Minor changes put on menu for barista attire

YAKIMA, Wash. — They may be the nearest thing Yakima has to strip clubs, but for now the City Council is going slow on the subject.

Following a short but lively debate Tuesday, the council took no direct action on complaints about the recent proliferation of coffee stands around town featuring scantily clad baristas.

Instead, the council voted 4-3 that the legal staff should prepare minor changes to the city's indecent exposure ordinance.

The changes would, among other things, prohibit see-through material.

The debate stemmed from recent complaints by Mayor Dave Edler and others about so-called "sexpresso" stands, which have been popping up in cities around the Northwest.

In less a year, three such stands have opened for business in Yakima, including one on downtown Yakima Avenue. A fourth is in Union Gap.

Senior Assistant City Attorney Cynthia Martinez told the council the city's new Adult Business Ordinance was "not a good fit" from a legal standpoint.

She said that, to date, there have been no verified incidents of baristas breaking the city's existing indecent exposure law.

"Of course, nobody's watching 24 hours a day," she added.

Her legal advice was met with obvious disappointment from Edler, pastor of the Yakima Foursquare Church, and newly appointed Councilwoman Maureen Adkison.

"I personally do not believe this is the appropriate place for this type of business," the mayor said, referring specifically to the Dreamgirls coffee stand on Yakima Avenue.

Added Adkison, "I just find it odd and offensive."

Micah Cawley and Sonia Rodriguez also voted in favor of the changes.

But several council members, most prominently Kathy Coffey, questioned the wisdom of trying to legislate good taste and interfering with private enterprise.

Coffey, along with council members Rick Ensey and Bill Lover, voted against changes to the indecent exposure code and also forced Edler to withdraw a suggestion that the city draft a letter urging the region's legislators to get involved at the state level.

Coffey was particularly outspoken about complaints about baristas allegedly venturing outside the confines of their kiosks.

"I just haven't seen any of this," she said.

In other business, the council:

  * Heard an apology from Coffey for what she called her "sophomoric comments" in emails about fellow council members Edler and Rodriguez. (watch the video below)

Coffey also criticized the Yakima Herald-Republic for including the comments as part of a larger story about behind-the-scenes maneuvering that resulted in the controversial adoption of a new budgeting policy. She accused the newspaper of practicing tabloid journalism.

* Authorized an $85,000 software contract for an automated system that indexes official city records. It replaces a manual, paper-based system that city officials complain was cumbersome and slowed responses to public-records requests.

* Cut a $200,000 reimbursement check to service groups for their combined efforts in the ongoing creation of Kiwanis Park.

The money comes from the city's capital improvement fund for the Parks Department.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.