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Editorial
Special events need approval from town
The Mardi Gras came to the city of the cats last week, but it didn't exactly tiptoe in on little cat feet. Rather, it blew into town like a hurricane. A fruit juice and Southern Comfort Hurricane.
By all accounts, the first annual Fat Cat Walk was quite a party. Although Mardi Gras beads were advertised as "free," some women bared their breasts for the trinkets, in true Mardi Gras fashion. The bar manager at one establishment said they went through 14 bottles of Southern Comfort that night--in 25 years of bartending, he said, he had never poured more than he did that night.
And Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police estimate that at any given time, there were between 1,000 and 2,000 revelers on Santa Cruz Avenue.
Because participating bars and restaurants did not seek a special event permit, police didn't get wind of the Fat Cat Walk until one day before the festivities. That was enough time to circulate signs warning of zero tolerance for violation of town ordinances. But it wasn't enough time to bring in extra officers to patrol downtown. Chief Larry Todd said: "We were totally unprepared to deal with it."
If participants had gone through proper channels and sought a special event permit, they likely would have been turned down. Local police are nothing if not cautious when it comes to inviting trouble into their territory. Still, in the interest of protecting people and property, party planners should have sought a permit. There is, after all, an appeals process. They say they didn't because the Fat Cat Walk wasn't a special event--just a cooperative advertising effort.
Individual participants may have intended nothing more than sharing the costs of advertising, but in the end, the total ended up equaling more than the sum of its parts.
To those reading the full-page ad in local alternative newspapers, a "Fat Cat Walk" could only have meant that this was a night to party on the streets of Los Gatos. Sponsorship by Southern Comfort, free Mardi Gras beads, live music, dancing and souvenir Hurricane glasses could only have confirmed that first impression.
Restaurant and bar business is good for Los Gatos; it contributes to the town's financial stability and to an ambience many communities can only dream of.
It's understandable that on special occasions, Los Gatos business owners might want to pool their resources and encourage the outside community to come to Los Gatos. But with bars and restaurants, owners need to recognize the special responsibility that comes with serving alcohol.
Mardi Gras, a celebration barely noticed in this area just a few years age, has quickly become synonymous with lots of alcohol and the setting free of inhibitions.
The Fat Cat Walk did not end in violence the way a Mardi Gras in San Jose ended. But if trouble had developed, the lack of preparedness by police could have been disastrous.
In the future, events such as the Fat Cat Walk need to win town approval before hitting the streets.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
