Columnist James Ingram
East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. came into office quoting the Bible and speaking of “Life More Abundantly” for ESL residents.
Now, after two years of repeated failures, he’s resorted to promoting the opening of a so-called “alternative” entertainment club, which will feature bikini-clad female pole dancers.
That’s right. Initially Parks granted nightclub owner Johnny Blackmon a liquor license for The Gentlemen’s Club at 410 South 10th Street, despite the fact that the club didn’t have a business license.
Local residents and councilmen protested, especially after discovering that Blackmon actually had the audacity to open up for business, on Nov. 12, without the required business license, only to be promptly shut down.
A heated City Council meeting took place on Nov. 20, in which the council voted, unanimously, not to grant Blackmon a business license.
Parks, however, straddling the fence between “poli-tricks” and ethics, announced that The Gentlemen’s Club would be allowed to open at another location, disregarding the jeers from citizens.
Blackmon, despite a promotional flier portraying a bathing beauty pulling down her bottom, swears that his club will not be a strip club.
Parks says there is a law on the books which prohibits “sexually explicit” businesses from having a liquor license.
First, let’s establish one thing. I’m not some prude on a campaign to abolish strip clubs. It works in Vegas and Atlanta. It also works (locally) in Brooklyn, IL and Washington Park, IL, where they are legal and accepted. What people spend their money on is none of my business.
That said, it’s quite a different thing for Parks and Blackmon to insult our intelligence by trying to pretend that half-naked women (sliding up and down poles) is not “sexually explicit.”
Here’s what my extensive research on strip clubs revealed (yes, it’s a dirty job, but someone had to do it).
Strip clubs have pole dancing. Blackmon’s fliers imply that stripping will occur at The Gentlemen’s Club (wherever it’s located).
Will the pole dancer’s dance for tips? That’s what strippers do.
Will the dancers give lap dances to earn extra money? That’s what strippers do.
What type of swimsuits will the women wear? Strippers start out wearing swimsuits, even though most of them amount to little more than butt floss.
I think you get the point. Parks is a politician who got caught going against the will of the people and is now trying to save this strip cl… n I mean, this “alternative” club, by any means necessary.
However, ESL citizens don’t want any such joint to open anywhere in East Boogie. Whatever happened to the will of the people, Mayor Parks?
Are you going to prostitute your ethics for the price of a liquor or a business license? Are you that desperate?
The positive side to this train wreck is that there appear to be enough council votes to block Parks from “bringing sexy back” to the 618.
As for Blackmon, he can always relocate to good old Brooklyn or Washington Park, where “dropping it like it’s hot” is a way of life, 24/7.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.