Dallas Blog

I was at July Alley last night and left about 12:20 a.m. I didn't see this incident occur.

While I was there, the bartender cut the music several times prior to midnight to inform the 30 or so people in the bar to "smoke 'em if you got 'em." No biggee. But a few minutes later the bartender was again on the mike and this time sounded decidedly less enthused about telling everyone they had 5 minutes to finish and they'd "never be able to smoke in July Alley again because of a couple of squeaky wheels and an inept city council." Midnight struck and the owner walked around and picked up all the ash trays. Really no big deal at all. At this point the bar basically emptied out, sans about 5-10 people, myself and 2 friends included. My friend went to pay their tab at 12:10 and was almost harassed into buying more drinks than she had. She explained she had to work in the morning and couldn't cut it. She was ridiculed for a few minutes until the cc machine spit out the check. It seemed to us that the bar staff were a) more than a little pissed by the ordinance (as are we) and b)even more pissed that so many people left right at the strike of midnight. (I'm sure they were all headed straight for Addison...not)

There was a large contingent of thuggy gangsta wannabes hangin out across the street in front of The Lounge, perhaps they were the cause of the commotion?

I'm sorry for Mr. MacLeods injuries. We must have literally missed this by mere seconds. My girlfriend and her friend probably would have freaked if we were still there. And that, coupled with the ordinance, would make them not want to go back, which is a shame. Deep Ellum needs more local support from the nearby community, especially in these trying social and economic times. Violence is not the answer.

A "hammered" bar employee? Report that shit to TABC, it's illegal to work in a bar under the influence...and there's nothing more annoying than a drunk bartender.

Whaaaaaaaaaaa! *tears* Whaaaaaaaaaaa!

Addison is hopping tonight. Lots of new people in the bars and clubs.

Good move, Dallas.

Why arent all the effing smokers dead already?

This here seams to be the problem! "MacLeod, 40, who by his own estimation has been arrested nine times and blames his problems on alcohol abuse." "I'm glad that I'm sober today"
(arrests for driving while intoxicated, driving with an invalid license, criminal trespass and petty theft, among others – as fuel for political activism.dmn)

WHY WHY WHY would anyone who is a recovering alcoholic be in a BAR or anywhere near one! Did he fall off the wagon that night?
Is he even a member of AA has he even TRULY embraced his ISSUES and can we afford to believe HIM?

I could have done without the hairy closeup shots

Billy McCleod has been banned from every bar in Deep Ellum. He is not even supposed to be in July and is aware of this. His forceful ejection had little to do with the cigarette in his hand, but more the fact that he is always asked to leave the moment he pops his head in the door, and yet is unwilling to comply.

Banned from a bar because of your past behavior + showing up in said bar and refusing to leave = getting your ass thrown out in the street.

Sounds pretty simple to me. And yes, I saw the whole thing.

"WHY WHY WHY would anyone who is a recovering alcoholic be in a BAR or anywhere near one!"

You don't have a clue, do you? Plenty of recovering alcoholics go into bars. Some are musicians who need to make a living, some are folks who want to socialize. Its not THAT big of a deal if you are strong enough to do it.

I'm very curious about something... did Sam hear about this and seek Billy out, or did Billy call the Observer and bring this to their attention?

Sam? How did it go down?

Yeah well I am not buying this story either.

How is it that there is not a single witness to this that supports Billy's story?

After bar hopping, this stupid stumbling drunk falls on his face and makes up this story to cover his ass and to get a little attention for his failing campaign.

That I believe.

Slander. Reporters have already spoken to the owner, and changing the story to protect themselves from liability is weak. There are plenty of witnesses, like the police and fire department officials who responded to render aid...and they will be called to testify. But in the meantime, why does the business not just release the digital video survalence they recently had installed (inside the bar)and show everyone what happened. no comment

Thanks Angela Hunt. What a good idea you supported taking away personal freedom and all.

If you get high, the terrorists win. I saw that on TV once.

cp - For someone that isn't defending Billy's actions you sure seem to be defending Billy's actions.

Take a look at his record. Drunk. Disorderly. Drunk. Assault. Drunk. Theft. Drunk. DWI. Drunk. DWI. Drunk. DWI... There is a pattern here.

I don't know about Deep E but Billy is banned from the bars in the Cedars. You think they kick you out of bars for being a nice guy and drinking all their booze. Billy is a trouble maker and he was trying to make trouble right before he landed in the gutter.

I am not sure what happened. Maybe he fell down maybe he walked into a pole. Maybe he was making trouble and got thrown into the street. Whatever. He is no victim and I am not buying his story. And if you believe that crap about him being on the wagon then I have a bridge to sell you too.

ignoreLander says:
What about the stoner getting high on his couch? Who is the "victim" there? Because apparently that's a crime.
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So true.
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DART Bored says:
Anyone barred from Lee Harvey's is gonna have a tough sell pitching they're a populist hero carrying the torch for the generationally oppressed.
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Oh shut the fuck up. Who cares?
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heart and soul says:
I am not sure what happened. Maybe he fell down maybe he walked into a pole. Maybe he was making trouble and got thrown into the street. Whatever. He is no victim and I am not buying his story. And if you believe that crap about him being on the wagon then I have a bridge to sell you too.
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....and if we are to believe your bullshit I know a Haitian drug dealer who you can have safe sex with. You don't anything,
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Mike says:
Great spin, July Alley. You should have a banner made, "If we don't like you, We'll forcefully eject your ass out in the street." Usually a bar only uses force to eject someone once force is used on their staff & acts in self-defense. That doesn't seem to be the case here. July Alley or it's employees had an ax to grind & used Billy's head for it. Regardless of disliking Billy, throwing him out onto the streets is wrong.
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It doesn't take a brainiac to figure it out does it, Mike? I think most folks who are not bar stools or lick the toilet seats at July Alley could figure that out. Your point seems to be the right one.

I went to July Alley ONE time. I got a weak drink and had to sit next to a girl with the worst BO I have ever experienced. Maybe she was the one who started the trouble. Who knows, but I don;t think anybody should go into a bar where the employees are allowed to do that to another individual. Doesn't the dumb fuck who owns the place know they can be sued?

As the article mentioned, Mr. Mcleod was at Club Dada. Apparently, he was having a conversation with the DO's Music Editor and immediately left because he was upset about something. Im not sure what it was but my suspicion leads me to believe he was being questioned by the Editor. There were several people there, aside from the bar staff. I would be very interested to hear from the Patrons and the bar staff at Dada. They may shed some light on all of this. Anywho, its just a suggestion.

TABC is already on it.

Nice discussion.

Happy Baushka says:

"He walked my street earlier in the month, making disparaging (and erroneous) statements about one of our Association board members..."

Well, it should be mentioned that Bruce Richardson is the person I spoke of and that he was/is the President of the Lower Greenville Neighborhood association. He blocked a 65 million dollar Sustainable Green Development on Henderson by disallowing more than 100 neighborhood residents from joining the association because they wanted to vote for it. It difficult to get people involved in anything these days, so when people want to pay dues to get involved in their neighborhood and get turned away because of politics I get a little salty. It should also be that mentioned they have supported my opponent and her policies, or lack their in.

DART Bored says:

"Do you know what it takes to be barred from Lee Harvey's as MacLeod had (also) recently been? You practically have to attempt raping a stray dog on the bar while hurling Midori. I mean Deep Ellum and LH's are hardly the French Room or Rattle snake bar where any disturbance leads to premature ejaculation...."

I have great respect for Seth and Phil because Lee Harvey's is a fantastic community centric local drinking hole, with engaged ownership and management that reaches out to is customers, who bring in local and regional acts, supports the arts, and even has a day set aside for pets. It's a great place. They just didn't want me politic'n in there, they didn't want me talking to customers about the election.

As the election grew closer I continued to talk to customers about the importance voting in a local elections, and I was overly excited about my live interview on CNN, and it grew more and more difficult to keep my candidacy out of conversations. The management just did not want me bothering their clientele with my jibber jabber. I respect that. Thing is, they were always respectful to me, even kind.
I have no problem with their decision, and I even met with Seth and Phil last week. Dallas needs more operators like them.

You know the classic bar rule: no politics or religion. So, God bless Lee Harvey’s and Vote Local May 9th.

@heart and soul-

No, I'm not defending his actions, I am saying that getting kicked in the head is assault, no matter how you try to spin it. It makes him a VICTIM of a CRIME.

And why don't we try some logic? The police came out. The police routinely arrest drunks who get in fights on the weekends all over town. Don't believe me, just go check out that crazy man Avi Adelman's videos. That's pretty much all our police do on weekends in the party "hot spots". If MacLeod were drunk, I am certain that he would have been arrested for public intoxication. Only, he wasn't.

You don't have to "buy his story" that he's on the wagon, all you have to do is examine some basic facts about this story.

1. Billy is renowned for his substance abuse problems.
2. Billy is banned from the bar, ie. he was trespassing.
3. He broke the law by bringing a ciggie into the bar, putting the owner at risk for thousands in fines.
4. The bar's owner has told me that Billy pushed the female in question first.
5. He was then thrown out on his ass.

And by the way Billy, normal slander and libel laws no longer apply to you. As a public figure running for office, people can damn well say just about whatever they want to about you.

To Mr. MacLeod and all,

Mr. MacLeod writes:

Well, it should be mentioned that Bruce Richardson is the person I spoke of and that he was/is the President of the Lower Greenville Neighborhood association. He blocked a 65 million dollar Sustainable Green Development on Henderson by disallowing more than 100 neighborhood residents from joining the association because they wanted to vote for it. It difficult to get people involved in anything these days, so when people want to pay dues to get involved in their neighborhood and get turned away because of politics I get a little salty. It should also be that mentioned they have supported my opponent and her policies, or lack their in.

I was told that I was mentioned by Mr. MacLeod in this blog. A few corrections of fact:

I have never served as president of Lowest Greenville West NA (LGNA is another organization). I have served as Secretary and a member of its Board of Directors.

Positions we take on any matter can be (and as a matter of rule in Dallas public hearings, are) freely debated. No association can strangle public debate.

A total of seventeen (not one hundred) membership inquiries were generated during the period Mr. MacLeod describes. We contacted each one. Five failed to respond. Eight households expressed support for our position. Three expressed support for the developer's position. Three households were outside our district, and two applications were from the same household within the district (both supported our position but counted as one).

An interesting aside: When asked, nearly every one of these inquiries told us that the developer had contacted them through their real estate agent. Regardless, the tally actually bolstered our position. We listened to everyone who contacted us.

To the facts of the matter:

We never saw plans for a "green development." We saw plans for a five-story apartment complex, with a huge internal parking garage, exceeding the development rights for the tract by a factor of nearly triple.

We did not "block" the development, nevertheless...we have no power to do so. We told the developer and our representatives what we were willing to support. It never came to hearing. The applicant withdrew the case.

That site is now the home of Newflower Market, a wonderful neighborhood-serving use, in a scale which balances and enhances everyone's property rights, not just those of the commercial entity.

To Mr. MacLeod:

It is ironic that you should call me out by name, having failed so substantially to do your homework. A quick story:

You spoke with a woman on my street when canvassing for votes. She asked how you felt about increased development rights. You told the woman a version of the story you quoted above. You'll probably remember her. When you finished, she told you that she'd do everything possible to defeat you. You were surprised (you thought it was going so well).

That woman was my wife. You were standing in my front yard.

Beyond basic integrity, the thing we want most from our political leaders is for them to DO THEIR HOMEWORK...to understand that few things are simple--that the "second side" of a story may often contain more truth than public posturing by those with financial interests.

You, sir, continue to demonstrate that you are not doing your homework. I'll leave it for others to decide how they'll vote, but you have certainly not earned my family's trust or vote.

Sincerely,
Bruce Richardson, Dallas