They Thought They Were Gods When They Said, "Thou Shalt Not Dance" - By Matty Jacobson

Really? Really, St. George City Council?

THE SKEWED REVIEW | NEWS & POLITICS

Until now, the portrayal of an anti-dance mentality by the St. George City Council has been pretty much hearsay. Sure, there are vocal protestors of The Council’s way of doing things (such as myself), but was there really any solid proof that city administrators are straight up out to kill businesses that allow patrons to move their bodies to music?

Well, it’s clear to me (as it should be clear to you) that those who run St. George are indeed out to destroy any business whose target demographic is 18- to 60-year-olds, and whose primary business model is focused on dancing.

Take, for example, the recent case of John Carter.

Carter was the previous owner of Washington City’s Dance Factory, and the new owner of Dance Haven, a venue located in the Black Ridge area where the restaurant by the same name (sans “Dance) once resided.

Carter wanted to let people dance in his venue at nights to country music. Now as opposed to country music as I am, I cannot refuse a person’s right to dance. The same couldn’t be said for our City Council, though.

The fact was that the area wasn’t zoned for dance halls. So Carter went to The Council and politely asked for a rezoning. This wouldn’t even guarantee he’d be approved for a dance permit. After all, The Council only awards so many permits per year, and as we’ve discussed before, most of those are awarded to clubs at golf courses.

In a move that all but solidified the administrators’ demeanor as The Evil Council Of Eight, our elected officials voted 3-2 against rezoning the area.

Of course, that’s not the real focus of this review, but I would like to point out once more that, even if The Council had approved the rezoning, they still held power over whether or not to grant Carter a dance permit. Which, based on The Council’s record, wouldn’t have happened anyway.

The final jewel in the crown of malice that now adorns The Evil Council Of Eight came in the form of assistant to the city manager, Marc Mortensen. In what can only be described as a seek-and-destroy mission, Mortensen wasn’t happy enough to see Carter’s potential business die before it even began.

No, Mortensen, or the director of the St. George Small Business Abortion Clinic, as I like to say, is now targeting Carter for holding dance lessons in his venue. This is something Carter has been doing for the past month, and it certainly isn’t anything close to the rowdy murders, rapes and drug deals that were sure to happen if a line-dancing non-alcohol serving club had been opened (I can only assume this is what The Council thought was going to happen).

Yes, Mortensen, in what looks to be a retaliation at Carter for bringing so many dance supporters to the last City Council meeting, is trying to stop Carter from even holding line dancing lessons.

Councilman Benjamin Nickle even went on the record to TheSpectrum in an article yesterday by saying, “The location for (Dance Haven) is just not the best one. I think it is poor urban planning and do not think it is complimentary to the other businesses.”

Again, far be it from me to tell a councilman how to do his job, but—oh wait a minute—as a voter, it’s totally my job to tell my elected officials how to do their jobs.

Is it Benjamin Nickle’s or Marc Mortensen’s place to decide who gets to open a business and where it should be? Do they decide what businesses will be detrimental to the myriad detention and rehab centers in southern Utah? If so, then why aren’t they doing something about the Maverik on St. George Blvd that’s directly across the street and a quarter of a block west from two separate juvenile detention/rehab/parents-can’t-handle-them facilities? As a former drug user, I happen to know that Maverik is a hub of crystal meth activity from sundown to sunup. 

Since the main reason the rezoning was denied was because of the Eagle Academy Ranch being so close to Dance Haven, then I'd have to assume that Dance Haven was going to be worse than the Maverik Methstation. 

But most importantly, if the Council and Mr. Mortensen are so adamant that there be no businesses teaching dance in the Black Ridge area, then why, pray tell, is Premier Dance Center located in the exact same business complex as Dance Haven?

By the way, in case you’re totally thrown off by the name of that business, Premier Dance Center totally teaches dance.

So go ahead Mr. Mortensen, and add another jewel to the Crown of Evil: Hypocrisy.

I dare The St. George Small Business Abortion Clinic to close Premier Dance Center. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you’re going to deny John Carter his business of teaching line dancing, then you sure as hell had better do the same thing for every other business that’s doing the same thing in the exact same area. Oh, and I’m waiting for the backlash when you do set out to destroy Premier Dance Center. Hopefully that will rally enough St. George voters to stand up against you.

You are coming across as vindictive and sour. You seem soulless and hateful. Your actions all seem driven by a force that can only be described as a desire to annihilate any form of joy not experienced by children or senior citizens. These may not be your true motives, but that’s how they look to me. That’s how they look to a lot of us.

Now I guess it’s just my duty to make sure my peers get you all out of office. I’m tired of you trying to squash us and make us complacent. We are not your little poodles here to do tricks for you. We’re not going to keep coming to you on our knees begging you to allow us to run our businesses. We’re not going to continue letting you dictate how we live our lives. It's no longer up to you to decide if we make money or if we are left scraping the bottom of the barrel. Your time is up.