McGuire's sign fiasco
Today we learned that you apparently can file a fabricated complaint to the state about the bathroom signs at a reputable local restaurant, and a state regulator will then order the business to change the signs or face closure.
The fact that the complaint was fabricated in the first place -- the man whose name appears on it says he never filed it -- doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the regulator's feelings about the bathroom signs.
This would be laughable if it hadn't actually occurred to McGuire's Pub in Destin.
The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation's action against McGuire's is ludicrous. They're using our tax dollars to harrass a private business about a regulation that shouldn't exist in the first place, based on a complaint the regulators apparently never verified.
Worse, the DBPR's position is based solely on a regulator's interpretation that a bathroom sign isn't as clear as it needs to be. That strikes as a violation of McGuire's First Amendment rights.
Here's the main number for the DBPR: 850-413-0755. Their e-mail address is Call.Center@dbpr.state.fl.us. Call them or write them today and tell them what you think about their bathroom sign regulation.
Let McGuire's be McGuire's!
posted by Patrick Rice @ 7:27 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
You know what's kinda ironic? By whining so much over the signs being taken down, the state is spending more money than if you guys had not complained. Good goin'...
And really. Who cares! The signs weren't even that funny anyway. Sure, it was a simple joke, but just think of the stuff that COULD have happened at the fault of the restaurant, and how much the family restaurant would have been sued for because they didn't have the proper signs outside the restrooms.
And you know another thing that burns me? Why is it that you, Pat Rice, put a story about two signs as the lead story on the front page of your newspaper rather than placing the stories about the veterans being dedicated for the Purple Heart or the men and women coming home from the war overseas? Are you THAT desperate for readers, Pat? Let me ask you this: are you a newspaper or a tabloid?
It's a sad day when veterans being honored and military homecomings get pushed aside for a hunt over who complained about two signs at a restaurant (which, btw, is totally irrelevant).
Way to go, Pat. I do hope you’ll print the names of the person in charge of this joke of an agency, and the name and phone extension of the person who actually visited McGuire’s so we know exactly whose behind this.
The question I have is did the department actually visit McGuire’s to investigate the complaint or did they just assume the complaint was valid and send the letter without looking into the situation? If they did actually investigate it is there a report of their investigation? It would seem that there should be a detailed report of the findings and that should be public.
Since they didn’t know the complaint was false I question whether or not they actually looked into the matter at all. If they didn’t contact the complainant I seriously doubt they even went to see the signs in question. It seems you had some lazy bureaucrat trying to process the complaint to clear it from their slate and he or she took the easy way out.
The questions we need answered are when did the investigation take place and what day and time did they visit McGuire’s? Who actually visited the restaurant and made the decision about the sign? How did they determine that complaint was valid when the person whose name appears on the complaint didn’t file it?
It seems to me some criminal charges are warranted. The person who filed the complaint should be charged with filing a false complaint. If the incident really did happen using a false name is still perjury for lying on an official document.
If the agency didn’t investigate this and only sent the letter as it appears then the department needs to be investigated for not properly conducting the state’s business.
I said this on another thread but I think it can stand to be repeated
To Mr. Gaetz, the signs were forced to change not "for no good reason" they were brought to the attention of a government mess up for no good reason but the were forced to change because they are against the current laws. Please change the law and our signs can go back up. But don't make light of laws that you don't agree with or you are opening a Pandora’s box of excuses for future lawbreakers.
The law is stupid but change it or enforce it on everyone like Mexican restaurants with 'caballeros' or 'mujeres' as the only indicators of gender, or 'buoys' and 'gulls', or my personal favorite from a great seafood place “inboards and outboards. Just to name a few. Are these not illegal also? Do they not confuse a certain portion of our population? Don't make light of laws change the stupid ones.
Allow me to congradulate your paper on (excuse the expression) scooping the "poop" out of the News Journal on this one. This morning they were still covering this as a true story and it wasn't until well into the day that they reported it other wise. I suspect they only became aware of it because so many of their bloggers referenced your paper's article.
Gee picking up the phone and calling to check facts. Who knew!
Again job well done.
So, is there not going to be an effort to find and identify the person who filed this complaint?
If the government isn't going to identify this person I would think the NWF Daily News would be in full swing to try to find the person at the center of the story they published.
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