Ethnic restaurant battles for life

Friday, July 16, 1999 | 10:55 a.m.

Martha Sattwhite worked most of her adult life in hot kitchens, never earning more than $2 an hour at any of her jobs, to raise 10 children.

Her son, Jesse Sattwhite, operator of the now defunct Fat Jesse's BBQ in predominantly black West Las Vegas, paid tribute to his late mother by opening Martha's Soulfood and BBQ last December at 611 E. Fremont St. He opened the restaurant along with his wife, Jackie, and son, Jon.

His dream to bring ethnic home-style cooking to the interracial masses turned into a nightmare for the family when their business was closed by the city of Las Vegas on May 18 amid Metro Police allegations that drugs were sold at the restaurant during a Feb. 17 sting operation.

Earlier this week, following a two-hour hearing, the Las Vegas City Council, by a 3-2 vote, granted the Sattwhites a temporary six-month license to operate their business.

Though they won the battle, the Sattwhites may have lost the war. After nearly two months with no income, they sold all of their restaurant fixtures and stoves to pay their personal bills and mortgage.

Today, Martha's sits empty. Big yellow "For Lease" signs cover the storefront as the Sattwhites figure out how they will get back into business at that site, which they initially picked because of its prime location.

What's worse for the family is that they have endured the last four months without Jesse. He suffered a stroke while working at Martha's on March 8 and died March 13 at a local hospital, leaving his widow and the second of three sons to fight the system.

"If we can open up again, we will open up, but now we need investors," 24-year-old Jon said. "And we will keep Martha's as the name of our restaurant. It was our dream that became our nightmare. But it can become our dream again."

In a May 18 letter from Jim DiFiore, the city's business services division manager, Jon Sattwhite was told he was being denied the license because: "It has been brought to my attention that sales of illegal drugs have taken place on the business premises, at least one of which you were a participant in the illegal sale."

DiFiore said Thursday that he heavily weighed public safety concerns and acted quickly to prevent more serious problems.

"This is an on-going police investigation, and such investigations can take many months or a year or more before charges are filed," he said.

"My concerns were the immediate risk of greater problems associated with drug trafficking like potential violent crime in the area. I consulted with the city attorney's office and felt we had enough to deny the license."

Some say that action denied the Sattwhites due process.

"The police and city business licensing have no business using unfounded allegations of criminal activity as a basis for shutting a business down," said Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Nevada.

"I would hope that Mayor (and longtime criminal attorney Oscar) Goodman, who has spent a lifetime fighting this type of abuse of government authority, would confront the issue directly with the council members."

DiFiore said his office will follow the progress of Martha's over the next six months and report those findings when the matter comes up for council review. He said that if it takes the business several months to get going again, "I would not be opposed to (the council) granting them a six-month extension."

Such a follow-up hearing, however, is contingent on Martha's ever reopening and overcoming the stigma of drug allegations.

"We've heard what people are saying," Jon said. "I am supposedly not only a drug dealer but word on the street is that I supply all the drug dealers downtown and that they bring all the drug money to Martha's. That's ridiculous. Except for being black I don't even fit the stereotype image of a drug dealer."

Jon had never been in trouble with the law. He is a graduate of a private school -- Bishop Manogue in Reno -- and he has two years of college education from the University of Oregon.

Jackie Sattwhite also scoffs at the drug allegations that have devastated her life.

"Why would a man name a business after his mother and then turn it into a drug joint?" she said Thursday.

"And why would we pick a location to sell drugs that is in a building that has a huge picture window at the front of the store and a Metro Police station at our back door? It's crazy and it's insulting. They must think we are uneducated."

Jackie is a Stanford graduate with a master's degree in business administration.

The Sattwhites say it will be difficult finding investors to put up at least $50,000 for equipment and supplies -- not to mention $12,000 in back rent -- to reopen the restaurant because it has only a six-month approval to operate.

Martha's owners readily admit that they violated city codes in December by opening without a business license. They have been fined $175 for that infraction.

The business opened on Dec. 21 in a building that had been vacant for five years. A day earlier the family applied for a business license and paid the $55 fee. Jackie said she thought that they could open while the paperwork was being processed for the license. She said she had received an OK from the Clark County Health District.

The Health District on Thursday confirmed that the health permit indeed had been issued for Martha's last Dec. 10. It is a prerequisite for getting a business license.

DiFiore said this is a good example to others who plan to go into business not to wait until hours before the opening to apply for their business license.

"The code says 30 days (for license approvals) but they usually are done in about two weeks," he said. "The applications have to go through planning and the fire department for review."

Between January and May, Martha's operated on a series of temporary permits from the city before it was ordered to close.