At no time have I noticed any pattern of activity at or from Don Juan’s that I would characterize in a negative way. Given the specific matter at hand, let me be clear. As it pertains to trash generated by Don Juan’s or the presence of its trash enclosure, I have absolutely no complaints about Don Juan’s business. I do not find their presence or the presence of the trash from their business to adversely affect the neighborhood in anyway. The trash enclosure is not unsightly in anyway. Far from it, the rear of Don Juan’s looks about as pleasant as any food business backside I’ve ever seen due to the landscaping already in place and the obvious efforts of Don Juan’s to keep it tidy.

Several years ago, when I worked in the hospitality/nightlife industry, my return home at 4:30am on Friday and Saturday nights took me 5 feet from Don Juan’s front door. The restaurant always seemed entirely deserted at that hour, a far cry from 18th Street in Adams Morgan (where I had always just come from), which was always still teeming with drunks and fights at that time of night.

I have also had ample opportunity to observe Don Juan’s at hours closer to 11:00pm – 1:00am, and again cannot say that I ever observed anything that I would characterize in a negative way. There generally seem to be one or more clearly marked security staff at the front door on weekend nights, with perhaps a small handful of patrons coming or going. I have never noticed any behavior coming from Don Juan’s that generates a level of noise or other disturbance out of keeping with an urban neighborhood like Mount Pleasant. As a point of contrast, the under-occupied folks that sometimes drink and carouse in Lamont Park tend to both generate and attract far more chaos than a cherished local business like Don Juan’s.

On the bright side, the people that work at Don Juan’s are friendly and serve tasty and affordable food. I see an employee from Don Juan’s washing the sidewalk outside of the restaurant (a sidewalk primarily dirtied by the activity and litter associated with the Route 42 Metrobus) often. I am glad that Don Juan’s is in the neighborhood, and find them in every way to be the kind of neighbors that enrich Mount Pleasant, rather than detract from it.

I am appalled by the witch hunt going on against Don Juan’s restaurant, and will unapologetically call attention to the prejudice and bigotry which makes it all the more perilous. Hateful squeaky wheel neighborhood groups are not the only people in Mount Pleasant and do not deserve to continue to dominate neighborhood discussions at the expense of other, more representative viewpoints. Most Mount Pleasant residents want a more vibrant business community, not one where business owners are harassed into closure and failure, and employees with children are left to look for work. The kind of harassment advocated against Don Juan’s discourages potential business owners from locating in Mount Pleasant. If it is allowed to continue, Mount Pleasant will always have plenty of money transfers and laundromats, but never a coffee shop, diner, or any of the other businesses so sorely lacking on Mount Pleasant’s undeveloped commercial strip. This harassment of community businesses needs to stop now.

Jason Kelly has lived in Mt. Pleasant for over 5 years and is an avid musician and BBQ artist.

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