My sincerest condolences to Dave on the loss of his dog; I lost mine
over four years ago and I'm still not totally recovered. Living with
dogs is like outliving several of your kids; an incredibly amount of
love there, but you learn to live with a whole lot more grief than
those with kids of longer life spans.
I can't figure out why we haven't heard from a certain list member on
this thread, but I've held out long enough. This is a bigger issue
than anyone has recognized and labeling any argument as favoring or
advocation of prostitution is bunk; and I'd urge all to go a step or
so further than even the mayor and deal effectively with prostitution
once and for all beyond this health club approach.
Dave and allies say to change the ordinance to accommodate AnyTime
Fitness in St. Paul would be to lose that tool in the arsenal of
those who keep people from buying and selling their bodies for sex.
Illegal prostitution businesses need a front and ATFitness does not
really fit the traditional mold for these front businesses, as Mike
points out, but if one assumes that transactors would all join a
particular chain and use it in that way, then Dave and his crowd are
correct that the ordinance must be kept intact in case ATFitness goes
illegitimate; it never really occurred to me that ATFitness could be
used in this way until I read the article that John posted in
initiated the thread, but 'independent contractors' could certainly
use the place, any gym really, in that way to meet customers. The
only hang-up is that the premises are under video surveillance,
except for shower and dressing facilities; if things go south, they
are easier to deal with legally than the past bordellos. Of course
many other businesses may be used in this way without violation of
the ordinance in question, so it would seem that tool is the wrong
one to stop prostitution; such an approach is more the mark of a
sham, feel good government answering the unreasonable demands of
various constituencies than an effective way to limit prostitution.
A while back I looked into ATFitness as it is only two blocks from
me, next to my favorite new espresso place on University Ave. SE in
Minneapolis. It costs more and offers less than my present gym in St.
Paul, Ballys, but the convenience of the place and extra hours might
win me over eventually. I imagine I would think differently if it got
a reputation as a place for people to hook up illicitly, but this
only seems to have occurred in St. Paul, I think, and as far as I
know it is unfounded. Does it say more about ATFitness or the City of
St. Paul? Dave and Chuck say they've cleaned up St. Paul and maybe
they are right; I sort of doubt it, because what they've probably
done is push the problems under the rug or into someone else's area
of the Metro or outstate.
As long as there are legal prohibitions of any kind, there will be
much larger issues in the way any government deals with the illegal
activity associated with providing what is forbidden, i.e., we are
allowing the criminal enterprise a foothold in our society as
evidenced in the societal problems caused, not by crime, but by those
very legal prohibitions of anything. The prohibition of alcohol and
drugs in our country have been responsible for undermining the rule
of law and any sort of effective activity to protect folks from
themselves.
A prohibition on prostitution drives human trafficking, public health
problems, and insidious criminal enterprises out of our control, and
it also limits any 'successes' to safe islands in a sea of discord;
the overarching effect is a failure to deal adequately with these
very real problems. There are folks who see prostitution and a host
of other vices as the seeds of evil in society to be weeded out as it
takes root, but the cultivation of repressive cultures--cultures that
nurture the very evil in which vice grows and flourishes--are the
real problem. Dave Thune, et. al, should do some thinking and look in
the mirror
Hoping no one is snoozing,