Dear Staffers at the City of San Marcos,

It has come to our attention that your current actions have resulted in what appears to be the destruction of our beloved music venue, the Jumping Turtle.

Due to recent events, you feel it necessary to severely restrict the Jumping Turtle's entertainment permit, no longer allowing fans of all ages to be in attendance at live performances. You also seem to feel the need to severely limit the number of live performances to only a few select nights a week, as well as to no longer allow the Jumping Turtle to use the services of promoters, or to charge an admission fee at any time, which includes advance ticket sales.

Because of you recent restrictions, you have caused an enormous damper in business, as well as taken away the one place many people from not only all over the county, but all over the country and world as well, call home. You have taken away our music venue; the one place we can go for live performances by our favorite musical groups, 7 nights a week. Our home where fans of all-ages can kick back with friends, co-workers, family, etc. with a delicious pizza and for those of us over 21, a nice cold beer, while enjoying our favorite music.

Over the years, the Jumping Turtle has been the birth place of many friendships, relationships, fan encounters, musical beginnings, and life changing experiences for thousands of people, all over the world. Whether we flew in from Germany to see Doro, or just drove across town for Scar'd Sanity or Etched In Red, the Jumping Turtle is where we all gather to celebrate our love of music, and create friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. It's where we go to buy all those CDs that you hear blasting from our cars and/or Ipods as we travel through town. It's where we go to be with friends, to celebrate our birthdays, good grades, graduations, promotions at work, or anything else that we feel like celebrating. The Jumping Turtle is the one place we all go, where we all feel at home, where we can kick back and enjoy ourselves instead of worrying that there is going to be some kind of gang fight, our car is going to get stolen or vandalized, or that some afghan bomb is going to drop out of the sky and kill all of us. The Jumping Turtle is our shelter. It's where many people evacuated to during Firestorm 2007. It's where we come together not as individuals, but as a community of music lovers. It's where we go for a great meal, and a fantastic show. It's like Cheers, where everybody knows your name.

Putting such severe restrictions on the Jumping Turtle and taking away their all-ages status severely hurts the entire community. The Paul Green School Of Rock Music (PGSORM) in Vista uses the Jumping Turtle as their home for live performances. The students at PGSORM range in age from elementary to high school. Its the one place they can go to show off their talents to not only their parents, but to their friends, neighbors, teachers, schoolmates, etc. Its where they go to show that they're not just little kids, but true musicians, with just as much passion and talent as the Beach Boys or Metallica. It's where the parents of the PGSORM kids can go to kick back after a stressful work week, with a delicious pizza and a nice cold beer, while they blissfully watch their children morph from ordinary kids into rockstars. The Jumping Turtle is where passion and talent reside, and showcase themselves every single night.

In a recent letter to the PGSORM parents, by General Manager Ron Weaver, Ron writes:

"Im going to tell you something about the Jumping Turtle and now Im serious. Ive gotten to know Joe Troutman and his crew over there and you know what? Regardless of what you think of the theme for the venue (Heavy Metal/Punk music), they run a clean shop. Their security staff are tops and they dont allow any nonsense in their establishment. Theres no under-age drinking or anything of the sort tolerated in that place. No citations either! Clean show and no reasons to shut them down except that someone doesnt like what they do.

Its my opinion that the kids that go to that venue and go crazy in the mosh pit may very well be out getting into trouble if they didnt have the Jumping Turtle. Have you ever watched a mosh pit? Believe it or not theres an etiquette to it and they only get so rough. Its just how they blow off steam; Its as simple as that. I dont know about you, but I fear for my vehicle on the street if these kids lose the JT. Let them blow off steam at the JT or possibly find my vehicle and blow off some steam on it you choose. . .

The Jumping Turtle loves PGSORM Vista and I think I can speak for everyone here, PGSORM Vista loves the Turtle. The owner introduced us to Joe Troutman and told Joe to give us a chance in the venue. Thats where it all started. We had to earn our right to be in that venue and we did just that. We had to prove that we could control the students and put on a worthy show. So far it has been a fantastic business relationship and I think we can all see the benefits of playing there. For me, its a wonderful thing to do business with people I like and Id like to continue doing business with Joe Troutman and the Jumping Turtle.

The Jumping Turtle is an extension of what I offer at my school. Its become a part of the experience and Im not going to give it up without a fight.

The PGSORM kids got their start not just at PGSORM, but at the Jumping Turtle. The Axxys and Light Of Doom kids who were on Fox's "The Next Great American Band", they didn't just get their start at EXP Studios, they started at the Turtle. Look at As I Lay Dying, they're local, from Oceanside. They started at the Turtle too! Check out their new DVD that was released a few weeks ago; As I Lay Dying LOVES the Turtle! Look at the fans in the audience during their shows. WHY would you want to take that away?! How could you possibly do that?! You've gotta be pretty heartless to want to destroy the Jumping Turtle. There are so many fans, young and old that depend on the Turtle for their music fulfillment. WHY would you want to destroy that?!

We all love the Jumping Turtle, and ask that you please don't destroy our home. Please allow the Jumping Turtle to continue conducting business the same as it has for the past 6 years; all ages, live music performances 7 nights a week with promoter / talent buyer Joe Troutman, no restrictions. These are the rules that we are used to. These are the rules we grew up with. The Jumping Turtle is our home. It's where many of us grew up. It's where we met our spouses, celebrated our weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, the upcoming birth of our children, our promotions, as well as various achievements and accomplishments over the years. It's where our love for music was encouraged, and expanded, its where our children have grown up and gotten into the music scene. It's where families, friends, schoolmates, co-workers, and fans of all ages come together with one common passion; a love for music. Its where our friendships were born, and where our rockstar dreams come to life. The Jumping Turtle isn't just where current stars shine, but also where stars are born. Destroying the Jumping Turtle, is destroying a piece of each and every one of us. It's an enormous loss to our community and a total destruction to the music scene her in San Diego, as well as the world.