Mayor makes sense about reckless clubs

Seattle needs a strong tool, a license, to rein in a few Seattle nightclubs where incidents of violence and gunfire are all too common.

Yet, because the City Council is so weak-kneed about offending the nightclub lobby, the mayor has to take strong, independent — even extreme — action on his own. The mayor asked the state Liquor Control Board for an emergency suspension of the liquor license for Tabella in Belltown after a shooting near the club left one woman injured and another in a nearby condo barely escaping injury.

No mayor — and no City Council — should sit idly by while clubs continuously violate liquor and safety rules. This is not the first incident at Tabella.

Everyone likes to have a good time. Most Seattleites understand that the lion's share of nightclubs operate safely most of the time.

But three cheers for Nickels for refusing to allow a few clubs to soak up unacceptable amounts of police time managing problems that should be handled before they get out of control.

Many clubs overserve liquor, serve liquor to minors or serve booze too close to closing time.

Nickels has been trying to gain council approval for a license that would act as a hammer on clubs that do not play by common-sense rules. The license would enable the city to more readily shut down clubs where violence and other criminal acts persist.

The problem with relying on the state liquor board is that the board is not directly responsible for public safety. The city is. The process for suspending a liquor license can be long and cumbersome.

Last weekend, 11 Seattle police officers and three police supervisors spent more than half an hour outside Aristocrats nightclub in Sodo, where a large crowd gathered. Shots were fired. Ten shell casings were found. No one was injured.

The mayor is not seeking an emergency liquor-license suspension for this club. Not yet. The city first plans to work with the club to see if future problems can be avoided.

Taxpayers should not have to pay for police to serve as quasi-private security guards for clubs.

Nickels is pushing his tough stance on nightclubs to the limit — that's a good thing. The council, lamely, is thwarting progress on a basic public-safety issue.