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Pop quiz - Subject: Local politics
Question: Your town has a million dollars in its reserve fund. The plan is to spend it on paying off a bond that financed the town's water treatment plant. Suddenly, the plan changes. The mayor has learned that a strip club in the area has come up for sale and he wants to buy it and shut it down. He arranges the financing through an anonymous third party because he knows that the club owners would never agree to sell to the town. According to the local newspaper the city manager describes it like this:
“We knew they would never sell it to us, but a third party, who does not want to be identified, offered to buy it for us. Just before noon (Tuesday) we closed on the property, and the keys were turned over to us. They (former Cafe Risque owners) won’t find out until (today) who really bought it.”
The mayor announces this radical change in spending priorities at a standing-room-only meeting at City Hall. Which of the following do you think happened at the meeting:
Answer: If you guessed C you get a gold star.
From the north Georgia paper the Independent Mail we have this description of what happened in Lavonia, a small town off of I-85 in the northeast corner of the state. :
The news resulted in cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd, who then followed the mayor out to the Cafe Risque site. There, all of the signage was removed from the building by a tractor, dragged to the center of the parking lot and burned in a large bonfire as more onlookers clapped and cheered.
It is appalling that a town would spend its money shutting down a sexually-oriented business rather than spending on infrastructure. The town spent just shy of one million dollars. In the original plan, spending that money would have saved over a million dollars in future interest payments on a bond that had been issued to pay for upgrading a water treatment plant. Instead it spent the money to destroy a business that no doubt paid taxes into the towns revenue stream.
It is even more appalling that the townspeople would react in manner of the villagers-with-pitchforks-and-torches ritual of burning the businesses signs. What does it mean when a group of people is so morally outraged by the thought of men paying to look at naked women, or of women dancing naked for money, or of men and women interacting erotically outside of the proverbial marriage bed that they will build themselves up into a frenzy and burn parts of a building?
The backwards priorities of the town of Lavonia are shocking and the pleasure taken by the townspeople is evidence that this is not a matter of a single-mindedly misguided politician. The "protect the children/family values" rhetoric juxtaposed against the irresponsible spending of taxpayer dollars could not be more obvious.
Technorati Tags: moral panic, news and politics, sexually oriented businesses
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
Kudos to Kochanie* at Real Adult Sex who took the time to look up and post some financial data and demographic data on Lavonia. Click to read the whole post , but here is one quick quote:
The investors who hold the debt securities issued by Lavonia and the bond rating agencies will not be as jubilant as its citizens when they learn that $1.0 million of the liquid funds set aside for retirement of those obligations had been used to invest in an illiquid asset, i.e., real estate, during one of the worst markets in over a decade.
- The financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2002, which are the most recent statements available online on the city's website, indicate that Lavonia held $1.9 million in cash and certificates of deposit in the fund established for its water treatment operation. The water treatment facility had been financed through the issuance of long-term bonds totaling $4.1 million. According to City Manager Gary Fesperman, the $997,000 used to purchase the Cafe Risque came from the city's reserve fund which was slated to pay off those 1997 bonds used to build that water treatment plant.
Indeed.
*I initially credited the post to Figleaf. Kochanie, my apologies! I should have read more carefully the first time.
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
While there may actually be citizens of Lavonia that find this appalling, it's understandable that they would remain quiet, given the villagers with pitchforks and torches proudly marching about. It is not unreasonable to suspect that if anyone in the town were to speak out against the fanaticism, their home might be next on the chopping block or the pyre, and with the understanding that almost a third of the population is below the poverty line, moving may not even be an option for them.
This whole incident gives startling and rather frightening insight into the culture of fear and intimidation that runs through many small towns, especially in the American South. In places like Lavonia, Georgia, it is simply not safe to express dissent.
Feel free to read whatever's left of my own thoughts at Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
The Boy in JanieBelle's head
Lou, welcome back!
Thanks for pointing to even more information about Lavonia. You prompted me to go and look at the Census fact sheet for Lavonia and I learned that not only was there a high poverty rate for families (28% in 2000), it was over 35% for families with children. In addition, only 57% of the population over 25 had graduated from high school. (To put this into context, in the US as a whole, 9.2% of families and 13.6 % of families with children had incomes below the poverty threshold, and 80.4% of the population 25 and over had graduated from high school.)
I've been reading the first ever Human Development Report for the United States, The Measure of America, and it's important to be reminded that much of the country is struggling with poverty, poor education, poor health and all the related problems.
As you suggest, those inequalities have impacts beyond the obvious ones they have on the lives of individual families. Dramatic inequality also interferes with participation in democratic processes. Pressures to conform, pressures to scapegoat, and a sense (often accurate) of needing to attend to the most local and immediate of issues, and a sense of disenfranchisement at the national level where the policies that most dramatically affect inequality often get made all are greater for people with fewer resources and less privilege.
When people feel threatened, as people in a very poor town might well feel, the tendency to try to solidarity by scapegoating an easy target. (Think about how this has affected tensions around immigration in working and lower middle class communities for example.)
Putting Lavonia in that context then, if there is the perception that a sexually-oriented business was preventing "respectable" businesses from bringing jobs to the town, it becomes easier to see how moral panic + economic distress could enflame people to the point where they are ecstatically burning down signs.
And yes, it becomes easier to see how others who might disagree would stay quiet. It would not be easy to challenge ones neighbors under such circumstances.
But given that the search for scapegoats generally continues as long as real problems aren't solved, and given that there was only one strip club in Lavonia, what will be next?
A related question: How does one help build up the sense of safety for those in Lavonia who might like to speak out?
(UPDATE: Links were broken originally but now are fixed. Thanks, Lou, for pointing that out.)
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
Putting Lavonia in that context then, if there is the perception that a sexually-oriented business was preventing "respectable" businesses from bringing jobs to the town, it becomes easier to see how moral panic + economic distress could enflame people to the point where they are ecstatically burning down signs.
I'm just going to take issue with one bit of that, Elizabeth, but it's important. This was never really about attracting "respectable" businesses. This was about wallowing in ingorance and weilding power and intimidation over a community.
But given that the search for scapegoats generally continues as long as real problems aren't solved, and given that there was only one strip club in Lavonia, what will be next?
The library, I suspect.
A related question: How does one help build up the sense of safety for those in Lavonia who might like to speak out?
With my tongue only partially in my cheek, let me suggest dressing the local church up to look like the library.
Forgive me, I am suddenly called away and will have to return to finish my thoughts on your comment.
Feel free to read whatever's left of my own thoughts at Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
The Boy in JanieBelle's head
Thanks for pointing to even more information about Lavonia. You prompted me to go and look at the Census fact sheet for Lavonia and I learned that not only was there a high poverty rate for families (28% in 2000), it was over 35% for families with children. In addition, only 57% of the population over 25 had graduated from high school.
This does not surprise me, but thank you for the link to the census data sheet, though all your links seem to be pointing to this page. (Try this .) It would help to put the incident in context, though. The high school drop out rate is typical of these little towns where adult oriented businesses are harried, where creationism is taught in schools, and where ignorance is valued above education in broad, general terms.
Another (sometimes overlooked) indicator of the general economics of the city is the percentage of homes that are rentals. In Lavonia's case, over 41% of the homes are rentals. That seems pretty high to me. Surveying some towns in which I've lived over the years, rental percentages seem to correlate with education and income, unless skewed by something like a military base or a University. The wealthier the town, the higher the education and income, and the lower the rental property percentage, for whatever that's worth to this discussion.
As an aside, I can't help but be rudely smacked in the face by the enormous racial disparities evident in the subpages of that data sheet. Certainly something worth noting, though I'm not sure how or if that fits into this discussion.
Feel free to read whatever's left of my own thoughts at Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
The Boy in JanieBelle's head
This caught my eye a few moments ago because Greenville, SC, is the home of Bob Jones University, a Christian fundamentalist institution for the promulgation of intolerence and ignorance:
http://www.hatecrimesbill.org/greensville_sc/index.html
Something horrible and disturbing, regarding comments taken from the local forum discussing the murder of Sean Kennedy, a man beaten to death simply because he was gay (quotes from the forum and an article in bold, since the blockquote function doesn't seem to be working):
"Another notice for gays, you are in the wrong state. A lot of people go to church here and will not tolerate your kind here." mechdave
Greenville County Council passed an Anti-Gay Resolution?
It turns out that the resolution denounces homosexuality as "incompatible" with community standards. The wording sounds similar to the The United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline that declares the practice of homosexuality "incompatible" with Christian teaching.
Becci Robins wrote an article about the night the anti-gay resolution passed:
"The radical right has been tearing down, little by little, the wall between church and state," said Greenville resident Candy Kern after the council meeting. "Tonight they just drove a bulldozer through it."
"Write this in your little notebook," said a man who had offered a running commentary all evening but who refused to give his name. "The people of Greenville went home happy tonight."
It is this bulldozing of the separation of church and state that characterizes the local governments of Greenville SC, Levonia GA, and Jacksonville NC.
Feel free to read whatever's left of my own thoughts at Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
The Boy in JanieBelle's head
Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for linking to my post on Lavonia and the demise of the local strip club, the Cafe Risque.
Both you and I have written about the stigma of shame that has been imposed on sex and sex workers here in the U.S. And shame is the underlying theme in the unfortunate series of events in this small town in Georgia. What I find particularly worrisome is the mindset of the city officials: that getting rid of the strip club is moral crusade which allows them to preempt any other legal or public obligation.
Obviously the city manager and other officials believe that they can use the bond reserve funds with impunity, because any decent person would not object to breaking a few rules to rid Lavonia of this blight. And it wasn't as though the Cafe Risque contributed to an increase in crime for the town. City officials claimed the club drove other businesses away from the town, so it will be interesting to see if Lavonia can now attract the businesses which allegedly spurned the town in the past. But in the words of the town's residents, Cafe Risque was an embarassment:
"I’m glad it closed,” Sonya Steeples of Lavonia said Wednesday. “It was a bad influence.”
Her husband, Michael, said the club was damaging the character of the local community. He knows that a lot of truckers stopped by the club, he said.
“It hurts families,” Michael Steeples said.
A lot of Christian people live in the city, so the business didn’t “need to be in this small area,” he said.
Noreen Eidse of Bowersville said she is thrilled the city acquired Cafe Risque because it will be an opportunity to bring in better businesses and clean up the community.
“It gave a bad name for the town,” Eidse said of the club. “I’m glad that good can overcome evil.”
Cafe Risque was an “embarrassment,” she said, and when she picked up friends at the airport she tried to distract them so they wouldn’t notice the signs on the way to her home.
Of those quoted above, only one resident questioned whether the funds could have been put to better use:
Steeples said she was a little concerned that the city spent $995,000 to acquire the property because some of that money could have been put to better use. She said some of the money could have been use for improving the local schools or helping the homeless.
From the story by M.J. Kneiser in the Independent Mail of South Carolina
A bad influence
It hurts families
It gave the town a bad name
I'm glad good can overcome evil
Elizabeth, it seems that we have our work cut out for us.
Time to put our shameful shoulders to the wheel.
Lou, Kochanie, thank you both so much for your comments.
It's amazing to read statements like "good can overcome evil" in reference to sexually oriented businesses. It's amazing to read statements about truckers coming to visit is evidence that a strip club is "damaging the character" of a community.
It does seem we have lots of work cut out for us. Lou, you mentioned a story from Greenville and then of course we know the Lavonia story, but you also mentioned Jacksonville, NC. Is there something in particular going on there that we should know about?
I wonder if we need a forum thread for reporting specific local incidents so people can keep track of them. What bothers me about these stories - aside from the fact that they reflect very troubling events - is that they are so quickly forgotten as we move on to the next one.
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth
Via video at CNN:
Belfair Washington shuts down bikini coffee shop - "The county says the barely covered baristas were erotic entertainment, not allowed in Belfair." Stephanie Postier, a resident with her granny panties in an extremely tight knot, says, "You should have blacked out windows. You should have an age limit to come through something like this. This is adult entertainment and it is not for our town." She further compared the little coffee hut to "a drive through strip joint - not appropriate".
Meanwhile, I think her top is cut a little too low, and she should be run out of town as well.
Espresso Gone Wild seems to have gotten nearly unanimous thumbs up .
Feel free to read whatever's left of my own thoughts at Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
The Boy in JanieBelle's head
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/14/captive.family/index.html
Law enforcement is all about priorities, I guess. Now that the evil of naked breasts has been dealt with, Lavonia can move on to minor stuff.
Feel free to read whatever's left of my own thoughts at Crowded Head, Cozy Bed
The Boy in JanieBelle's head
Since the poverty in the town has been established it may be that the townsfolk were unhappy with the brisk business that a strip club would do. The mayor was obviously in touch with the sentiments of the people and played them on for personal political gain. It is not so unheard of to light bonfires in developing economies to make a statement of dissent.
Some of the crowd actually would feel justified in torching an establishment that was coroding moral values besides raking in the moolah for its owner. It gave purpose to the angst of the havenots and a mutual cause for the citizens to rejoice in. Its not the ideal way but hey, it works for them.
Although I am a Christian man and I don't like sexually oriented businesses in general, I have to totally agree with you on this one. What a waste of money and what a poor decision. I guess people’s need to hate is outweighed by their need for clean water, infrastructure, possible jobs and future savings. Wow. Now they have an empty building, ashes in the parking lot, several more people out of work and a million dollars less in the city account - oh - and a water treatment plant in need of some work.
Just curious: was the mayor up for re-election? Perhaps he was tapping into the people's emotions hoping to ride the wave of approval through to the polls before people said "oh, crap, we DO need more clean water."
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