The City Council, the Beer Board, the police and who knows who else are suddenly concerned about certain disturbances that have happened downtown recently.
In case you missed it, apparently a large group of people attending a special event at Midtown caused the club to shut down early, forcing everyone out onto Patten Parkway. Fights broke out, police were called, people moved on to other downtown clubs and the “fun” spread, with smaller, similar scenes taking place elsewhere.
A similar incident happened off Main Street recently. The party moved outside the original venue and then into some of the neighborhoods nearby. All this happened after 2 a.m.
Last week, downtown residents complained to the Beer Board that smaller such events are happening all too regularly. These are adults, not teenagers or gang members causing these disturbances (that’s another issue altogether), according to Chattanooga police Chief Bobby Dodd.
The key issue here is that they have happened downtown, so they are getting a lot of attention. They should be getting attention, and I have no problem with the concept that downtown should receive a lot of attention, even special attention. We’ve put a good deal of money, energy and resources into making it an inviting, friendly place where people want to visit, work and live.
I do, however, wish this same level of concern had been shown when it started showing up in Brainerd many years ago, where it was allowed to happen weekly for more than four years to a degree that makes what happened downtown seem like a church picnic.
It does appear that city leaders learned from that mistake and want desperately to nip this in the bud. That’s good. I haven’t heard any viable solutions, however. Staggering closing times for nightclubs, as someone suggested, seems untenable.
I can tell you, based on what happened in Brainerd, that forcing the clubs to add more security will do little. Security at Deep Blue was not the problem. In fact, the issues had little to do with what happened inside the club. It’s when people decided to continue the party outside that things got really out of hand.
At issue here is that some people have zero concept of civility. I realize that seems so overly simple as to be silly, but police should not have to break up what is essentially a loud, raucous street party in a neighborhood at 3 a.m. Fixing this problem goes deeper than enforcing a few laws. That might move the problem to another part of town, but it won’t make it stop.
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When the new season of “Family Feud” premieres Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. on WDSI-TV 61, the Mason family from this area will be among the contestants competing.
The Masons are Deborah, a stay-at-home mom; cousin Athena, a hairstylist; sister Sabra, a teacher; cousin Kayla, a stay-at-home-mom; and cousin Michelle, a nurse, according to a news release. The show, hosted by Steve Harvey, was filmed in Atlanta.