A number of Sacramento's top food and drink purveyors are escalating their campaign against a proposed city subsidy for an entertainment complex near the corner of 10th and K streets.

As owners of various downtown restaurants, bars and nightclubs, they say the new businesses would siphon away customers – just when the economic downturn is threatening their very existence.

"Everybody is scraping and clawing. … it's survival mode for the next year," says Mason Wong, a leader of the opposition group.

Its members have met with some City Council members and plan to lobby Mayor Kevin Johnson and others before a council meeting Tuesday, when the $5.4 million subsidy is tentatively scheduled for consideration.

The group already has had some impact.

Councilman Steve Cohn says he sympathizes with the opponents, adding that as of now "I'd vote against" the subsidy.

But Cohn also acknowledges that the proposal, spearheaded by San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty, could spark more economic activity on the block, considered a key juncture between the east and west ends of the K Street pedestrian mall. And could do it quickly.

"It's similar to the (federal) stimulus," Cohn says. The city needs projects that are "shovel ready."

Karpaty's K Street proposal has some novel elements: a pizza shop with staffers doing "dough acrobatics," a dance club targeting the 30-and-up crowd, and a bar featuring a built-in aquarium with women swimmers costumed as mermaids.

Backers, including the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, say it fits with the city's long-term vision to bring a mix of entertainment, housing and retail to downtown. The partnership's board endorsed the subsidy proposal Wednesday.

But opponents say a large bookstore or other "destination" retail outlet would do more to attract shoppers and visitors.

"This city needs a game changer," says Ernesto Jimenez, co-owner of Zocalo and Ernesto's. "Not another restaurant or bar."

Making a splash

If the Karpaty proposal does get approved, it won't be the first time that "mermaids" have lured downtown visitors.

So says Sacramento transportation consultant Steve Schnaidt.

In the '60s, he went with his parents for occasional dinners to the El Mirador Hotel at 13th and N streets, long ago converted to senior housing.

Back then it was a swanky gathering spot, with a restaurant and bar whose glass wall provided a view into the hotel's swimming pool. Attractive young women were hired to swim for "visual effect" during the evenings.

Schnaidt has no recollection of the El Mirador's food. But he remembers the sea nymphs.

"To a 13- or 14-year-old boy, they were gorgeous," he says.

Getting the grade

A not-so-smiley face is giving Sacramento attorney Greg Dyer more than his allotted 15 minutes of fame.

The litigator at midtown's Jones & Dyer firm last year objected when the Sacramento Municipal Utility District sent him a report card on his home energy use – and attached a frowning face suggesting his family wasn't conserving as much as some of his east Sacramento neighbors.

"I thought it was a little juvenile," he says of the upside-down smile. In reciprocal fashion, he dashed off his own report card to SMUD, issuing the utility low grades and penciled-in frowns for its tree trimming practices and power outages.

Not long afterward, SMUD removed the frowning faces from its report cards. End of story? Not quite.

Last month, the New York Times wrote about utilities, including SMUD, that use peer pressure to try to lower customers' energy use. The Times got Dyer's name from SMUD and featured him in the story.

Earlier this month, ABC News followed up with a similar story, interviewing Dyer and others. This week, it was Fox TV's turn.

Any more interviews ahead? Not at the moment, says Dyer, who regards the whole thing as a "non-story."

But, he notes, "I was sort of hoping the BBC would call."

For its part, SMUD says its comparison program, which started last April, has cut energy consumption among the 35,000 participants by 2 percent.

Put a smiley face on that news.

Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.