5-0 vote against nude bar liquor license
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- A standing room only crowd packed Springfield City Hall Monday night, making for a sometimes raucous hearing.
City councilors voted unanimously against a liquor license application for the proposed nude bar called Shakers Bar and Grill.
Officials caution that a final decision is still months away.
Tempers flared and the mayor had to do a little civics lecturing as people sounded off pro and con. Now, the state liquor board has to decide whether the owner gets a license or not.
The public testimony included the singing of a temperance tune.
"Have you ever seen a more horrid disgrace than a man in the gutter with rum on his face," two women sang.
This was a public hearing with variety. More than 30 people testified on Jack Dugger's state liquor license application for Shakers bar, and it got a little heated.
Mayor Sid Leiken had to admonish the full house to behave.
"Whether you agree or disagree, I don't think it's really fair to be making cat calls here in the audience," he said.
Springfield School Board member Laurie Adams didn't speak for the district, but pointedly told the council, "We don't need it here and we need you to help us hold onto our dream and your dreams for Springfield. No thank you, Mr. Dugger."
Jack Dugger told KVAL after the hearing, "I'm not fighting so much to save for this location. As it is, they (the city) came out throwing rocks. I mean the first comment was we'll either buy or condemn the building."
However, officials said bottom line, a strip bar and downtown don't mix.
City Hall spokesman Niel Laudati said the high public interest comes as no surprise,
"And so what we're seeing is kind of this grass roots uprising of regular citizens that want to change, and so we're seeing this change," Laudati said.
Also, expect periodic police "stings" to continue downtown, like the one last week on customers of prostitutes. Ten customers were arrested along Main Street, July 2. Captain Rich Harrison of Springfield police said those operations will continue, "Because we already keep an eye on that area as you can while you're responding to other calls," he said. "We know what the problem is."
