New Buisiness on the Island?...Not If We Can Help It

Psalm 43:5 a,b - Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?

This is the question that I've had on my heart for a few weeks now when it comes to the new business that wants to try and again a foothold in my town and onto the Island. Collectively the people that spoke out in Tuesday night's city coucil meeting, spoke out in opposition to the notion that such a place should exist here. . .but let me begin with the events of Tuesday night.

Tuesday night there was a city council meeting that was held to put emergency procedures into place because there are currently no city ordinances regulating businesses of such a nefarious nature. My town has been in existence for 95 years and never before have we had to deal with this issue, and unfortunately now is the time in which we MUST, or else loose the community that we all so dearly treasure.

What's the business? I'll just say it's what people like to term Adult "Entertainment". Personally there's nothing entertaining about it, and I'll leave that there. It's such a hot button topic that even King 5 news decided to come out and cover the meeting!

Note: Kali's Dad is the first one that speaks in the clip.
They're on their way to Twisp to start a church!

Lest any naysayers that read this blog think that this is solely a church issue, I assure you all walks of life from the community were out in full force last night, all saying the same thing, WE DON"T WANT THIS BUSINESS HERE. It's not a church issue, it's a moral and community issue.

Edmund Burke, a British Parliamentarian, said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".

Out of the 30+ people that spoke up last night, yours truly included, only 1 was in favor this business coming to town. Can you guess who? Yup, only the person that wants to start the business in the first place. And the reason that the ordinance was put through so quickly, as I found out after talking to a member of the city council, is because without such regulations a business like this could come into our town, start anywhere they want to and there would be nothing that anyone could do about it for a whole year. That's just a year to long.

Some of the most memorable comments were as follows (I'll be paraphrasing their comments):

Jim ~ Who pointed out the fact that we had just finished a prayer asking God to help us make the right decisions in this matter, yet here we are trying to debate something that He is clearly against.

Kali ~ Who pointed out that the council had just finished awarding 3 teens, the future of this community, with community service awards; yet here is something that wants to come into the community that would tear down their future instead of building it up.

Nicole ~ A young lady who left that lifestyle and moved back here, to her home, so she could get away from that environment only to have it reappear here in her "backyard". She spoke about her personal experiences and backed up what everyone else had been saying, about it contributing to crime in the community, with her own testimony.

One man, who was retired military, commented on the reason that we are different from other "Navy" communities is because we don't have the problems that are associated with such clubs, unlike other places where he was stationed, and where problems were rampit.

It was a night filled with hard decision making. None of the decisions were easy. For example, Do they put in the ordinance that the club is an 18 and over club, or 21 and over? As I understand it, if it's 18 and over that bars the business from being able to get a liquor license, which is good because alcohol is a cause for more woes and problems. However, that technically means with that age limit that a H.S. senior can get in...no questions asked. Now you couldn't have told me this when I was 18, but really when your 18, even though the law says otherwise, your basically still a child and why should innocence be trampled on. But with a 21 and over limit that bars young "adults"/children from entering, although then the business can, at that point obtain a liquor license, which just multiplies the problems for the community and surrounding businesses. One member of the board said that he would not be sleeping easy after this vote, I'm sure because of having to simply acknowledge such a business in the first place and having to make hard decisions like this one, distinguishing between the lesser of two evils.

The discussion on the ordinances didn't end until 11:30pm. I wish I could have stayed for the zoning discussion. The zoning area, as of now, would allow for a club like this to be put in one of two places, the first is tucked away out of plain sight and the second puts it out on the main thoroughfare in town. You can guess which place I would want it in, if something like this ever did materialize in my town. but I was tired and I hadn't had dinner yet and so with a huge hunger headache plaguing me I left with Kali and her parents, I may live around the corner from the police station but I wasn't going to walk home when it's that late. And if something like this comes to town I may not do a whole lot of walking anywhere. The magic numbers that they decided on for the zoning are in this article. I'm hoping that there is a way that this can change when the meeting on May 4th happens, so as to make it harder for this establishment to take hold in this community, and yes I plan on being there.

So yes, my soul is disquited. I don't want to see Satan gain anymore ground here than he already has and ruin this lovely place that I now call home after living here for 8 years. Who knows what will happen over the next few months? But God is so good that He did give an answer for what to do when something like this takes place and it's in the latter half of the verse...

Psalm 43:5 c, d - hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

I may not be able to do anything about the final outcome, but until then I can hope in God and that will give me the peace that I need. . .and hopefully a good night's sleep.