Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

"This is the First Time We've Done This"

"This is the first time we've done this," said Chuck Perrin, manager of Dizzy's, a jazz club in East Village. The Seventh Avenue venue -- a converted trucking warehouse that was also the first stage space of the Fritz Theatre -- was a polling precinct on election day, November 2.

"Is this downtown's jazz scene performing a civic duty?" I asked. "How did your space become a precinct?"

"Oh, it wasn't me, I had nothing to do with it," Perrin said. "It was our landlord."

Sponsored
Sponsored

"That would be Fritz Ahern?"

"Yes. He thought it would be good for the area, to have it here. He's very involved with local politics."

In 1992 Ahern allowed a small group of actors and directors to use the space rent-free if the theater company was named after him; the troupe later moved to another property he owned on Third and J Street, and the warehouse was empty for a number of years; after that it was home to a coffee shop and a magazine, and now Dizzy's.

"So were there any problems? Voter harassment? Electronic machines that didn't work? Disenfranchisement?"

"I wasn't there," said Perrin. "Seems everything went okay."

Fritz Ahern owns quite a bit of property in East Village and the Gaslamp. One of his tenants, who requested anonymity, told me, "Fritz had some kind of agenda wanting that polling place there."

A Gaslamp resident said, "I was there [at Dizzy's] most of the day, and only 384 voters showed up and they were expecting 1000 plus. And they weren't allowed to play music!"

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell

"This is the first time we've done this," said Chuck Perrin, manager of Dizzy's, a jazz club in East Village. The Seventh Avenue venue -- a converted trucking warehouse that was also the first stage space of the Fritz Theatre -- was a polling precinct on election day, November 2.

"Is this downtown's jazz scene performing a civic duty?" I asked. "How did your space become a precinct?"

"Oh, it wasn't me, I had nothing to do with it," Perrin said. "It was our landlord."

Sponsored
Sponsored

"That would be Fritz Ahern?"

"Yes. He thought it would be good for the area, to have it here. He's very involved with local politics."

In 1992 Ahern allowed a small group of actors and directors to use the space rent-free if the theater company was named after him; the troupe later moved to another property he owned on Third and J Street, and the warehouse was empty for a number of years; after that it was home to a coffee shop and a magazine, and now Dizzy's.

"So were there any problems? Voter harassment? Electronic machines that didn't work? Disenfranchisement?"

"I wasn't there," said Perrin. "Seems everything went okay."

Fritz Ahern owns quite a bit of property in East Village and the Gaslamp. One of his tenants, who requested anonymity, told me, "Fritz had some kind of agenda wanting that polling place there."

A Gaslamp resident said, "I was there [at Dizzy's] most of the day, and only 384 voters showed up and they were expecting 1000 plus. And they weren't allowed to play music!"

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.