The Latest On Way Of Bean Coffee Club And County "Enforcement"

Way of Bean Coffee Club all lit up

  Coming and going around Oracle, whether picking up mail, patronizing a local business, walking the neighborhood, or just plain hanging out, one of the top-of-mind questions of late is:  What’s happening with Way of Bean Coffee Club in its battle with Pinal County.  (Recall that a large group of concerned citizens went up to Florence last August to push back on county efforts to bring “The Bean” to heel.) 

Craig, Elvia, and Pam in Florence

  It seemed, despite the big numbers of folks making the trek to the county seat along with the numbers of letters and emails supporting Way of Bean, the county bureaucracy had dug in.  There came a “cease and desist order”, a blizzard of threats, deadlines set, and the possibility of the Bean’s closure .
  It’s difficult to know what turned the tide since the “deadlines” came and went but that tide has turned… in Way of Bean Coffee Club’s favor.  Was it public pressure?   Was it other businesses weighing in with similar grievances? Was it someone in Florence-command-central (like the county manager) deciding the fight wasn’t worth the problems it was creating?  Or was it all of the above plus a well crafted letter by  Way of Bean’s  owner/operator (Kristina Olivares) arguing her case?

Kaz and Kristina

  The upshot of all this is that the the county has backed off its complaints and reassigned the health department inspector in favor of a more relational guy… someone you might even want to have a cup of coffee with.  

Artwork by Christopher Lucic

's  When you stop to think about it, Oracle is a better place because a business owner backed by a group of residents and customers made their voices heard in a time and place that mattered.
  Maybe we need even more of this can-do spirit around here when it comes to other pressing issues - like the outrageous shakedown of SCIP customers by another government bureaucracy that's supposed to be serving the public good.
  What do you think?