Columnist James Ingram
On Good Friday, between the hours of 12:15 a.m. to 4:15 a.m., U.S. Attorney A. Courtney Cox – along with 25 Sheriff’s Department deputies, 25 Illinois state troopers, agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southern Illinois – set up safety checkpoints for motorists exiting the Poplar Street and Eads bridges into East St. Louis’ nightclub district.
Guess what they found? How about numerous open containers of booze, illegal firearms, outstanding warrants, intoxicated drivers. Essentially, they found all of the things that create the toxic mix of personalities and circumstances that contribute to the lethal night life in East Boogie.
What has Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. done in response? After pretending to solicit input by way of a bogus survey, Parks has decided to continue to allow nightclubs to remain open until 6 a.m. and for liquor stores to sell booze until 3 a.m., despite the objection of the ESL city manager, City Council and the local law enforcement community.
Parks claims that the revenue from the nightclubs and liquor stores are needed. However, he has never produced any facts or data to support his claim.
U.S. Attorney A. Courtney Cox sees Parks’ decision quite differently. Cox told me that he, personally, observed the operation of the ESL checkpoints until 4:30 a.m., for the purposes of seeing the magnitude of the problem for himself.
Cox then aptly pointed out that “this extra detail would have been unnecessary if the clubs in ESL had closed at the same time as the clubs in St. Louis. These valuable resources could have been put to better use to help ESL provide police protection to the rest of the city.”
In short, Parks can’t have it both ways. He can’t create a drunken, hostile and lethal environment (by virtue of his liquor policy), then expect County and State law enforcement to clean up his mess.
So ESL’s safety is being sacrificed on the altar of profiteering (and Parks doesn’t even have the figures to prove that claim).
And it’s unfortunate that EVERYONE seems to “get it” except Mayor Parks.
Everyone seems to understand that if party-goers are not sufficiently drunk by 3 a.m. that they don’t need three additional hours to wreak havoc on the innocent.
Everyone seems to understand that that there is NOTHING that can be done after 3 a.m. that couldn’t be done before 3 a.m., except engaging in more DUI’s, more violence, more shootings and more murders.
ESL will never reform its reputation and image until developers and businessmen feel that ESL is safer and more responsible in its governance and operation.
Two years ago, Parks campaigned on the theme of “Life More Abundantly.” However, his insistence upon putting revenues above public safety, with an antiquated liquor policy, will result in “Life more redundantly” for East Boogie. More drunkenness, more murder, more mayhem.
The definition of insanity is doing things the same way while expecting a different result.
Mayor Parks reminds me of the old wind-up toy that keeps bumping into a wall. Someone, anyone, must (somehow) turn him in a different direction for the sake of ESL.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.