Background: Originally published August 3, 2006. This column featured excerpts of different events. Josephine County, just like Douglas County, went through an era where adult businesses seemed to flourish and then disappeared. Today, the former "Club 71" at Sunny Valley sits vacant. A sign on the business indicates that another business has already come and gone since Larry Lacey opened a topless bar there at the I-5 freeway exit 71 interchange.
LARRY LACEY V. GRANTS PASS
Business owners in Grants Pass' historic downtown district don't want their area to be known as the red-light district, or the "G-string" as Larry Lacey referred to his proposed business on G street.
The man who opened Club 71 at Sunny Valley in March, 2005 is moving forward with plans to open another topless bar in Grants Pass. Moving forward, even after police placed tape around his Grants Pass building. Lacey recently purchased a two-story building and began renovating the upstairs, including the removal of a load-bearing wall.
When city officials asked permission to look inside, Lacey refused them entry. Deeming the building unsafe to occupy, Grants Pass police then taped off the building, forcing two downstairs restaurants to close their doors. Lacey then hired his own inspector to examine the building, and Lacey removed the police tape.
Police returned to tape off the building a second time and warned Lacey he would be arrested for "obstructing government" (that's the first time I've heard of that particular charge) if he removed the tape again. Lacey is now appealing the nine building citations issued by the city. Lacey's inspector has declared the building safe, but Lacey still refuses to allow city officials inside to confirm his findings.
The Grants Pass City Council scheduled a hearing date on August 30th for Lacey to appeal his nine citations. In the meantime, a group of nearby religious leaders has sponsored a vigil outside the building.
LIFE IMITATES ART
He brought controversy to Grants Pass when his theater group performed The Vagina Monologues and The Laramie Project in recent years. But the biggest surprise of all came this past month, when Sebastian "James" Pate was accused of robbing a Washington Mutual Bank at Gold Hill on July 6th.
To Connect The Dots, Pate's theater group, performed several dozen successful theater productions during its three-year run in Grants Pass. A cloud of suspicion arose in 2004 when board members resigned and various Rogue Valley residents accused Pate of swindling them out of money. As it turned out, To Connect The Dots never did achieve 5013c status, as Pate had claimed when promoting his group to the community.
A few faithful theater followers stayed with Pate until the end...which came last summer when the group could no longer afford to pay the rent on the building and moved its belongings into storage. Pate kept a low profile until July 6th, when his cheerful face appeared on a bank camera videotape.
Despite his familiarity in the area, Pate made no effort to conceal his identity when he allegedly robbed the Gold Hill bank. Pate was seen at the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford four hours after the bank robbery, but he still remains on the loose.
Perhaps this play isn't over yet?
[2014 note: After Pate was captured and sentenced to jail, jail officials mistakenly released Pate early, leading to a cross-country search for Pate! What a movie this saga would make if filmmakers ever pursue it.]
SPEAKING OF PLAYS: THE SCOUNDREL OF DAGGER GULCH
My sister was in for a pleasant surprise when she visited Oakland a week ago. She had always wanted to see a melodrama. After all, Oakland is well known for melodramas dating back to the 1980s when the Oakland Gaslight Players attracted people from outside Douglas County. As luck would have it, Oakland Community Theater was performing The Scoundrel of Dagger Gulch the same weekend my sister was in town.
I thought the Washington School gymnasium would be packed with people, being as hundreds of Cycle Oregon participants were in town that weekend. But I couldn't find a single cyclist at the Saturday night melodrama attended by my sister.
I later discovered the Cycle Oregon group had a special recognition program and dance at Turkey Hall the same time the melodrama was being performed. So much for cross-promotion of different events to bring people into Oakland. I guess I should be happy that organizers scheduled conflicting events the same evening. I was able to get a front-row seat at the melodrama, making it easier for me to yell catcalls at the villain, Dana Basque.
NON-PARTISAN POLITICS
I recently learned an interesting fact about non-partisan races, while covering a story in Josephine County. After the two candidates with the most votes win the May primary, there's no provision for choosing a back-up candidate in the event one of the finalists drops out of the race.
Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel received the most votes during the May primary race for county commissioner. But Daniel dropped out of the race in July, citing health concerns. The second-highest vote recipient was Three Rivers school board member Dave Toler. Consequently, Toler's name will be the only Josephine County commissioner candidate on the ballot this November.
Barring a miraculous write-in campaign victory from someone else, Toler will automatically become the next commissioner.
In partisan races, if a candidate drops out of the running after he/she wins an election, the party then chooses a replacement to continue the race.
Toler said he still plan to campaign for the job this fall. Meanwhile, the third-highest vote recipient, James Rafferty, has said he will run a write-in campaign to offer voters a choice this November.
[2014 note: Dave Toler won the election.]
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