Andy Chapman: Really?

The Lockport Union Sun & Journal wrote an interesting little article today regarding the vote on extending the contract for the Molson Canal Concert Series. For any out-of-towners who might stumble upon my little space here, this is a free concert series that plays every Friday in downtown Lockport, and actually attracts some big names (in 2009 they brought in Charlie Daniels, The Cult, and Our Lady Peace, just to name a few) and crowds (the Our Lady Peace show reportedly drew more than 30,000 people, which is one of the reasons I thought Jim's Steak Out should be placed downtown). All told, it's a great thing for my little town to have. It brings interest, and it brings the bars and restaurants money. It fills hotel rooms. Even to the most untrained eye, it is unquestionably a good thing for the city of Lockport.

Yeah, people like it.

But for some reason, Andy Champan (Alderman, R-4th ward and self-professed Christian) was one of two members who voted "no" to the contract extension for the series. So what, you ask, makes a man vote against something that is unquestionably a positive for his city? Because one of the promoters of the series, Kathy Paradowski, is a minor owner in a gentleman's club, and he does not believe that the city should stand to do business with someone who "exploits women". He went on to say that his vote is "based on a moral stance", and that he wanted to delay the vote so that he could dig a little further into Paradowski's activities.

And so I say: Really, Andy Chapman? I'm all for knowing who you're getting into bed with, but let's be serious. She is a minor (less than 20% owner) of a gentleman's club. She's not a drug dealer. She's not doing anything illegal. She isn't even managing the club. Who cares? She also owns a restaurant, Syro's in Lewiston. Are you going to boycott that because of her business parterships? If you want to do that yourself, that's your decision. However, when you're a member of the Common Council, you're not just acting on behalf of yourself. You have a population of people that elected you to represent them, and trust me, not everyone shared your irrational fear of strip club owners. I'm just glad that the other larger figures agree with me and that Chapman is in the minority.

Look, if you want to be religious, that's your right. But you have to be able to put aside your religious beliefs if you're in politics, and take an objective look at things. Even if Paradowski ran the lowest sort of strip club you can imagine, and did it on her own, the fact would remain that a) what she's doing is very legal, and b) she has been very good at promoting a series that has been very good for the city of Lockport. And this series doesn't deserve to be threatened because of Andy Chapman's moral code. So please, Andy Chapman, if you can't check your religious beliefs at the door and do your job like a responsible politician, then get out of politics. In the meantime, quit threatening my city because of your "morality". If I want someone's religion pushed on me, I'll start listening to that group of people on the corner telling me how I'm going to hell because I like to go to concerts. Who knows, maybe I'll see you handing out pamphlets with them this summer.

And for anyone who's curious, the second "no" vote was Jack Smith, who apparently doesn't have an issue with the concert series, but also didn't see a reason not to investigate further since the new contract doesn't kick in until 2011. The vote did pass, and the series will stay in Lockport through at least 2013.