The Culture of Vodka, Vomit & Vehicular Mayhem (Part One); or Who is Gregg Hanour?
It is often said that nature abhors a vacuum. I think government ineptitude and corruption does, too. For a void created in the latter case attracts all sorts of opportunists looking to get ahead. Just consider the Gennaco affair for a moment: an out-of-control police department and a city government that wanted it to stay that way, called on the “professional” services of Michael Gennaco to make sure nothing was done at all.
The other day our crack team of investigators discovered that a fellow named Gregg Hanour had made public records requests for police calls to two of downtown Fullerton’s fine dining establishments night clubs – Bourbon Street and our old friends at Slidebar Rock ‘N Roll Something-or-other. Mr. Hanour is a former bar owner who now makes it his business to explore ways in which bars can quit annoying the municipalities in which they are located, abide by the permits that let them operate, and control their rowdy and inebriated customers, etc. Apparently, one of the main strategies offered by Mr. Hanour is to get bartenders to quit serving alcohol to drunks.
Downtown Fullerton must occupy a bunch of Hanour’s business development resources, given the completely out-of-control booze and barf culture that appertains. Good God! Just look at these two rap sheets:
Of course we are all familiar with the Slidebar and its checkered history. What most people in Fullerton don’t realize is that Slidebar is currently operating illegally as a night club. That’s right. This establishment has no conditional use permit, and every time something untoward goes on there a tremor of fear should pass through the City’s Risk Management Department. That’s because the City has intentionally looked the other way while Slidebar and it’s politically connected owner Jeremy Popoff keep the doors open and the drink flowing.
The real possibility of injury or assault or worse is evident in the long list of police calls to this bar. Can the City be held responsible for the consequences of letting this place run without the necessary permits? I don’t know. Shall we ask the City Attorney?
How do you operate without a CUP? Isn’t it the City’s job to shut them down until they gt one? Liability, much?
God almighty. That’s just TWO businesses. I wonder what the whole downtown looks like.
And that’s only one month of calls from two night clubs! College town? Drunk town?
No, check the dates.
It’s just over one month of calls for each club
What’s the problem here? This guy is an entrepreneur building up a business.
The problem is that everyone else has to pick up the tab for policing and cleaning up after his horde of douchebag patrons, since the downtown bar scene is an annual net loss to the city of seven figures, and has been for years.
If his business (and others like it) is only viable because the fallout from it is subsidized by the taxpayers, then he can F off. If his business (and others like it) could still be viable after paying the associated costs, why isn’t he? And he can also still F off.
You are anti-business. The guy’s just trying to make a living by making all our lives better. It’s called cooperation and I for one don’t mind somebody doing well by doing good!
It’s not about pro-business or anti-business. Many lovely towns in the US and all over the world have been turned upside-down by binge drinking youngsters. What a business does or allows can negatively affect the community. I’m neither pro nor anti-business.
Another view,
I’ll tell ya’. I know many ways to promote good business in Fullerton and they don’t look like what Flory has punished us with
My cars get broken into in my driveway several times a year, usually between 1:00 and 3:00 am. The cops are not patrolling my neighborhood.
I suspect that thieves know that the rest of Fullerton is a free-for-all during these hours because all of the units are in DTF herding drunk.
I would like to make a humble request. please re-run some of those old hilarious posts with that idiot Dr. HeeHaw ranting about how out of control DTF was.
You know, that’s a damn fine idea. Plus that was 8 years ago and if anything the situation has only gotten worse. Plus the City Council wants to pack another five hundred residents in there.
Another case of sad-sack cr onyism. Why the hesitation on the part of the city to just charge SludgeBar and the others the licensing fees of a night club? In other words, if the city management, and the city council are going soft on permits for Popoff, what’s been in it for them to do so?
I’m at the SlideBar right now drinking a cold one and having some mac and cheese. I’m about to pick up my retirement papers! Anyone want to join me? Must be a slow day in Fullerton again. I remember watching all you clowns through the window trying to protest the SlideBar when Ron Thomas told you he would donate millions to your cause. Anyone seen Ron lately? I heard he bought a mansion in Cabo and plans on never coming back to the US again. He said F my army, I fooled them.
Ron didn’t fool you but he got his 5 mil. You said he’d get nothing LOL. And you’re still spending you days handing out parking tickets on Holt. It’s all good!
“Must be a slow day in Fullerton again”
And here you are. Slow. LoL!
What’s the definition of a night club? Since you used it. Are you calling it a night club because it’s open late at night and it’s a club? LOL you guys are so clueless.
Night club. Where Flory comes out to play and you get all frisky, lol!
Read the Municpal Code. Oh, wait, I forgot. Sorry…LOL!
Definition of a night club? It’s what your crew beat Kelly Thomas to death with. But hey it all good! Good times. Bottoms up.
Jesus H. does that wrinkly old head full of snakes arouse you? Rowzer! LOL!
Did you actually review the calls? This is nothing. Bar checks, hailed by citizens, parking issues. I actually thought you were being serious with 20-50 calls a night directly related to drunks. Fullerton does a great job keeping their bars in check if this is really all the calls they have down there.
If it’s so great how come DTF costs $1,500,000 more to the City than it brings in. What a wreck. You must be on of those GED cops we hear about all the time. Robert Peel would be sooooo proud LOL.
Yes the bar is set very low. A low bar, get it? Expert on low bars. LOL!
This is just calls for TWO BARS. About50 calls in one month for just two bars is a lot.
I am Gregg Hanour, and I’m disappointed at the misuse of the information I gathered through a public records request. For the last sixteen years I’ve dedicated my life to changing how alcohol is sold. Initially, my work was focused on changing how my business––The Shark Club—served alcohol. We completely overhauled our business to become more responsible. That journey is captured in my book, A Business Approach to Reducing Drunk Driving. In a nutshell, the book recommends a systems approach, often used in the business world, to reduce alcohol problems associated with on-sale alcohol businesses. I cut my teeth in the business world at 3M, doing statistical work in their Quality Department at their Orthopedic Division.
I became a founding member of the Costa Mesa DUI Task Force, which morphed into the Orange County DUI Task Force. I’m on the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Challenge Area 1 Task Force.
For the last six years I’ve worked as a consultant (Good Alcohol Practices LLC), helping on sale alcohol businesses (restaurants, bars, clubs, etc.) improve serving practices and better protect their customers and the public.
Recently, I’ve teamed up with Lauren Tyson—a former ABC District Administrator (and creator of the ABC LEAD training course). Our consulting service, Alcohol Policy Advisors, works with cities to create a community solution to significantly reduce alcohol abuse at licensed drinking establishments.
Back to my disappointment…
Somehow, some of the public records I requested are now posted here (fullertonsfuture.org).
I completed the public records request to evaluate the impact of my training on the calls for service (or arrests) for some of my clients. Contrary to what is posted, the results were positive. In one case the results were meaningless––the police called to inform me the calls for service for the Slidebar would be dramatically inflated (the Slidebar address is often used because it’s a landmark, so their address is attached to problems in that general area, though the problem is not Slidebar influenced). In follow-up communications, the police made positive observations about changes in Slidebar operations. In Bourbon Street’s case, after completing several trains, their police calls for service were reduced by 25%–during a time their business volume increased.
In scrutinizing a call for service log it is critical to evaluate with an honest eye and an understanding of how these calls are logged—gross number of calls is meaningless. Just a few examples:
1. One call for service may be the result of a business not letting an intoxicated person enter. That business is doing the right thing. Sacrificing possible revenue to protect the public. That business then might call the police to make sure that intoxicated person doesn’t drive. Again, that business is doing the right thing. To mark that call against that business is unfair and sends the wrong message to the business. I encourage my clients to make protecting the pubic their number one responsibility, telling them doing the right thing trumps worrying about a call log.
2. There are dozens of calls for homeless folks in the parking lots.
3. One incident (be it legitimate—an altercation inside; or illegitimate—a homeless person causing a disturbance in the parking lot) may result in several calls for service for the same incident.
There is a need for open discussion on how to improve the responsible serving of alcohol. Most cities can do more. Most bars can do more. These discussions should be honest and without hidden agendas. Lauren and I understand, the responsible conditioning of bars and the responsible service of alcohol:
– Protects the public
– Guards city resources
– Improves business viability
Cities can pursue grant monies and to pay for specialized training for owners and managers of on sale alcohol businesses. The cities of Chico and Huntington Beach connected with Health Care Agencies to obtain grant monies to pay for such training.
Both Bourbon Street and Slidebar used their money to pay for multiple trainings for different departments—the type of trainings not required by the city or state. I applaud Bourbon Street and Slidebar for their commitment to train their staff, improve customer care practices, and meet their Standard of Care responsibilities. Their efforts have improved public safety.
Smearing, miss-representing, attacking, might work to sooth our anger, but it doesn’t move the discussion forward and lead to meaningful change. Change is a contact sport; it rubs many people the wrong way. If we lead the charge for change in a respectful manner and with a commitment to the truth, great things are possible.
While someone’s calling a wambulance for the apologist for the alcoholics, please read about the Hanours past endeavors where it appears that his brother “allegedly” was selling Ecstasy at the club that the Hanours managed…
It’s like Ray Charles calling Stevie Wonder for directions to the Grammy’s
In 1992, the Hanours expanded their empire to Irvine, opening Metropolis, a sprawling 18-and-over nightclub known for its industrial decor, internationally known guest DJs and nights dedicated to Latinos and gays.
Gregg Hanour speaks in Ventura County on being a responsible club patron and club owner.
Gregg Hanour speaks in Ventura County on being a responsible club patron and club owner.
Photo by Flickr user Straight Up Ventura County
Metropolis was announced to have folded in the spring of 1999 due to lease dispute with its landlord, the Irvine Co. But as the Weekly reported at the time, a drug raid by Irvine Police and state Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) may have had more to do with the closure.
Four people were arrested on charges of use and possession of Ecstasy, GHB (liquid Ecstasy) and methamphetamine after a pre-dawn raid of Metropolis on April 18, 1999. Among them: John Hanour, who was also popped for drug sales. Authorities said the raid followed the sale of GHB to an undercover officer earlier that night.
John Hanour denied in the Weekly piece that the drug bust had anything to do with Metropolis closing, explaining the Irvine Co. had a different vision for its University Town Center. A source told the Weekly the club’s relationship with the mega-developer began to sour after David Hanour, John’s younger brother and an inexperienced manager, took over running Metropolis.
The Shark Club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. The filing reportedly lists the Hanour Corp. as having less than $10 million in assets. Under court oversight, Gregg Hanour continues to operate the club.
http://www.ocweekly.com/news/ecstasy-bust-at-shark-club-teen-party-harks-back-to-nightspots-dark-days-6443994
“the Slidebar address is often used because it’s a landmark, so their address is attached to problems in that general area”
You don’t have to tell us the Slidebar is a landmark for problems. But thanks for the expert opinion.
Smearing? Who is being smeared?
You are making money off of the misfortune of our downtown, a mess created by idiots and politicans who didn’t know what they were doing.
Screw you.
BTW, did you know that your friend, pal, client , symbiotic douchebag Jeremy Popoff is operating WITHOUT A CUP AS REQUIRED BY FULLERTON LAW?
BTW did you know that Fullerton’s downtown booze and barf cultire costs citizens $1,500,000 a year? Are you profiting off of that?
P.S. screw you.
Smearing? Tell me chum, who got smeared? Not you.
Stay tuned for part two. You are a featured player in the drama.
And thanks for stopping by our blog.
“… with a commitment to the truth, great things are possible.”
With a commitment to bullshit, great things are possible.
Sincerely yours,
FPD
MADD
Gregg Honour
“Somehow, some of the public records I requested are now posted here (fullertonsfuture.org).”
It’s a miracle!
“Cities can pursue grant monies and to pay for specialized training for owners and managers of on sale alcohol businesses. The cities of Chico and Huntington Beach connected with Health Care Agencies to obtain grant monies to pay for such training.”
Whoopee! The taxpayer can foot the bill twice for out-of-control bar owners like your clients: once to subsidize the cops and second to teach everybody how to spot a drunk.
Well done.
Aristotle,
You are right!!!
Hanour, you just on your own wienie.
stepped
How about this policy: kitchens stay open ’til midnight. bars close at midnight.
P.S. fuck you.
Something tells me Mr. Honour regrets his guest appearance here.
I hate to say this, but is MADD anything other than a 5th column for cops who want to get overtime pay?
Hey your being mean.
Gregg Honour,
Who are you trying to fool?
You are furious that the records are published for all citizens to see. I and other Fullerton residents can not wait to see this blog publishing more of them.
Very convenient that one address is a landmark , but you couldn’t explain the awkward coincidence that oddly the other address had the same number of calls?
Very convenient that you have not mentioned what everybody knows, that your ties with FPD go a long way back and help us understand how inauthentic all your explanations are..Is the term bar hoping new to you? When someone is banned bar entrance is an indication that a binge drinking problem exists in the area. Why don’t you tell everyone the truth about the phony efficiency of your consulting business? With all the money you still owe to people from your Sharks bankruptcy you still dare to sell your incompetent consulting expertise all over SoCal. Your book reminds me of those guys who want to make a fortune on writing a book on how to make a fortune. We don’t need guys like you in Fullerton
This has been and interesting subject. Mr. Gregg Hanour , managed two night clubs both having had issues with Drugs , Public Disturbances and filed for Bankruptcy. From reviewing the articles it would seem as if Mr. Jon Hanour and Mr.David Hanour had the drug issues. But for GP lets just say that all of the Hanours are responsible. Mr. Gregg Hanour has decided to write a book and open a consulting business to help other Club/ Bar owners from the negative things both his clubs have experienced. I am quite sure when Mr. Gregg Hanour decided to open a consulting business and write a book he wasn’t trying to hide or mislead anyone. If he can pull public records of Police reports from a Club/Bar I am quite sure he knew the same could be done to him. Not to mention the Newspaper articles. Therefore, to assume he is trying to be misleading holds no merit. Wouldn’t you agree? If a previous Club/Bar owner can try to find a way to help establishments save lives, and be a responsible business why the criticism? If you can hire a consulting business that will assist your business and allow its patrons to have a great weekend, Without police incidences. Or having bartenders learn to be more responsible, teaching them how to be aware of the patrons and not serve alcohol to a patrons who is all ready intoxicated that is a good thing isn’t it? Because, only problems are to follow not only inside the club but also outside the club. “The statement like Ray Charles calling Stevie Wonder for directions to the Grammy’s ,” Your insinuating the blind leading the blind. How is that possible when Mr. Gregg Hanour owned and operated two night clubs, which you so elegantly showed in your message. So, that statement in and of itself is a little flawed. If Mr. Gregg Hanour can save one life by having a Club/Bar not serve an already intoxicated person then he has made change. To attack a person who wants to make change in the Club/ Bar business it makes no sense. If a Club/Bar is serving alcohol without a permit , then that is even a bigger problem. If the Shark club still owes money from the Bankruptcy, what does that have to do with anything? Are you saying if your business files bankruptcy you can never write a book, open a consulting business or better yet make a positive change in an area which you worked for over 20 years. Mr. Gregg Hanour seems to have a lot of knowledge which came from experience. May it have been good or bad experiences he has knowledge that can most importantly save lives, help businesses and the community so that Clubs/Bars can function in a positive way.
Just a Thought
“If a previous Club/Bar owner can try to find a way to help establishments save lives, and be a responsible business why the criticism?”
Or SHUT DOWN THE OUT OF CONTROL BARS.
P.S. Please tell your buddy Popoff to get that CUP he’s been dodging for 3 freaking years.
How about we get the Fullerton cops out of the bar biz, Mickey.
Dear Look At Both Sides,
Very impressive. It appears you are more privy to Mr. Hanour’s goodwill than Mr Hanours himself. Are you his hygienist biographer? Hanour’s himself told FFFF last week how successful his consulting ventures were all across Orange County; how his invaluable services had been secured by cities and institutions meaningful to the former. While this has been taking place, his business suppliers and creditors have been charging off significant amounts. His boast is his bust! Let’s be clear: all of this is perfectly legal. Limited liability has cohabited with us for centuries. As it is legal, that his personal assets have increased during this “painful bankruptcy” process. And legal is the old well known worldwide technique in which large families flourish using the discriminative sinner and sainthood role technique among their members.
I guess anyone else could request the police records to be pulled, although Gregg seemed mad FFFF shared part of them with the public and he read the data through a very convenient self-serving lens.
Mary, that’s just a cop who wants to keep getting free food and beer. No out of control bars, no freebies to the cops. Hanour is just a fig leaf Slimers is using to cover up his tatoo’d junk.
Mary,
I am not his hygienist biographer? Hanour’s himself told FFFF. I don’t know Mr. Gregg Hanours benefit of posting the police report. If he did in fact post it, what does benefit from it? Can you tell me the benefit? ( that is a serious question) Businesses file Bankruptcy all of the time. So, are they suppose to not make a living? I don’t think anyone filing Bankruptcy after running a business for over 20 years feels all warm and fuzzy inside. That’s not something I believe anyone would brag about. But, to be able to turn things around in a more positive direction and making a difference is not a bad thing or am I mistaken? The bottom line would seem that Mr. Gregg Hanour, is trying to make a difference. He saw the flaws within his own Clubs and made a decision to try to help other establishments avoid the same fate, of having police visiting an establishments on a continual basis. Clubs/Bars having to pay fines, patrons becoming so intoxicated that they themselves thought the next day probably why did the keep serving me. Especially when a Patron drinks so much that they can be hospitalized. When your looking from the outside in , things become very clear, which seem to be what Mr.Gregg Hanour has realized. Sometimes people DON’T MAKE A MOVE UNTIL THEY SEE IT. Which seems like Mr. Gregg Hanours intention and agenda. He saw a problem and made a move. Let’s look at this from a Club/Bar owners perceptive. People are more prone to go Club/Bar where at the end of the night all went well, no police, and everyone getting home safely. Isn’t this the whole point of Mr.Gregg Hanours agenda?
“P.S. Please tell your buddy Popoff to get that CUP he’s been dodging for 3 freaking years”
I am not sure who that was meant for. But, if it was for me. I don’t know a Popoff
Just another thought
Hello Mr. The Fullerton Harpoon,
No sorry I am not a police officer. Believe me I am not. I’m just looking at the messages on the board and looking at both sides equally hard. I am not trying to become argumentative. I am just giving thoughts.