Coronado City Council Passes Budget, Burger Joint Changes

The City Council approved on Tuesday a $64.4 million for Coronado and the . It did so without drawing on the $37 million the city holds in reserve funds. 

The vote was 4 to 1. Councilwoman Barbara Denny objected to three items in the budget: the funding of a feasibility study for toilets on South Beach, a 3 percent increase in city staff, and use of toll funds for projects that did not directly benefit Third and Fourth streets.

Denny asked that those items be voted on separately, so she could support the budget. At the , the council removed the expenditures Denny objected to and voted on them separately, but was reluctant to do so on Tuesday. 

The councilwoman expressed strong support for the balanced budget in general and congratulated her colleagues on their fiscal responsibility, which she had long championed.

Her apparent effort to take credit irked Councilwoman Carrie Downey. “This is not new. It’s something we’ve always done,” Downey fumed. “We lowball income and highball expenses, so that we don’t have to layoff staff or deny services to citizens.” 

But, according to Mayor Casey Tanaka, if anyone deserves credit for Coronado’s sound financial footing, it is the late Patty Schmidt. She served on the council from 1988 to 2004.

“In her 16 years of service on the City Council, she was the most tenacious about building our reserves and keeping spending to a minimum,” Tanaka said in an email following the council meeting.

“Tom Smisek, who served 16 years from 1992 to 2008, would come in a close second,” he added.

The new budget goes into effect on July 1. 

The design changes requested from Nick Tomasello, co-owner of , proved even more contentious. The council had several questions and concerns, including: Is Nicky Rottens a drinking bar or a dining bar? Are Tomasello and his partner, Tim Aaron, trustworthy?

The council previously approved tables and chairs for outdoor dining, but now Tomasello and Aaron want to install a high-rail bar and stools. Tomasello said he could not comfortably seat 18 people using tables and chairs and also comply with the Americans with Disability Act standards. In approving the initial , the council had limited the seating area to 18.    

In the minds of those opposed, a bar and stools are more conducive to drinking than eating. “We granted an encroachment permit for outdoor dining, not outdoor drinking,” Tanaka said.

The fear expressed by the council and members of the public, who spoke at the meeting, was that drinking patrons would be more disorderly than dining patrons, especially outdoors.  

Tomasello sought to ally those fears. He pointed out, that because the permit was temporary and would be reviewed again in January, it was in his best interest to maintain a family atmosphere. 

“We understand that the permit can be taken away,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is abuse it.” 

Three council members, Downey, Tanaka and Mike Woiwode, elected to trust him. “You haven’t opened yet,” Tanaka told Tomasello. “You deserve a year to prove to us you can meet our expectations. Our job is to police you.”

The supporting council members also made it clear that if problems arise, come January, they would not hesitate to shut the restaurant down. Woiwode added a provision stipulating that only patrons who order food can be seated outside. Downey, who lives nearby, promised to keep a close watch.

For Denny and Councilman Al Ovrom, the bond with the burger joint owners had already been broken. Denny said the owners began to build the rail more than a month ago and only stopped when a Stop Work Order was issued. 

She also noted that the owners installed laminated windows instead of triple-paned windows without permission. "We had a bargain, and you didn't keep it," the councilwoman said.

Ovrom was blunter. “I don’t trust you,” he said. “Some people see a swan, some an ugly duck. I see an ugly duck.”