The pattern has become almost predictable — if violence breaks out somewhere in Ward 1, you can bet D.C. Council member Jim Graham will find the closest bar or restaurant, call it a “magnet for ——— (enter violent incident here)” and try to shut it down. Sometimes Graham’s crusades are welcome, other times they are excessive. Graham last focused his energies on Joe’s Steak ’N Eggs, an eatery on 9th Street NW that was the victim of an early-morning shooting in late June. After the usual round of threats from Graham, the eatery’s owner, Joe Vamboi, voluntarily closed his doors.

But not all hope is lost for Vamboi.

Seeing an opportunity, an ANC Commissioner in Ward 5 has offered businesses closed down by Graham the chance to open in another location — in Ward 5, to be exact. In both a press release and a blog, ANC 5C-02 Commissioner Kris Hammond has welcomed Graham’s “economic refugees” to the fast-improving stretch of North Capitol Street between New York Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue. Hammond writes:

Joe is an economic refugee, a symptom of an overbearing and compassionless District of Columbia government…Councilman Graham and others in the community seem to believe that businesses exist at the pleasure of government and that no evidence of wrongdoing is needed to close a restaurant on account of violent crimes committed against its customers…The North Capitol Street corridor between New York Avenue and Rhode Island Avenue welcomes business owners with an entrepreneurial spirit. While starting a new business in Eckington-Bloomingdale is not an easy task, residents will welcome responsible business owners with open arms—and will open a dialogue if concerns arise.

While states and countries regularly battle each other to attract large businesses, it’s not often that the competition gets as local as this. But there is some merit to Hammond’s proposal. After all, the Bloomingdale/Eckington area along North Capitol Street is seeing some signs of life with the recent opening of Big Bear Cafe, the Bloomingdale Farmers Market and the continuing rumors that the owner of Cafe Saint-Ex is looking at an old firehouse on North Capitol Street and Quincy Street as the location for a new restaurant, EC-12.

Could Joe’s Steak ‘N Eggs be next?