Clearing The Air

Saturday, July 07, 2007

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and his anti-business city council members regret their smoking ban now.....

Wanted: Clubs to light up the nightlife
Downtown needs some new blood and a good spit-shine for the '08 GOP confab

BY LAURA YUEN
Pioneer PressArticle Launched: 04/15/2007 12:01:00 AM CDT

With encouragement from city officials, various entrepreneurs are sniffing around downtown St. Paul, aiming to open a rock-music venue, four nightclubs, a pair of comedy clubs and an upscale cabaret.

"I'm out there, hustling," said Joe Spencer, arts and culture policy associate for Mayor Chris Coleman.....Spencer has been trying to entice nightlife operators to think of downtown St. Paul as a place to rock out. The city's efforts come as St. Paul tries to jazz itself up in advance of the 2008 Republican National Convention, anchored at Xcel Energy Center.....

...The storefront of the Lowry Building remains boarded up, despite promises of new entertainment venues there for years. Trendy eatery LoTo, which civic boosters once believed would jump-start Lowertown, hasn't sustained the crowd it seemed destined to attract. ......Lowertown jazz club French Press closed in December.

The push to invigorate nightlife coincides with a lengthy list of chores in advance of next year's convention. But bringing the bustle back to downtown has always been a top goal for (Mayor Chris) Coleman, Spencer said.

I am not sure how Clearing the Air missed this 4/07 Pioneer Press article (Pioneer Press has already removed this story from its server) when it first appeared, but it is apparent that City of St. Paul officials are up in arms over the hospitality closings in their fair city..... Especially since the GOP convention is headed to town and will no doubt take notice of the Democratic anti-business policy (smoking ban) which left many parts of St. Paul's business community a socialist ghost town.

The Pioneer Press article is aptly titled:

Wanted: Clubs to light up the nightlife

Downtown needs some new blood and a good spit-shine for the '08 GOP confab

The title indicates an air of desparation that a city council without a clue is destroying St. Paul's business community.........it couldn't happen to a nicer group of socialists.

Don't expect St. Paul city council officials to admit they were wrong in their decision to impose a smoking ban though, these social engineers are very proud........and their anti-business agenda is beyond reproach.

Like most DFL'ers, St. Paul's city council hates business.....capitalism is the antithesis to socialism and must be curbed at every opportunity........except when company's coming.

Now that the pro-business GOP is coming to town, look for St. Paul tax dollars to prop up local small businesses like never before.......and tax incentives will be handed out to hospitality developers like cigarettes in a late night pre-smoking ban bar.

Filed under: Duh.....where'd all the smoking customers go?