But Elysium had been serving food. There was even a huge menu posted prominently on one wall. And, Brigham says, he told Ludlow food was being served.
Dean Rewerts, an investigator at the ABC who is familiar with the chain of events leading to the closure of Elysium, says that the shutdown of Elysium constituted a complete breach in protocol, jurisdiction, and tradition.
"Normally, that complaint would come to us, and we would decide what to do," Rewerts said in an interview. "We did not find out about the enforcement action until after the fact."
After Ludlow closed Elysium, Brigham went to Mission Station and spoke to Capt. Suhr, who said he had no idea Elysium was suing Najar and Ceniceros. Moreover, Suhr said, he had no knowledge of the two-year running dispute between Brigham and Najar-and-Ceniceros.
After Brigham filled him in, Suhr was angry that Najar had manipulated him, the captain confirmed in a recent interview. "He said he felt he was being pimped," Brigham says.
Najar was beginning to overreach his power. He was overplaying his hand. He was becoming reckless.
Shortly after an embarrassed Suhr apologized profusely to Brigham and allowed him to reopen, Najar walked by the Elysium Cafe. When he saw it was open, he got on his cell phone and began screaming hysterically at someone. He leaned in the window of Elysium and kept screaming, until Brigham went outside. At that point, according to court records, Najar yelled, "I'm going to shut you down." He then looked Brigham in the eye and said, "You're dead."
Brigham and his attorneys went to a San Francisco judge and obtained a restraining order against Najar, who now must stay at least 50 feet away from Brigham and Elysium.
But Najar has not relented. Last Saturday night, he called police and complained about the noise at Elysium for the umpteenth time. Brigham says when an officer arrived and discovered that the alleged noise complaint was directed at the Elysium Cafe by the Andora Inn, he became agitated. "He rolled his eyes and said, 'Forget it,' " Brigham says. "I told him he could ring the bell [on the Andora Inn] and go upstairs to talk to Jose. He said, 'I'm outta here,' and he left. I think the police are finally onto him."
Having damaged his relations with the Mission police station, Jose Najar turned his anti-Elysium efforts to another city department where he has a political connection.
Last week, according to Brigham, he and Ceniceros complained to the Department of Building Inspection that Brigham had illegally altered Elysium's premises without the proper permits.
The department dispatched a senior building inspector to Elysium. The inspector poked and prodded for permit violations, but was unable to find any. Brigham says all the renovations complained about were cosmetic changes that had been agreed to in writing more than a year earlier.
Jose Najar plays on a softball team with David Serrano-Sewell, an assistant to the director of the Department of Building Inspection.
Serrano-Sewell met Najar when they worked together on Willie Brown's mayoral campaign.
Serrano-Sewell later went on to serve as president of the Latino Democratic Club and as a special assistant to Mayor Brown.
Then Serrano-Sewell transferred to the Building Inspection Department.
Serrano-Sewell denied knowing anything about the inspection of Elysium, or the complaint against the cafe.
Elysium is Clark Brigham's first business. It should be a success. He had the right vision. He had the right financial backing. He had the loyalty and earnest support of a fine staff of employees, all of whom speak fondly of him. He's got plenty of customers.
Now, though, he's having trouble keeping the trust of his investors. He's behind on his taxes, and the IRS is breathing down his neck. He's on the verge of going out of business, and he can't sleep at night. "It's impossible to explain to people what has gone on," he says. "I haven't told many people about this situation."
It's hard to fathom the stress Brigham lives with. He has a lawsuit to prepare, a countersuit to fight, and an eviction action to rebuff. All the while he runs a bar and restaurant that still leaks water in 16 different places.
But the most oppressive stress of all, Brigham says, is his discovery of just how dirty San Francisco politics is.
"I don't care so much about what happens to me," he said the other night, his voice breaking from the effects of stress. "It's this Nixon-Kissinger, ends-justify-the-means stuff that bums me out so much.
"I am seeing it more and more all the time these days.
