Council to Bereans: Do as we say
Council does away with alcohol at summer concert series, doesn't invite public comment first
BEREA—A ban on nudity in bars, and on the sale of alcohol on City-run properties passed by a 5-2 vote in City Council on Tuesday, November 16.
There was no public comment allowed on the decision, made during a regularly scheduled Council meeting that featured discourteousness by one member of Council, and public expressions of disappointment in Council’s collective behavior.
“It was incredibly disappointing,” Alysia Mora, who was at the meeting, said in an interview afterwards. “There was all this talk about transparency and openness, and that they wanted to represent everybody, and all the things they said during the election, but then, to immediately turn around and choose to do things in such a manner— it felt like a bit of a betrayal that they would act like that.”
It was the second reading of ordinance 23-2024, proposed by Councilmember Cora Jane Wilson, to amend the City’s alcoholic beverage control (ABC) code to prohibit nudity, mud wrestling, Jell-O wrestling, and simulated sex acts, among other taboos, anywhere adult beverages are served within Berea city limits.
That these activities have not been occurring in town, leading to questions about the nature of Council's move to ban them, was covered previously by The Edge.
Also now kiboshed is the sale of alcohol on City-maintained properties such as the Skate Park where the outdoor Levitt AMP concert series has been presented for the past decade, and where a Dreaming Creek Brewery truck has sold brews during the concerts for the past two seasons. The ban also prevents any chance alcohol could be sold during the Spoonbread Festival, held annually in Memorial Park.
You can read the full ordinance here:
Council ‘micromanaging’
Erica Chambers, co-owner with Ali Blair of the licensed event space, Rebel Rebel on Chestnut Street, and operators in partnership with Levitt AMP, of the free family-oriented summer music series held annually at the Skate Park, had this to say to Council during public comment:
“I will defend anybody in this room for your right to your belief and your opinion … Americans also have the right to free speech, free enterprise, without someone’s religious views hindering our pursuit of happiness — that’s in the Fourteenth Amendment … These two ordinances [sic; there are two bans, but one ordinance] that you have slid in on us are quite hypocritical for elected officials to pursue.
“The true immorality in this town, is listening to your campaign speeches that say you are for all of Berea, and that you are for small business — not mine — and you’re for limited government — not today — and you’re for transparency, which is a joke.”
Chambers went on to accuse those on Council who supported the ordinance changes of “micromanaging” their colleagues and city administrative staff to enforce the image that Council’s aim with these bans is to “protect children”.
“You don’t have the faith in our city administrator [Rose Beverly] who confirmed that there hasn’t been any issues in any of these events. You don’t have faith in our Berea police department [ABC coordinator, Berea Police Captain Casey Botkin] who confirmed that there has not been any issues in these events. You don't have faith in the city attorney who has been practicing law for decades in this County, because you have to micromanage ...”
Listen to the full audio of Chambers’ comments here:
‘Immorality’ claim
The first reading of the ordinance was on November 6, during a special work meeting called by Councilmember Cora Jane Wilson. Special Council meetings in Berea do not allow public comment. During that meeting, Wilson failed to explain why the City needed a ban on activities such as nudity, Jell-O wrestling, and sexual touching for compensation — all items listed in her proposed ordinance, but which were established in a special work session before the first reading by Botkin and Beverly, are not occurring in town.
Wilson also failed to clarify who wrote the ordinance, as previously reported by The Edge. The momentum gained to pass the amendment coincides with an email sent to Council by Berea Church of God pastor, Steve Hobbs last July. In the email, he advised Council to address “immorality” in town. He instructed them to create a “nudity ban”, after claiming to have been “disturbed” by photos he’d seen on social media of a burlesque event held at Rebel Rebel.
Blair confirmed with The Edge that the burlesque event featured none of the activities now banned.
Council’s ‘bravado’
For the second reading this past Tuesday night, the room was packed with citizens both for and against the ban. Supporters of the ban in attendance seemed to be in the majority, given the comparative fervor of their reactions to public comments.
Mora said she recognized many people in the audience as fellow church goers whom she knew to be highly religious. “It was disheartening that with an audience they felt would affirm their views, [some members of Council] would show off their power with bravado. It felt like they knew they could get the vote no matter what.”
As the meeting got underway, Councilmember Katie Startzman asked for a motion to move public comment from where it is typically slated near the end of the agenda, to where it would be ahead of the second reading of the ordinance. “Since our last meeting was a special called meeting, and the public didn't have an opportunity to weigh in,” she said.
Her motion was seconded by fellow Councilmember Steve Caudill, who said he thought doing so “made sense”.
The succeeding voice vote on the motion was unclear, however. When Mayor Bruce Fraley called for a roll call vote instead, Councilmember Teresa Scenters, who had voted “aye” in the voice vote, reversed her decision. The motion failed in the roll call vote, 5-2, with Startzman and Caudill in favor, and Councilmembers Scenters, Cora Jane Wilson, Jerry Little, Jim Davis, Ronnie Terrill all voting no.
Later on in the meeting, before the vote, Startzman attempted to present a legal opinion provided by the City’s corporate counsel from Coy, Gilbert, Shepherd & Wilson, stating that liability from selling alcohol on City-operated properties would fall upon the third party vendors, not the municipality.
She was interrupted by Terrill who moved for an immediate vote on the ordinance, which was seconded by all but Startzman and Caudill. Thus, Startzman was not allowed to continue sharing the legal opinion, and the ordinance was then voted on and passed.
Condemnation of Council
Mora came to the microphone during public comment to call out the rude treatment of Startzman.
“Some of you have seen me before, because I try to come to these meetings when I have the chance … I would like to thank you all for all that you do,” Mora said. “I would like to note that not all decisions are made in this manner, in a manner where procedure is made to cut off colleagues. That is extremely disappointing to see as someone who appreciates the work that you all do.”
Mora’s comments drew applause from the crowd. She told The Edge afterward, that ordinarily she does not like to speak publicly without having time to deliberate. “What really spurred me to do so, was when Ronnie Terrill used Robert’s Rules of Order to cut Katie Startzman off. That kind of lack of respect for your colleagues and the work that they do doesn't usually happen in these meetings,” Mora said in the interview.
Robert’s Rules of Order is a guide to parliamentary procedure used by most governing bodies in the United States.
Caudill also scolded his fellow Councilmembers. “We need to have conversations, that’s why we do this. If that wasn’t the point, there’d only be one of us, and we’d just make unilateral decisions. I don’t like it when we take a very open — and what is typically a congenial — process and turn into something where no one even wants to have the conversation. Tonight is disappointing, not because of the vote, because of the manner in which we did it,” Caudill said during Council’s comment section before adjournment.
Steve Johnson, owner of the Top Drawer Gallery also called out Council during the public comment section. Referring to the burlesque show in Hobbs’ email, Johnson said, “If you don’t like an event, don’t go to it.” He told Council that decisions “should be made by individuals, not City Council making them with bureaucratic red tape.” He concluded by decrying what he saw as Council’s abridgment of Bereans’ First Amendment rights.
‘Seventh-grade civics’
Shane Morris commended Council as he celebrated what he called “basic seventh-grade civics” in operation, and declared “obscenity” is not guaranteed by the Constitution. “It is [sic] always been completely within the right of this legislative body, if they so choose, to ban the sale of alcohol on City property,” he said. “Obviously, the move was gonna be to turn Old Town into entertainment free-for-alls, as you have in Richmond. That has now been short-circuited. That is now impossible.”
Listen here to the full audio of public comments by Johnson, Morris, and Mora in the order in which they were made:
Before the meeting ended, Little clarified that alcohol will still be permitted in City-run spaces such as the Toll Building, so long as it is not for sale.
Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next regularly scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, December 3rd. Meetings begin at 6:30pm and are held in the City Annex, 304 Chestnut Street. Entrance is in the back.
The entire meeting is available in video on the City’s YouTube Channel under the “Live” tab:
The ordinance is read to 41:10 into the video.
Next up…
Police to hire new park patrol
Update: December 5, 2024 8:05am. Alysia Mora’s employment information was removed by request.
Update: December 2, 2024 9:22pm. The caption in the photo of Alysia Mora and Berea Police Captain Jason Hays has been changed. It previously named Hays “an unnamed officer”.
Update: November 22, 2024 3:02pm. This story has been updated to say that “Little clarified that alcohol will still be permitted in City-run spaces such as the Toll Building, so long as it is not for sale.” In the previous version, it was “Davis clarified…”. The Edge regrets the error.