Started off watching the meeting late on TV, but got tired of talking back to the screen during the discussion on rescinding the ordinance closing so walked over to the council meeting shortly after 9 p.m.
It took me aback how much space the council had allotted for the meeting as seating was double what the council sets up for a typical meeting. Maybe there were more people there during the previous two hours. If so, they had all left by 9 p.m.
The second thing that struck me was how empty the place was, given how much space had been allocated for seating. Since the camera focuses on the speaking individual, you don't see the only half a dozen or so people sitting throughout the rest of the room. It looked as if the council expected a much higher attendance for the meeting, likely because of the discussion of Halloween on the agenda, than actually turned out.
I saw Sally Carter of Hangar 9, who was the only bar owner to speak about the ordinance, and the executive directors of the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau, Carbondale Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce, all of whom spoke in favor of changing the ordinance to allow the three remaining affected bars to remain open Halloween weekend as did Sandy Litecky, though I think she spoke as herself and not as an official representative of the Arbor District. The only person to speak in opposition was an SIUC student, who pointed out that Polar Bear, cited by several speakers as an example of an alcohol related event that happens without significant disruption, takes several months of planning ahead of time.
Lance Jack sat in the audience as well. Due to his ownership of Fat Patties, he could not participate in council discussion on the topic, not will he vote on it. Since spectators are warned to turn off their cell phones and there is a sign at the entrance warning the same, I found it amusing when Jack's started ringing in the center of the meeting, causing him to exit hurriedly.
This was only a discussion regarding ending the ordinance. I expect to see a proposal to repeal it on the agenda for the next meeting, possibly with a 1 year sunset clause, so if the students and outsiders get out of hand this October, the closure would resume in 2014. From listening to council member's discussion, I think Fritzler and Fronabarger would vote to keep the ordinance as it stands, while the other four (Jack, of course, unable to vote on the issue), would vote for repeal.
It took me aback how much space the council had allotted for the meeting as seating was double what the council sets up for a typical meeting. Maybe there were more people there during the previous two hours. If so, they had all left by 9 p.m.
The second thing that struck me was how empty the place was, given how much space had been allocated for seating. Since the camera focuses on the speaking individual, you don't see the only half a dozen or so people sitting throughout the rest of the room. It looked as if the council expected a much higher attendance for the meeting, likely because of the discussion of Halloween on the agenda, than actually turned out.
I saw Sally Carter of Hangar 9, who was the only bar owner to speak about the ordinance, and the executive directors of the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau, Carbondale Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce, all of whom spoke in favor of changing the ordinance to allow the three remaining affected bars to remain open Halloween weekend as did Sandy Litecky, though I think she spoke as herself and not as an official representative of the Arbor District. The only person to speak in opposition was an SIUC student, who pointed out that Polar Bear, cited by several speakers as an example of an alcohol related event that happens without significant disruption, takes several months of planning ahead of time.
Lance Jack sat in the audience as well. Due to his ownership of Fat Patties, he could not participate in council discussion on the topic, not will he vote on it. Since spectators are warned to turn off their cell phones and there is a sign at the entrance warning the same, I found it amusing when Jack's started ringing in the center of the meeting, causing him to exit hurriedly.
This was only a discussion regarding ending the ordinance. I expect to see a proposal to repeal it on the agenda for the next meeting, possibly with a 1 year sunset clause, so if the students and outsiders get out of hand this October, the closure would resume in 2014. From listening to council member's discussion, I think Fritzler and Fronabarger would vote to keep the ordinance as it stands, while the other four (Jack, of course, unable to vote on the issue), would vote for repeal.
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