Union Jack's will close its doors permanently in Bethesda this weekend. The bar has been a popular nightspot for over a decade, in a space longtime residents once knew as the Shark Club. There have been at least two
attempts to sell the business in recent years.
The Riemer Factor
The closure adds to the downward spiral of Bethesda's nighttime economy, which accelerated despite Montgomery County Councilmember Hans Riemer's "nighttime economy" initiative, an overhyped effort that failed miserably. There are now less nightclubs open in downtown Bethesda than there were before Riemer's effort!
Many other businesses that once offered late night or 24-hour service either cut back their hours since Riemer's initiative, or closed altogether.
Food trucks that operated in the Woodmont Triangle after midnight were chased out of Bethesda permanently by Riemer's political operative/campaign contributor-turned-$150,000 County employee (nice private payoff at public taxpayer expense, right?), who was put in charge of banning, er, "helping" food trucks. 96% of food trucks went out of business, or never ventured again from DC into Bethesda, since receiving County Chief Innovation Officer Dan Hoffman's "help."
Union Jack's is the
9th nightspot to close
in downtown Bethesda
since Riemer took office
This is the ninth nightclub to close in downtown Bethesda since Riemer took office in 2010, a staggering figure. Despite bar owners' number one request - getting Montgomery County Government out of the liquor business, Riemer has flip-flopped and is a staunch defender of the County liquor monopoly. Where long lines of revelers once formed, crowds now disperse and streets are dark and quiet in late night Bethesda.
Riemer:
Only the little people
pay taxes
One can't expect Riemer to care much about small business owners, as his
campaigns have bizarrely been bankrolled by Wall Street banks and health insurance companies, their K Street lobbyists, and pioneers in outsourcing American jobs to China, like Mitt Romney's Bain Capital ($500 check to Riemer) and the Danaher Corporation ($4000 check to Riemer). One of the American factories closed by the latter was right here in the state of Maryland, a state which has lost nearly half of its industrial jobs over the last decade.
Quid pro quo?
A U.S. Senate committee is
currently investigating whether or not Riemer and the Montgomery County Council assisted Danaher's Mitch Rales in evading income, capital gains and estate taxes. In addition to tens of thousands in campaign contributions, Riemer and other County officials were treated to an extravagant evening at Rales' Potomac mansion, prior to assisting Rales in establishing a museum that has become a holding entity for $386,000,000-worth of stock, the
City Paper reported.
"Throw the bums out!"
Some Bethesda restaurateurs have now become the biggest proponents of Robin Ficker's petition to allow County voters to approve term limits for County Councilmembers and County Executive. For Bethesda's beleaguered restaurant and bar owners, and those seeking nightlife in Bethesda, term limits can't come soon enough.
