Ball & Chain to reopen after years of city harassment by Joe Carollo's hand

Less than three weeks after they filed a federal lawsuit seeking $28 million in damages for being shut down by Miami code enforcement at the behest of City Commissioner Joe Carollo, Little Havana’s iconic Ball & Chain bar and lounge announced on Tuesday it would reopen soon.

Anyone really think that’s a coincidence?

After years of coming down hard with dozens of code violations large and small, the city finally decided — 19 days after the lawsuit was filed — that they’ve come into compliance enough to issue a temporary certificate of occupancy Tuesday, at least for part of the bar.

Ladra’s first question was ‘Does Joe Carollo know?’.

Some observers have openly wondered if that means that the owners came to some sort of out-of-court settlement with a city eager to get out of a legal jam. But that was not the tone of the statement released late Tuesday:

“After a year-long closure brought on by the City of Miami’s unlawful conduct aimed at destroying our landmark establishment, Mad Room Hospitality is pleased to announce that it expects to re-open Ball & Chain in the very near future.
“We look forward to full vindication in our lawsuit against the City, to prove and permanently remedy its egregious and intentional violations of our constitutionally protected rights.
“We are so excited to welcome back our patrons from near and far, and encourage them to check our social media handles in the coming days for an official opening date. We cannot wait to salsa once again at The World Famous Ball & Chain!”

Also, there’s the fact that the attorneys for the businesses filed a motion for expedited discovery that also asks for injunctive relief from the two ordinances that target the businesses while the matter is settled in court.

The Mad Room LLC, which owns Ball & Chain, is listed as the plaintiff with Taquerias El Mexicano, Little Havana Arts Building and Grand Fiesta LLC, all businesses owned by Bill Fuller and the brothers Ben and Zach Bush, in a complaint against the city filed Sept. 30, just a few days after then Police Chief Art Acevedo sent the manager a memo accusing Carollo and other commissioners of misconduct. Attorneys for the Little Havana businesses say the Acevedo memo substantiates their claims of unlawful interference by Carollo, who everyone knows holds a grudge because his 2017 opponent held a fundraiser at one of these Calle Ocho venues.

Among the supporting facts stated in the lawsuit are:

Multiple raid-style inspections, some timed purposely at peak business hours, and many ending with zero violations
City ordinances passed with the sole purpose of stopping MRH businesses from operating, with staff citing Ball & Chain moments after the passage of the legislation and keeping the establishment from opening after a pandemic closure
Reports of city administration and officials having discussions about: 1) wanting to shut down these businesses; and 2) forbidding staff from emailing about the businesses so as not to leave a trail, while making it clear that staff that violate this requirement could lose their jobs
An unlawful raid of Taquerias that resulted in the arrest of its manager, only to have the charges later dropped by the State Attorneys’ Office

The city justified its arrest and raid by saying that Taquerias was operating as an illegal nightclub. Yet, Ladra remembers pretty well a real illegal nightclub operating in Allapattah where nobody was arrested. But maybe that’s because Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was there.

City Attorney Victoria Mendez filed a motion asking for 10 more days than allowed to file the city’s motion to dismiss. She said that because the complaint is 66 pages long and because her staff has dealt with health issues that have caused the workload to jam, she needs an extension to Nov. 1.

Okay, it is true that Ball and Chain — which was also a tourist stop before the crackdown — had code violations, some more serious than others. But, rather than work with the business, the city went to great lengths to make it particularly difficult for them to come into compliance. And, at least in one case, the city’s own fire department had said that the bar complied with all the fire safety requirements but the city cited them anyway.

“To carry out its policy, the city trapped plaintiffs in a nightmare runaround, issuing and then pulling entitlements, demanding actions and then moving the goalposts — for no legitimate purpose and with no end in sight,” the lawsuit states, adding that it was a multi-prongued policy designed to drive down revenue. The complaint also mentions two ordinances that exclusively target the businesses.

“On the very same day one of these ordinances passed, the City ultimately succeeded in shutting down one of Plaintiffs’ businesses. Later, the City raided, unlawfully seized, and shut down another of Plaintiffs’ businesses, on pure pretext and with no reasonable or legitimate basis. All of this, in the City’s unyielding march to oust Plaintiffs from their properties.

“This shameful conduct was recently corroborated by the Miami Police Chief’s September 24, 2021 memorandum to the City’s Manager and Mayor, wherein he details that City Commissioners used ‘improper political influence’ and ‘intimidation’ in order ‘to influence the [Miami Police Department] and City Code Enforcement deployment decisions’ and ‘provided the MPD with a target list of establishments.'”

The lawsuit further claims that the “city’s vendetta” against these businesses involves “its elected officials, lawyers, professional staff and every single department within its administrative function.”

It is good to know that the city could still be held liable for the actions taken against these businesses, particularly Ball & Chain, which employs more than 100 people and is also one of a decreasing number of venues that offers live, local music. Hopefully, they don’t drop the charges for expedited review of their repairs or something.

Fuller told Ladra late Tuesday that there was no set date but that the popular venue would likely open in a few weeks. They need to rehire and retrain and want to do it right. Maybe they forgot how. Someone tell them it’s like riding a bicycle.

That’s going to be tremenda parranda on Calle Ocho soon. And you might find Ladra perched in a corner, drinking mojitos, waiting for Loco Joe to show up with a camera and a former police officer turned private dick.

City of Miami Sued for 28 M… by Political Cortadito

Ball & Chain, Joe Carollo

Ball & Chain to reopen after years of city harassment by Joe Carollo’s hand added by Ladra on October 20, 2021
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