Overheard at the Caffe Italia
By John Rippo.

Stopping for a quick espresso at the Caffe Italia, I awaited my drink and let the strains of news gathering dissipate out of my system. The gothic, tattooed barista smiled at me as she always does, and for a few moments life was quiet as usual. It didn't stay that way long.
At the table next to me sat two men talking about how a new law their office mates were drafting would change local coffeehouses. "They'll have to conform to the same code as nightclubs; bathrooms, bouncers, parking, security at the door..."said one.
"You mean 21 and up....?"
"If they have entertainment of any sort. Plus liability insurance and everybody who works in one or owns one gets registered with vice."
"Same as strippers."
"Right."
"Why the switch?"
"City thinks entertainment needs more regulation. Raves are a problem. Too much gang activity and drug dealing at clubs and other venues too. We nail coffeehouses first and get through the court challenges---if there are any---and we can use the same rule on clubs and raves later.
"Boost our arrest and conviction numbers---more state and fed funding for us at the end of the fiscal year."
"Right. Everybody's happy."
I finished my espresso, scratched some notes of their conversation on a napkin and headed downtown to the city operations building. It was after five, but the night crew let me in anyway and soon after logging on to a city computer, I found the draft of the proposed law in the files of the San Diego City Attorney. Civil Code section 2100-7 was up for hearings in three days and would likely pass on one vote as part of a law and order program that some local politicians hoped would make them more salable to the people who matter, as well as to the voters.
Within an hour, I had a story backed up by the City Attorney's own information. As some copies printed, I called some other editors at local news organizations and told them about what I had. Some of them agreed to meet me at the Cafe Bassam at the corner of 4th and Market Streets to read over the copy and go to work. By nine o' clock, we were getting wired, smoking----and working.
"ESPRESSO's deadline is five days away and we don't have that long. You can use this any way you want just so you run with it before then..." I said.
"Get any first hand feedback from a C.A. or anybody at the city yet?" asked another editor.
"I've got some calls out---they've got my cell number. I'll have something else by morning and a lot more by tomorrow night."
"Music societies, unions, the colleges, you've contacted them?"
"Everybody I could think of. You have my word on it now---ESPRESSO runs those draft pages on page one next issue. If you guys blow your horns we can get some of the entertainers, the coffee trade, the club people and everyone else whose pocket can get picked down to a public meeting at SDPD and in front of the city council in time...."
And that's what happened. The main newspaper ran a story in two sections next day, while the local PBS station kept it going and added interviews as part of its coverage. Television got interested and even Fox News showed up to interview Starbucks' operators in the city. The city backed off from its plan and left the coffeehouses---and the entertainment industry---alone for the time being.
As for my newspaper, it was a proud moment. Had the law passed in its original form, San Diego's coffee trade would have been greatly harmed since coffeehouses couldn't afford to upgrade their spaces to match nightclubs' requirements and many new, rising talents wouldn't have a place to perform.
It was just lucky for everyone that I stopped off at the Caffe Italia on the way home that day.