Time now for the signature event of the evening: G-09-01, which would repeal the previous adult entertainment ordinance and enact a new one, which now describes the target as “adult cabarets.”
Why use a French word when “titty bar” is so richly descriptive … and American, to boot?
Discussion and questions follow. City attorney Shane Gibson takes the podium. There is one change in the draft copy. Steve Price asks whether the public speaker’s criticism of Constitutionality is valid. Gibson defers to a consultant lawyer, whose name I haven’t caught.
The legal expert now speaks. He explains Louisville’s 2004 ordinance, and how it was challenged by 22 adult businesses. The city won in the same year, and it was appealed to the Ky. Court of Appeals. The city won there, too. The new collection of rules is constitutionally sound.
Thisordinance follows a "road map" based on legislative records. Adult businesses cannot be banned outright, but can be stringently regulated to control adverse secondary effects.
The expert explains the data. The council has been given a massive package of findings that explain these adverse secondary effects. Includes anecdotal reports in addition to court findings and the like.
I don’t think much of this can be contested, but every single argument in favor of stringently regulating adult businesses because of adverse secondary effects applies just as concisely to unregulated rental properties, decrepit buildings in general, and the absence of enforcement that we’ve traditionally experienced.
Basically, we’re hearing that this is intentionally narrow and targets only one source of problems in the community to the exclusion of all others.
ROCK and the legal advisers are saying that we are justified in spending money and time to combat adverse secondary effects that are vastly fewer than the adverse secondary effects tolerated on a daily basis in other areas.
(five minutes of case law as I’ve tended to texts, and now I must use the restroom)
We’re to the last page. Recent examples cited. There is a summary of other expert witnesses. Somehow this is starting to sound curiously live the adverse effects of secondary smoke. No ciggies, no titties.
Tonight’s only the first reading, and as has become evident, the council’s postponed work session, which was postponed because the City-County Building was closed last week after the city failed to scrape its own sidewalks, is taking place now.
If anything out of the ordinary happens, I’ll be back.
Showing posts with label adult entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adult entertainment. Show all posts
Monday, February 02, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Which is more threatening to our families and children? Cockroaches or pasties?
Daniel Suddeath’s front page article in the Sunday edition of the Tribune offers a comprehensive preview of Monday’s city council work session and regular meeting, and it looks to be a long, grubby evening at the races.
New Albany City Council: Adult ordinance up for a vote Monday
Among other diversions, there’ll be a first reading of the live adult entertainment ordinance and Mayor Doug England’s long awaited State of City speech.
Reporter Suddeath also duly reminds us that Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK) intends to pack the peanut gallery with presumably non-religious though generally Bible-clad supporters, meaning we’ll have to arrive awfully early to get good places ... and when there are large crowds, we have to be even more careful hiding our flasks.
(Don’t you just hate it when the Johnny-come-lately front-runners take prime spots away from longtime attendees and fans of the spectacle? There really should be a system of season tickets. Wouldn’t you throw in a few buck for seats in the front row?)
Suddeath writes:
Whoa ... John Mattingly as sex industry? With genuine respect to Wickens and his crusading exurban Christian soldiers, that’s just ludicrous.
Was it a tacky business decision for the owners of the Rustic Frog to reinvent their business by installing a pole, hiring a motley selection of females to undress for money, and positioning the whole sordid enterprise as a “gentlemen’s club” called II Horseshoes?
Yep, but while it is admittedly difficult to confuse good taste with an act of commercial reinvention that smacks of desperation, can anyone really keep a straight face as they imply that this has anything to do with the “sex industry” as practiced by Theatair X?
Well, not me. It’s laughable, but there’s another, more serious point to be made.
Since my Tribune column of January 22, three ROCK supporters writing letters to the newspaper have attempted to answer my criticisms by saying that the golden culture they seek to reclaim for decent, law abiding citizens, children and families is the one in which government takes law enforcement and its own rulebook seriously, and actively seeks to protect good people from bad things.
Fine by me, and we all should be absolutely delighted that ROCK has phrased its activist position in favor of matters like ordinance enforcement, in the sense that if the organization promises to turn out 50 people in support of an adult entertainment ordinance that will protect the city’s cowering denizens from a half-dozen semi-nude dancers at a roadhouse, it should be possible to harness the zeal for more important campaigns.
Like the overdue repeal of New Albany's Slumlord Empowerment Act.
Say, ROCK, what about the dozens of children in numerous families who are victimized on a daily basis by the city’s enduring refusal to bring unregulated slumlords to heel?
How many more children are threatened each and every day by the city’s proliferating, sub-standard rental properties than by the handful of dancers at places like II Horseshoes?
Speaking only for myself, I’ll begin taking ROCK seriously when 50 of its members show up for the upcoming rental property inspection and ordinance enforcement segment of the program. They may have to pry the agenda out of Steve Price’s cold, uncomprehending hands, but at least doing so would demonstrate that ROCK’s fervent commitment to law enforcement and family protections extend beyond its current prurient interest in regulating the human sex drive.
Would any member of ROCK care to set me straight? I'm all ears. In fact, I'm proposing an alliance.
Are any of you listening?
New Albany City Council: Adult ordinance up for a vote Monday
Among other diversions, there’ll be a first reading of the live adult entertainment ordinance and Mayor Doug England’s long awaited State of City speech.
Reporter Suddeath also duly reminds us that Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK) intends to pack the peanut gallery with presumably non-religious though generally Bible-clad supporters, meaning we’ll have to arrive awfully early to get good places ... and when there are large crowds, we have to be even more careful hiding our flasks.
(Don’t you just hate it when the Johnny-come-lately front-runners take prime spots away from longtime attendees and fans of the spectacle? There really should be a system of season tickets. Wouldn’t you throw in a few buck for seats in the front row?)
Suddeath writes:
In a newsletter distributed by the group Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana, or ROCK, people were encouraged to attend the upcoming council meeting to show their support for a new ordinance. Members of the organization filled the Assembly Room of the City-County Building when II Horseshoe was first discussed.I’ll be more to say about this in a future Tribune column, but until then, am I the only one chuckling at Wickens’ ironic reference to putting the “safety and welfare of children and families before the sex industry”?
“I am happy to give my support to the efforts of the New Albany City Council, who are working to put the safety and welfare of children and families before the sex industry,” said Bryan Wickens, president of ROCK.
Whoa ... John Mattingly as sex industry? With genuine respect to Wickens and his crusading exurban Christian soldiers, that’s just ludicrous.
Was it a tacky business decision for the owners of the Rustic Frog to reinvent their business by installing a pole, hiring a motley selection of females to undress for money, and positioning the whole sordid enterprise as a “gentlemen’s club” called II Horseshoes?
Yep, but while it is admittedly difficult to confuse good taste with an act of commercial reinvention that smacks of desperation, can anyone really keep a straight face as they imply that this has anything to do with the “sex industry” as practiced by Theatair X?
Well, not me. It’s laughable, but there’s another, more serious point to be made.
Since my Tribune column of January 22, three ROCK supporters writing letters to the newspaper have attempted to answer my criticisms by saying that the golden culture they seek to reclaim for decent, law abiding citizens, children and families is the one in which government takes law enforcement and its own rulebook seriously, and actively seeks to protect good people from bad things.
Fine by me, and we all should be absolutely delighted that ROCK has phrased its activist position in favor of matters like ordinance enforcement, in the sense that if the organization promises to turn out 50 people in support of an adult entertainment ordinance that will protect the city’s cowering denizens from a half-dozen semi-nude dancers at a roadhouse, it should be possible to harness the zeal for more important campaigns.
Like the overdue repeal of New Albany's Slumlord Empowerment Act.
Say, ROCK, what about the dozens of children in numerous families who are victimized on a daily basis by the city’s enduring refusal to bring unregulated slumlords to heel?
How many more children are threatened each and every day by the city’s proliferating, sub-standard rental properties than by the handful of dancers at places like II Horseshoes?
Speaking only for myself, I’ll begin taking ROCK seriously when 50 of its members show up for the upcoming rental property inspection and ordinance enforcement segment of the program. They may have to pry the agenda out of Steve Price’s cold, uncomprehending hands, but at least doing so would demonstrate that ROCK’s fervent commitment to law enforcement and family protections extend beyond its current prurient interest in regulating the human sex drive.
Would any member of ROCK care to set me straight? I'm all ears. In fact, I'm proposing an alliance.
Are any of you listening?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Ordinance enforcement in the news, better if in reality.
On the same day that my column about Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana (ROCK) appeared in the Tribune, Daniel Suddeath contributed two newspaper articles on the loose theme of ordinance enforcement, with the first describing the quintessential New Albany scenario: A fiercesome, draconian adult entertainment law enacted some years back, ignored, starved, and ultimately proven to be toothless at the point of impact.
Now that II Horseshoes has taken its pole straight through the unlocked statute door, intriguing new laws must be written: Adult entertainment ordinance coming to February agenda.
A recent ROCK e-mailing was effusive in its praise of the city council's efforts "to protect children, families and the community from the harmful effects of the s*x industry."
Their asterisk, not ours. Here's more:
ROCK is pleased to update you that steady progress is being made in the work toward an effective ordinance and city officials have spent countless hours to ensure the document is a strong and sound protective device for the benefit of New Albany children and families ... ROCK applauds New Albany officials in their methodical and diligent approach to this very important matter to the community ... as information becomes available we will inform you of the exact date and time that you can look forward to attending the New Albany City Council meeting to thank our officials as they move forward in their efforts to protect our families and community.
I can hardly wait until this righteous zeal is directed toward the task of protecting women, children, families, the community and various house pets by enforcing ordinances and bringing to heel the city's proliferating, unregulated sl*mlord population. Appropriately ...
New Albany making efforts to clean house; Council committee’s code enforcement suggestions released
Cue Gomer Pyle: "Surprise, surprise," because Steve Price is still against it rental property registrations, although unlike a previous characterization, the 3rd district uncouncilman didn't use one of those potty words that ROCK would have to edit for family consumption.
Committee member Steve Price vehemently supports enforcing existing codes but is against singling out rental properties for registration. He said tax records already identify the names and contact information of rental property owners.
In each of these cases, all the laudable council intentions in the world mean nothing without a sustainable, funded enforcement mechanism with some semblance of teeth. More council members than ever before seem to grasp this simple truth, which is cause for cautious optimism even if holding one's breath still isn't advised.
Now that II Horseshoes has taken its pole straight through the unlocked statute door, intriguing new laws must be written: Adult entertainment ordinance coming to February agenda.
A recent ROCK e-mailing was effusive in its praise of the city council's efforts "to protect children, families and the community from the harmful effects of the s*x industry."
Their asterisk, not ours. Here's more:
ROCK is pleased to update you that steady progress is being made in the work toward an effective ordinance and city officials have spent countless hours to ensure the document is a strong and sound protective device for the benefit of New Albany children and families ... ROCK applauds New Albany officials in their methodical and diligent approach to this very important matter to the community ... as information becomes available we will inform you of the exact date and time that you can look forward to attending the New Albany City Council meeting to thank our officials as they move forward in their efforts to protect our families and community.
I can hardly wait until this righteous zeal is directed toward the task of protecting women, children, families, the community and various house pets by enforcing ordinances and bringing to heel the city's proliferating, unregulated sl*mlord population. Appropriately ...
New Albany making efforts to clean house; Council committee’s code enforcement suggestions released
Cue Gomer Pyle: "Surprise, surprise," because Steve Price is still against it rental property registrations, although unlike a previous characterization, the 3rd district uncouncilman didn't use one of those potty words that ROCK would have to edit for family consumption.
Committee member Steve Price vehemently supports enforcing existing codes but is against singling out rental properties for registration. He said tax records already identify the names and contact information of rental property owners.
In each of these cases, all the laudable council intentions in the world mean nothing without a sustainable, funded enforcement mechanism with some semblance of teeth. More council members than ever before seem to grasp this simple truth, which is cause for cautious optimism even if holding one's breath still isn't advised.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Open thread: City council meeting of Thursday, December 18.
I'll plug in the media links as time permits. Meanwhile, if you attended Thursday's meeting, let us know what happened.
---
Here's the 8:45 a.m. update from Grace Schneider of the Courier-Journal.
New Albany will tighten adult-club regulations
With about 40 members of an anti-pornography group looking on last night, New Albany City Attorney Shane Gibson told the city council that he has enlisted a legal expert to help draft a new ordinance to help tighten regulation of adult-entertainment businesses.
It strikes me that as is the case with Cleopatra's Adult Bookstore, the II Horseshoes now will benefit from the city's inadequacies with respect to (a) writing coherent ordinances, and (b) enforcing them. I
n effect, both establishments are grandfathered in, with future competitors precluded, and enforceable rules coming into effect after the businesses have staked their market niches.
They may be guilty of flagrant bad taste ... but they ain't stoopid.
---
Here's the 8:45 a.m. update from Grace Schneider of the Courier-Journal.
New Albany will tighten adult-club regulations
With about 40 members of an anti-pornography group looking on last night, New Albany City Attorney Shane Gibson told the city council that he has enlisted a legal expert to help draft a new ordinance to help tighten regulation of adult-entertainment businesses.
It strikes me that as is the case with Cleopatra's Adult Bookstore, the II Horseshoes now will benefit from the city's inadequacies with respect to (a) writing coherent ordinances, and (b) enforcing them. I
n effect, both establishments are grandfathered in, with future competitors precluded, and enforceable rules coming into effect after the businesses have staked their market niches.
They may be guilty of flagrant bad taste ... but they ain't stoopid.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
