Café Torrefazione, and Meadowlark Gallery. The owners of two sites, as well as the art league's executive director, were cited for misdemeanor sale/furnishing of alcohol without a permit. The three local art leaders now face up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

The raid, which followed a warning from state officials in April, disrupted the Friday Art Walk, a free event held on the first Friday evening of each month at six downtown locations.

"The galleries aren't doing anything that they weren't doing individually for decades," said Claudia Morgan, the executive director of the Pacific Art League.

Adding insult to injury, Morgan said the state officials were extremely rude while conducting the raid. "They were antagonistic in their speech and they were condescending."

An investigator told the owner of Meadowlark Gallery that they were going to "get us all in court," Morgan reported.

In April, prompted by a citizen complaint, investigators with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control contacted each of the galleries involved and told them they couldn't serve alcohol without a permit.

"We actually thought that was going to be the end of it," said Robert Sylvia, the district administrator in the department's San Jose district. "We subsequently found out that nothing had really changed."

That's what prompted the raid, Sylvia said. "We felt we had done the right thing by trying to educate everybody, but the situation continued as if that hadn't occurred."

"This is not our leading priority when it comes to enforcement; we have other things to do," said Carl DeWing, the information officer with the department. But when somebody complains, he said, the department has to take action.

After receiving word from the state officials in April, Morgan contacted a Palo Alto police sergeant who told her no permit was needed because the wine was not being sold, just offered for free.

"We had conflicting information," Morgan said. Her court date is currently scheduled for August.

During a Saturday fund-raiser, the Pacific Art League did not serve alcohol, Morgan said. "People had a good time anyway," she said.

"That was a positive for us," Sylvia said.

VOSHAN, another gallery involved in the monthly event, chose not to serve alcohol any more after the warning, according to gallery owner Siavosh Shahrestani.

"I think it's a shame," he said.

Another gallery was reportedly warned to hide its booze before authorities arrived.

Police Chief Lynne Johnson said there had never before been any problems with the art walk event. The chief added she would see if a sergeant did, in fact, offer conflicting advice to the art league.

"I didn't even know that the event occurred in the past," Johnson said. "That tells you there hasn't been any issues." A version of this story appeared on www.paloaltoonline.com on Monday.

Staff writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com

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