Now that the fate of the Jumping Turtle is in the hands of the San Marcos City Council, perhaps we can find out what's really going on.

Because to date, what we know publicly about the city's efforts to shut down the popular restaurant and nightclub simply makes no sense.

The Jumping Turtle is one of the very few venues in North County that regularly books live music designed to appeal to young people ---- like the tens of thousands of young adults attending Cal State San Marcos and Palomar College.

If the Jumping Turtle isn't quite in the league of, say, the venerable Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, it certainly isn't too far behind.

And while the Belly Up regularly books world-famous blues, reggae, world beat and roots rock acts, the Turtle does something even more important in addition to the nationally known punk, metal and rap acts it hosts: It offers local bands an all-too-rare opportunity to perform in a live setting.

With that in mind, the city clerk's claim that the nightclub should be shut down over a few noise complaints (in the middle of an industrial zone?) and a few minor alcohol-related incidents (seemingly no more than any other establishment serving alcohol in town) is laughable.

When you have a popular venue like the Jumping Turtle, you work with the owners and managers to fix minor problems ---- you don't try to drive them out of town.

The Jumping Turtle serves an important role in North County, but particularly in San Marcos ---- which is home to two large college campuses.

City leaders lobbied long and hard to get a state university located in their burg, and in doing so they accrued an obligation to provide cultural and entertainment opportunities for said students ---- or least to not actively try to stifle such opportunities.

It seems to me that the elected City Council members who now hold the Jumping Turtle's immediate fate in their hands (the courts may yet have a say in all this) owe the voters and taxpayers of San Marcos some kind of rational explanation for why the popular nightspot needs to be shut down.

When the Jumping Turtle appeal is heard (and it hasn't even been scheduled yet), the City Council also owes the voters a public hearing ---- no going behind closed doors. And don't try to sneak it onto the consent calendar, either, where it will be voted on without discussion with all the routine items that need an official vote but aren't controversial.

Should fans of the Turtle come to the hearing, let them speak. And if the folks who supposedly filed noise complaints show up, let them speak, too.

If ever an issue needed open, public discussion, this is it.