To close this after hours club debate I wanted to make the following random observations and questions.1. If the original motion would have not been split, council would have rejected last night's proposed solution 6-4. Alan Halberstadt gave us a masterful display of politics, He played the other councillors against each other making them look foolish. It shouldn't have came to that.
2. For the life of me, I cannot understand why a motion that was supported by the vast majority of residents, businesses backed up by the city's own hired Expert Peter Bellmio wouldn't pass unanimously. Why defending the rights of 3-5 after hours clubs was more important to some than the demands of the entire community. Fulvio need to be the self appointed defender of 3 businesses over the demands of the entire community disappointed me the most.
3. I don't understand why Diane Sibley misrepresented the amount of businesses that would be affected, implying that there were 60 (later corrected to 50) affected businesses when her own report stated that there were only 3 clubs that operated after hours in the downtown
4. Why councillor Joanne Gignac feels the need to endorse only "All or nothing" solutions. Would she also be against exemption applications to the noise bylaw that sees events such as film festival outdoor screenings?
5. The simple answer to the mystery of "why Adult Entertainment clubs are not high risk facilities while certain after hours clubs are?"
Answer: because the nature of the customers of each type of business is completely different. The customers of adult entertainment clubs go out of their way to avoid drawing attention to themselves when leaving our downtown.
The customers of certain after hours clubs, go out of their way to draw attention to themselves.
One doesn't affect public safety or detract from the silent buffer needed between day and night while the other does.
6. Why the mayor felt the need to criticize the DWBIA, implying they weren't doing enough. The DWBIA has initiated a facade grant program, camera's, lobbied for the creation of an HRP. All the while fighting the foot dragging of city administration to accomplish many of these initiatives (Camera's took 2years to install, HRp took 1 year to get city endorsement) However, I can tell you that the BIA will happily accept his challenge to continue implementing solutions.
This is not over yet. Administration must have their feet held to the fire to ensure they properly follow the instructions of council to the letter and in the spirit. After that we must ensure that the body overseeing exemption applications remains neutral and is enstructed that although their foremost priority is safety, their mandate is to encourage businesses that manage their establishments responsibly.The real victory here is that this issue united past and present members of the DWBIA, who spoke in unison. Kudo's to Paul Twigg and Michael Plunkett, former leaders of the BIA for joining our current leadership in their struggle. It also united the vast majority of business owners with the residents of downtown who need to fight arm in arm to better downtown as often as they can.
