ST. GEORGE – In the 1984 movie “Footloose,” actor Kevin Bacon portrays Ren McCormick, a young man who finds himself in a town that has banned dancing. During a scene in the movie, McCormick stands before the town council and uses verses from the Bible to support his stance against the town’s anti-dance law.
“There is a time to every purpose under heaven,” Bacon’s character said, quoting the Bible. “A time to laugh, a time to weep. A time to mourn, and there is a time to dance.”
Unlike the small town featured in “Footloose,” St. George does not have any so-called anti-dance ordinances, though critics may argue otherwise.
As Bacon’s character said, “there is a time for every purpose.” For special event applications for activities like outdoor dances and concerts, or activities seen beyond the normal and allowable scope of a business license and/or zoning, the City of St. George has made that application time at least 30 days before the activity takes place.
The city’s permit procedure for special events has come under fire across social media since news about an incident surrounding the Heart of Dixie Events LLC’s quashed Monster Mash dance party broke. If there is indeed “a time for every purpose,” supporters of Heart of Dixie say it’s time for the city to revisit how it handles permitting events.
Monster Mash rehash
On Sunday, St. George News reported the incident that took place at Fiesta Fun Friday night involving the “Monster Mash,” a Halloween party promoted by Heart of Dixie, and intervention by the St. George Police.
Police arrived shortly after the event began and told the Heart of Dixie representative Jared Keddington they were there to make sure there was no dancing, and that Heart of Dixie was potentially in violation of its permit. Keddington then produced a permit from the city, a copy of which is attached to this report, and argued the dance portion of the party had been approved.
“Someone approved (the permit),” he said. “I don’t know if it was the City Council, but obviously somebody did.”
Despite his arguments, police soon showed Keddington a copy of the original application that had been amended in parts by SGPD Capt. Scott Staley; a copy of the amended permit is also attached to this report. The amendments were a condition of the permit’s approval and disallowed any dancing or amplified dance music. Keddington also said the police threatened to arrest him if anyone started dancing or gave the officers grief.
“It’s Footloose,” he said. “This is Footloose.”
St. George spoke to Keddington Monday about the incident and his account largely echoes the observations of Karlee Jarvis, a Heart of Dixie security supervisor, and Brett Crockett, owner of Fiesta Fun.
Days before the Mash
Marc Mortensen, assistant to the city manager, said the city had no knowledge about the Monster Mash until four days before it was to be held. According to city documents obtained by St. George News, a St. George Police officer came across the event via social media and informed SGPD Capt. Scott Staley about it.
In an email to St. George Police Chief Marlon Stratton written on Oct. 21, Staley wrote that he met with the owner of Fiesta Fun and learned acquiring the proper permits for the Monster Mash had been left to Heart of Dixie promoters. Staley then contacted Keddington and said he couldn’t hold a dance at Fiesta Fun, as it wasn’t a use permitted under Fiesta Fun’s business license and that he’d need a permit.
According to the email, Staley said, “I explained to (Keddington) numerous times why the permit was required, but to no avail.”
Still, Keddington was encouraged to submit an application, which he did the following day.
Mortensen previously said the reason the city requires permits to be handed in 30 days before an event is so the city department and associated third parties, like the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, have adequate time to review it. A final decision for approval is then put before the City Council. Getting council approval for the dance on short notice wasn’t a possibility since the council didn’t meet that week, Mortensen said.
Emails went back and forth between Keddington and city staff for the next two days. On Thursday Keddington received an email from Bill Swensen, the city’s special events coordinator, again telling him there could be no dancing.
“The dance and music portion of your event cannot occur without the prior approval of the St. George City Council. This portion of your event will not be permitted,” Swensen wrote in the email. Other events that were within the norm of Fiesta Fun’s approved purview were allowed.
“If everything happening at the event was in the norm of what Fiesta Fun does, why would we need a permit?” Keddington said.
After receiving the email, Keddington said, he tried to contact City Attorney Shaun Guzman and was in turn contacted by Deputy City Attorney Paula Houston.
He said he told Houston that he felt the city was being discriminatory. He also said he argued it was a constitutional right to dance. Houston told him he still needed a permit, Keddington said.
Staley wrote in his Oct. 21 email to Stratton that Keddington had said the same to him.
Keddington asked Houston to try and get the permit through. His company would lose thousands of dollars if the Monster Mash didn’t happen, he said.
“They pushed it though,” he said. “They got it done and Friday we picked it up.”
While Keddington maintains the permit allowed a dance, Staley and other city staff apparently had a different understanding.
In an email to the police chief sent out Friday afternoon, Staley wrote that Heart of Dixie promoters had agreed to amend their permit so it wouldn’t include any potential for dancing.
“The event will NOT have a dance and will not have amplified dance music.” Staley wrote.
Note: Copies of the application/permit documents and correspondence given to St. George News courtesy of Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George can be seen full-size at the end of this report.
Monster Mash crashed: Misunderstanding or willful disregard?
Mortensen has said repeatedly that the city has no problem with people dancing. This is a matter of following permit procedure.
“This was a lack of planning on the part of the promoter,” he said.
Still, city staff did what it could for Keddington and issued him a permit for everything except dancing.
“We still issued him a permit to try and help him out,” Mortensen said, “but he did not hold authorization to hold a dance.”
According to Heart of Dixie’s event permit, it was estimated that between 600-1,000 people would be attending the event. Mortensen later told Fox13 News that the number could have become greater as news of the dance spread over social media. The resulting flood of people could have overwhelmed the area and caused potential problems city officials felt were best avoided.
Friday night the Monster Mash got under way and individuals 18 and up began to arrive in costumes for the party. Soon after the police arrived to make sure no one was dancing. Keddington said they threatened to cite him and the DJ for creating an atmosphere that could promote dancing and thus put him in violation of his permit.
“I told them, ‘Well, I actually have a permit that was issued by the city this morning that has ‘dance’ and ‘fun’ checked on it, and a big stamp of approval on it,’” Keddington said.
He said he had gone through the permitting process and was approved. However, Staley arrived and showed him the rest of the application. On it were both typed and handwritten notes made by Staley that amended away any possibility of a dance that night.
“I don’t care if they did this or not,” Keddington said about the amended permit. “They can sit in their office behind closed doors and they can make adjustments to it all they want. We didn’t see it, we didn’t sign it, we didn’t initial it, we didn’t agree to it.”
Keddington said he believes the city violated the permit and also violated his civil rights. “It’s not a crime to dance,” he said.
Mortensen contends Keddington knew ahead of time about the permitting process and wasn’t ignorant of it. Keddington said he hasn’t had to get a special event permit for events, and he’s promoted many events in Southern Utah. The only exception has been Sand Hollow State Park, he said.
Staley also alleged Keddington knew about the process.
“I also told him that I had a conversation with him about a year ago explaining the process,” Staley wrote in the Oct. 21 email. He also wrote that he told Keddington it seemed like he was trying to circumvent the application process.
Swenson said he met with Keddington around two months ago. They discussed special events and the application process in general, but only generally. The topic of dances never came up, he said.
“We’re not against events,” Mortensen said. “We’re an events city. We have events nearly every weekend. We just asked they come into compliance.”
In the wake of the attention given the Monster Mash incident, Mortensen said the City Council will be revisiting how the city ordinance governing special application and procedure is written. It is an ordinance Keddington said the city never gave him a direct reference to. The only ordinance he said he found relating to dancing was the city’s often maligned ordinance that deals with dance hall permitting.
The ordinance cited by the city in this case is 10-14-19: Temporary Outdoor Events. It is featured below:
Temporary outdoor events (i.e., promotions, tent sales, exhibits, carnivals, concerts, etc.) may be permitted by the city council or a designated representative on property zoned commercial, including the planned development commercial zones, for a period not to exceed six (6) continuous days within a six (6) month period. This time limit applies to all local and out of town businesses and all commercial locations within the city. Special exceptions to the time limit may be granted by the city council on a case by case basis. Temporary outdoor events to be held on public property also require review and approval by the city council or a designated representative. Applicants shall submit adequate plans and information for the city to determine that the events will not interfere with the safety and general welfare of the community, nor violate any zoning, parking, licensing or other requirement or ordinance of the city. Required licenses, permits and special clearances shall be obtained prior to any event taking place. (1998 Document § 3-20)
The Permit
The special events application is a five-page document that can be found on the City of St. George website. Mortensen said it is common for the city to return only the first page of the application along with an attached business lisence/permit to the applicant once the event is approved. The city keeps the remaining four pages of the original document on which city staff may have made notes concerning parts of the submitted application.
He said the city staff were not the ones that checked “dance” and “fun” on the permit, but that those were elements of the event originally checked and submitted by the Heart of Dixie. While the front page showing those checked boxes has a stamp of approval on it from the city, the remaining pages later shown to Keddington by Staley showed where the police captain amended the original application in order to prevent any dancing.
Keddington maintains the city approved the dancing as shown on the permit he originally received, while the city still says otherwise.
Ed. Note: Elements highlighted in blue were added by St. George News. Other elements have also been crossed out in black to protect the privacy of individuals involved in the incident. Heart of Dixie Events LLC is a registered Utah Limited Liability Company.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
The first page and license for the Monster Mash that Keddington obtained from the City of St. George. Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Parts struck out in black and highlighted in blue were done by St. George News | Document courtesy of The Heart of Dixie and the City of St. George, St. George News
Related posts
- Dancing at Monster Mash party stopped by police over disputed event permit
- What a feeling: Get moving at National Dance Day celebration
- What’s in a ‘rave’? City shuts down teenage dance party for Facebook posts
- City dance ordinances no obstacle for ‘The Rush’
- Bringing back swing, weekly dancing atop the water tank; STGnews Videocast
- ON Kilter: Dancing with dominions, diversity and dissent
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
I love dancing. But lets see this Jared Keddington guy for what he really is. He got booted from Washington’s Rec Center for causing problems and misrepresentations. He has personal legal issues. And clearly from the emails released by St. George he also has personal integrity issues. He is out to stir up a bunch of anti-government sentiment knowing that Brian Hyde and other loud voices will jump all over it. Kudos to St. George for releasing the emails and showing Keddington’s true colors.
SOLD you are justifying the bad behavior of the City with issues surrounding Keddington that most are aware of. Let’s also see SG City Council for who they really are, starting with Gil Almquist who threatens to arrest journalists (i.e., calls Chief Marlon Stratton directly to have him come arrest a journalist) because they are investigating his potential criminal zoning violations of using his rental properties (specific zoning) for his landscape business (a different zoning classification). What’s good for the goose, as they say. There is a growing majority in this country who are sick and tired of those entrusted with power in government (from Federal gov on down to local gov) abusing their power. Gil Almquist needs to be investigated and, if found to be in violation of zoning codes, fined just like the citizens he has gone after, and removed from City Council.
SOLD you are justifying the bad behavior of the City with issues surrounding Keddington that most are aware of. Let’s also see SG City Council for who they really are, starting with Gil Almquist who threatens to arrest journalists (i.e., calls Chief Marlon Stratton directly to have him come arrest a journalist) because they are investigating his potential criminal zoning violations of using his rental properties (specific zoning) for his landscape business (a different zoning classification). What’s good for the goose, as they say. There is a growing majority in this country who are sick and tired of those entrusted with power in government (from Federal gov on down to local gov) abusing their power. Gil Almquist needs to be investigated and, if found to be in violation of zoning codes, fined just like the citizens he has gone after, and removed from City Council. http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/10/25/kilter-guilty-conscience-needs-accuser/#.VE_wpxY_Yok
Very troubling for you SOLD or anyone to justify SG City Council and PD actions after listening to this police audio: https://soundcloud.com/misterkay1/dancing-is-not-a-crime The police knew the intent of the organizers were to have a dance. Yet, the police wait as though this were a drug sting to catch them in the evil act of dancing. Sorry, but this is all about dancing and the self-righteous moral superiority of those in power. Why didn’t Capt. Staley go to Fiesta Fun BEFORE the public arrived to address the obvious dispute he knew existed? Instead, he sends his men to lie in wait only to cause a scene that erupts into a shameful display of enforcement power that has backfired and hopefully continues to backfire.
So it is Ok for the city to hire Jared Keddington for the Susan Koman cancer walk the following morning of the Monster Mash, with loud music, dancing and foam but you are trying to tell everyone to stay away from him.
You are a real piece of work. Are you one the police force?
LETS RIDE your comment is too pointed and requires too much common sense to answer, so don’t expect a reply.
I heard Hip Almquist is …. And that is as OK as it is funny.
Ed. ellipsis.
This is simple, if you are planning an outdoor event you need to do your homework.
Find out what permits are required and how long it will take to get said permits. If you do not get these permits, only you are to blame, no one else.
this is like blaming your teacher for the “F” you got because you didn’t do your homework.
The funniest part is the idea of a police stakeout at Fiesta Fun to bust up a dance party. Fiesta Fun of all places! Imagine if there had been a 1st grader’s birthday party and all the invitees were dancing to Barney songs. Would the police have staked it out to bust that illegal dance party and arrest the child’s parents and confiscate the Barney tunes?
Why would city officials want people doing something healthy, like dancing? I’m wondering if they were prepared to arrest people for bending their knees while standing. Or cite people for rocking to the music? What an absurd and backwards position for the City to take. They should feel very embarrassed, but unfortunately, they are digging in proclaiming victory for prohibiting people from moving their bodies to a beat. Wow, good job City. At least you know those young people didn’t work off any calories at the party. And, what a waste of taxpayers’ dollars to send a troop of police to make sure no one bent their knees, or swayed to the music, or had some fun.
Is the permit the police produced a doctored permit?
This is seriously a joke. I recently read that the DSU wants to become a “college town” and now the 5-0 are having to crack down a dance?! This is literally movie fodder. Let’s get with the 21st century St. George and friggen let people dance! So ridiculous!
I don’t blame the police for doing their job. It sucks to be the messenger sometimes. I do, however, blame the City of St. George. Although there is not a law prohibiting dance, requiring a permit is basically the same thing! Government controlling our body movements. Really? I call BS. Shame on the city for allowing this piece of event permitting to continue. And do property owners no longer have a right to determine if people can dance on their property or not? Sheesh.
Listen to the CB radio recording floating around. They were excited to break it up.
I have no doubt that all the added things were yes added to the permit after the fact. So lame. Any person applying for a permit would have caught the negative comments on the so called “permit” added to make it look like it was there from the time the permit application was filled out. St. George City it’s time to be truthful get over your Mormon little cliquishness. People are allowed to dance, have fun, and I sure bet when there is dancing going on in the church you have no permits. Just saying.
Of course the church dances don’t have permits. Does the church get a permit for its big singles dance it holds at the college? How about the singles dance on the church outdoor patio (the one with rails which create a safety hazard with a crowd of people) on Dixie Road? Where is the required security at these dances? As long as the women cover their shoulders and mid-drifts, it is worthy of a no permit dance party. It pays to be worthy.
What city officials fail to explain is why the event was allowed to go as planned except for the dancing. It does appear that they went out of their way to accommodate Mr. Keddingtion by issuing a permit that had not followed the stipulated procedure. So, considering the chain of events, why was dancing denied while the event was allowed to go on otherwise? We get nothing from the city on that topic.
Why not return the ENTIRE document to the applicant, in order to avoid these stupid embarrassing….another moment on the morning news where they smirked at St. George/Wa Cty towns…and unnecessary dramas? I don’t think that this is so much a SGPD blunder as much as a cascade failure. If you want to wear big boy titles and drive in the shiny new city trucks then you have to be ready to play by more sophisticated standards. The SGPD got blamed for enforcing what they thought was understood. I’m sure someone with an entitled last name will shrug their shoulders and get away with it. This is another brick in the wall of ‘we do things our way’ wall. Time to VOTE.
Agreed! Unfortunately there are no City Council elections on Nov. 4th.
I agree with CHRIS and JUST ME. The town is miffed because the promoter didn’t give them the “required” 30 days. The town has a too-many-page permit that may or may not have been altered or pages omitted (as when the promoter showed his copy to the PD?). Why not cancel EVERYTHING if the promoter got his permit wrong? Why pick on just dancing? Maybe because the extra people it might have brought in? Because everyone knows that end of town has lots or residents to disturb with music and parking…don’t want to disturb the empty parking lots and the closed down businesses, you know!
Nice try City spin doctors! This is the same event with the same activities as in the past two years. The “Approved” permit had boxes mechanically X’d BY THE CITY — not penned in by hand. The City should not have issued this stamped permit with the dancing and fun boxes checked, only to do damage control after the fact with a sloppy hand written amendment. Regardless of Keddington’s issues, the City dropped the ball here and should have just let it go, then revisited their approval protocols at the next meeting. St. George City lost huge on the PR front. And unless there is actual criminal behavior at issue, using a uniformed police presence for something like this is abusive and unacceptable.
I would say that given the track history of this Keddington bozo it is obvious who is not being honest. Sometimes rules are inconvenient but if he had followed them there would not have been any problem. Obviously Keddington’s poor planning caused the issue and he is the only one to blame in this case!!!
This issue isn’t about keddington I personally. It shows he got the permit. Also it’s PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!! Does the church need a permit everytime they throw a dance, or someone has a birthday party and someone starts to dance? They obviously didn’t have an issue with anything else but the dancing… DANCING IS THE ISSUE HERE!
EYOLF nice try justifying the sloppiness and bad behavior of SG City. Given the track record of SG City Councilman Gil Almquist using his power on the city council to avoid zoning laws (which he uses to attack and cite others) for the sake of his own business, who is the bigger offender: http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/10/25/kilter-guilty-conscience-needs-accuser/#.VFApkBY_Yok
This sounds to me like so much scrambling and BS by Mortensen and the city. First we hear that permitting was not possible because the city council did not meet. Then we see where the ordinance states city council OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVE. So obviously whoever the “representative” was that signed the permit, was in fact, speaking in de facto for the city council. Then the PD decided to over ride the city’s permission. Now they are scrambling, trying to cover their rear ends.
I don’t know the organizer of this “event.” I don’t know if he is “of good moral character” or not. And I don’t need to. His moral character should not be in question here. What should be in question, is the policy and procedures of the City of St. George.
Mortensen needs to get his act together, or get out of the job, preferably get out of the job. And the PD needs to get their heads out of their rear ends and quit trying to cover for him.
I hope the fun center, and the organizer, sue the crap out of the city over this. It is time that people stopped letting these little Hitlers walk all over them.
I wonder whose palm didn’t get greased on this?????
I am so thankful that I don’t live in St. George.
I don’t see anywhere in the ordinance or applications that states that it must be submitted 30 days prior to the event. I think the city might be in trouble unless I’m missing that. It does state on the security application that 10 days prior for approval but in this case it wasn’t 10 days prior and it should not have been approved. This is where crossing stuff out and amending it to their liking violates contract law. The application should have been denied and resubmitted with the amendments and not approved. This defeats the whole purpose of contracts, permits, and documentation. Anyone with a pen can amend a contract if this stands in court.
If Mayor Pike can’t rid the city of its ridiculous dance permit processes that his predecessor instigated, then Pike will prove he’s just another Arthur McDaniel. Mayor Pike, it’s already 2014, time to steer St George into the 21st century.
Read the Article!!!
there is a procedure to get the required permits. This is to make sure that the area is properly zoned, the Health Code is followed, and that there is proper security for the event.
Mr. Keddington did NOTHING to get the permits until he was contacted by SGPD 4 days prior to event. Even then he was rude and disrespectful to Law Enforcement Officers.
This whole thing was brought on by the Promoter and their complete lack of respect for Law and Order!!!
BTW, Mormons love to dance and their dances are indoors where music and lighting and noise will not disrupt the public. Think about it.
He did get a permit!!!!! You can see it!!! Also it’s PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!! Does the church need a permit everytime they throw a dance, or someone has a birthday party and someone starts to dance? They obviously didn’t have an issue with anything else but the dancing… DANCING IS THE ISSUE HERE!
Beer belly. You are really drinking the st george city pd koolaid aren’t you!!!!
Beer belly is really koolaid belly. Hahaha….
Why would they give him a stamped copy that obviously permits dancing. I see it, its stamped approved right on the first page.its attached on this article.. It says dancing right on it. Now, if it were not a fraudulent, written after the fact, document presented by the sherrif then the one filing for permit, and receiving the approval would not have dancing on it. Therefore fraudulent…in other words, the stamped paged would say NO DANCING! Instead it says approved and then amendeded hand written. It would have been DENIED and then file for another permit,
The real issue isn’t addressed here. The city attorney was contacted (according to the article) only spouts that a permit is needed. WHY does the city require a permit to hold a dance? If there is no law against dancing (which clearly there isn’t), then what other issue is there? Is it to make sure that adequate insurance coverage is in place at the event? Is it a tax issue? WHY is the permit needed? It seems like the whole issue could have been dealt with by a little extra information.
A permit is needed so the city an gather more tax dollars. Private property, who cares. Big brother wants another piece. I mean really a permit on private property that is zoned for fun?
I can understand the city in wanting to control large outdoor events that might affect others in the community. As such, I have no problem with a permitting process for these type of events to ensure that proper security, parking and hygiene are addressed. The critical element in this process ought to be the number of people that are expected to attend such an event. That number was provided by the applicants from what I can see. Whether these attendees are dancing or not appears to be completely irrelevant.
Good grief. The entire brouhaha brings nothing good to either side of the argument. I will say, though that this article paints a somewhat (quite) different picture than the original article. Small town politics at its worst – on both sides.
And what are your thoughts on the police audio? Sounds to me like entrapment or someone has a personal vendetta.
Real professional Saint George police. I bet you are real proud.
so if the city approved a permit but didn’t check dance or fun what did they approve? Nothing else was checked according to the picture and we all know that the government never approves things that aren’t filled out completely. Let’s stand up and change this good ol boy town. Maybe someone will open a dance club across the Utah border so we can all release our inner Kevin bacon!
Too many holes on both sides. Embarrassing.
The LDS cult doesn’t need to have a permit to hold public functions because the city council and the city leaders are all part of the LDS cult
The real question that dares to be asked is: why is the singular act of dancing the stipulated reason that people would have been placed under arrest? If the permit was invalid the entire event should have been shut down. Why was the act of dancing singled out, that if initiated would have led to criminal charges being filed?
I do not place a large portion of the blame on the St. George Police Department as I am sure, they were instructed by the city council, city manager or mayor’s office to initiate this action. If the police knew they were going to enforce a prohibition against very specific acts days or hours before the event, why not initiate communication with the promoter and owner of Fiesta Fun prior to the start of the event. This ugly set of events needs to set off a ground swell of a public demand of accountibility. This is an embarassing incident for this town and it’s administration.
Good question. Listen to the police audio and it condemns the SGPD’s predatory actions of staking out this event hours before it started. https://soundcloud.com/misterkay1/dancing-is-not-a-crime
Where is the rest of the radio transmissions? If you are releasing audio, why not all the audio? Where is all the other radio traffic? I listen to the scanner all the time, and there was a ton of other radio traffic going on during this. Not just what you released.
Trying to edit it to make you come out better?
Wow another city employee trying to save face.
I was there and the police looked liked they were ready for a swat raid. Nice job police. Boy did you look stupid.
I think responsible citizens should attend the next council meetings and ask point blank, Who in the city is really responsible for this screw up along with the promoter? And was there inter- departments plans to shut this entertainment venue done from the git go and why?
Answers need to be given NOW. Somebody is to blame. Better now then in a court of law. (better get the opinion of the County Attorney’s office on this one)
Is it the policy in the City of St. George permit department to not give a complete copy of the signed permit to a applicant? Fishy. This whole story is fishy.
It is funny that people are focusing on the dancing and not the loud music which is probably the heart of the matter. There are permits for a reason to keep some order. Dude follows the right process and there is no article. This st. george “not allowing dancing” is smoke and mirrors for someone who screwed up
We are focused on dancing because the city and the police were. That is specifically forbidden on their version of the permit. If it were the noise they were concerned with (in a pretty vacant part of town) they simply could have made a decibel level limit.
You need to spend more time actually reading. But since you can’t read the permit, listen to the audio and hear the SGPD scheme to storm the place as soon as dancing breaks out. The smoke and mirrors is your attempt to minimize the sloppy actions of SG City Council and the abuse of power by the SGPD.
For all the people discussing the issues of who he is personally or issues with the permit, how about you look at the bigger picture, which is government Tyranny. This city not only requires a permit to dance, but sends a multiple officer police unit in to tell people to stop dancing. Do they think they need that much force because they know what they are enforcing is bogus? Ha. There is no one’s liberty being threatened at the dance party except for the dancers liberty being threatened by the police. Dancers are not hurting anyone or damaging property. So I’d love to hear an authoritarian … kisser justify this arbitrary violation of no dancing. This is almost unfathomable. I can’t believe all the people defending such over reach by government. I don’t care if it’s local Mormon based politics and the way this city does things, people need to free their minds and learn how to question authority. This society, and Utah especially are conditioned not to think critically and ask questions though. Sadly, they just do as they’re told and it stems from being indoctrinated into a religion from a young age. Ceremonies in temple of death oaths of secrecy that are borrowed from the Freemasons and not divine like false prophet Smith says. So grotesque that the slashing was taken out of the ceremony in 1990. And listening to what Satan says by going to the covenants in the temple, everything about the church and this local govt, don’t help to free anyone from the molestation of the mind that is happening right now in STG. People can’t break out in a dance if they want? – Haha that sounds ridiculous, as if it’s Victorian puritan times. Are you serious people?
Sage moon, you don’t blame the police for doing their job, but do you know they can use some discretion and not follow immortal or illegal orders. They can have a backbone and do what’s right. Of course they won’t, because they serve corporate interests mainly being the City of STG, legally defined as a corporation. They are generating revenue at the expense of people. Sheriff’s might not even stand up for what’s right. Under common law, natural law, there is no injured party, therefore, no crime and punishment. The rest of this is statutes, codes, and regulations that are made up not truly to keep you safe, but to hinder common free people. The city is definitely more to blame than the police though, and I wouldnt even think to blame someone organizing the event, permit or no permit. People think they’re free but It seems government has a strange hold on freedom if you can’t dance. It’s that simple. What’s next?
Beer belly, it appears you’d follow any law, even if it was legal to arrest you on no charges, lock you up indefinitely without trial, and without access to a lawyer wouldn’t you? Oh wait, that’s already a legal process happening in this country, haha oops nevermind.
Who cares about common law, Constitutional law, Bill of Rights and any semblance of civil liberties anyways?
Beer belly, would you go get yourself sterilized if the the govt asked you to? Would you let the IRS target your tax history based on your political views? Would you not collect rain water or have a front yard garden if you were told you couldn’t? Ha I’d like to know how many of these socialist saluting, puppet propping, so called free people have been brainwashed into accepting this all.
Ed. ellipsis.
I I think as an act of civil disobedience, liberty minded people should peacefully assemble and dance at place requiring permits. Bring it on!
I’m in.
I’m all in!
Truthseeker, you are without a doubt what this town needs to hear/see/enact!! Thank you for your absolute realistic insight.
Thanks. I’ve been on a personal journey for over eight years now where I’ve learned a lot of hidden truths in the world and have retrained my mind to think differently. I’m against the mainstream with almost everything. I’ve had to test the knowledge I’ve come into. It’s blown my mind. The things I’ve realized has led me to want to inform others so that we can be empowered to live healthier happier lives, even if the The Truth hurts at first. There’s a deep psychological component to a lot of it. I woke up to 9/11 in 2006 and have tried to act as a resource to other people on their awakening process. I have rants and things I’ve typed on here, mostly last year. There was someone using my comments name when I was absent and came back to see that. I will probably take off the parenthesis now though. I’ve commented on maybe a dozen articles. Maybe one day I’ll turn in a more professional editorial to a newspaper sometime. Thanks for the encouragement.
Letters to the Editor may be emailed directly to me, TS. We’ll look forward to considering it.
I’m thinking you might mean you woke up to 9/11 in 2001 … that is one of those days we all remember vividly, isn’t it? Surreal.
Take care, and letters are welcome. Email to: [email protected]
ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief
Hey Joyce, yes it is. And I meant 2006, because that’s when I I woke up to the truth of it all. The official story is an unproven theory. It’s my best topic and can explain it to anyone that wants to learn….
Thanks for the Letters to Ed information.
Truthseeker (original) I beg that you write your post word for word as editorials in all local and state media outlets for the public to see. I could not have said it better.
Thank you sir! See reply above.
We should be more worried for the sheep and the fact that they’re being violated every day. This is a non issue…
Why can’t young adults just shut up and do as they are told?
…says a SHEEP
The most effective way to handle this would be to file a federal case, especially if “dancing” is not considered in any federal “blue laws”. It appears S. Stanley has violated some civil rights based on color of law abuse. If so, report this to: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/color_of_law
While I agree the cops/city were way out of line the Constitution does not provide protection for dancing….so says the supreme court.
I believe that involved a school dance where there was a 100 year law banning dancing. If St. George does not have that same banning of dances (appears it doesn’t) dating back to “grandfather” days (blue laws), then this Supreme Court case would not specifically apply, nor could it be used as case law against dancing – what would be the link? If one attempted to use this for the city’s defense, then one would open up the fact that St. George does in fact base it’s ordinances on the majority religious following; thereby admitting there is a problem with the employees separating church and state in their decision making.
BTW: Take a good look at what’s happening in 2014 in Missouri! By the time this Ferguson thing is over, dancing isn’t going to mean a hill of beans now, will it! The Police Chief is stepping down.
Case closed….
“The general misconception is that any statute passed by legislators bearing the appearance of law constitutes the law of the land. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and any statute, to be valid, must be In agreement. It is impossible for both the Constitution and a law violating it to be valid; one must prevail. This is succinctly stated as follows:”
“No one Is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dancing is protected by the first amendment. – Freedom of expression.
Movement is protected by the 14th amendment. – Traveling unmolested.
This “law” will not Stand.
Where else but St. George?
I wonder if the local cell phone companies who hire people to dress up in silly outfits and stand out on the sidewalk (public property) and dance and wave those silly signs while obstructing the view of drivers trying to exit those parking lots to those business’s, have the required permits to dance on public property? Does Liberty Tax sound familiar? That person dressed up as Lady Liberty DANCING out in public seem vaguely familiar?? Do any of these business’s get the required permits to dance? City of St. George Administration at its best HYPOCRISY!!!!!
Correct me if I’m wrong…but isn’t Fiesta Fun a family fun center for kids and families? Dance permit for such places? Ths town really is crazier than I first thought.
I witnessed a man dancing to the music in his head phones at the corner of Bluff and Valley View yesterday, should I have called the police? Oh dear LMAO
Just insane. This shouldn’t even be an issue. A permit to dance, give me break. Get real St. George!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6wr2WZ6k-c
Only two guys dancing in that crowd of women, and one of them not very good at it. Seems typical of the men around St George, either unwilling or incapable of dancing. They don’t want to dance, but expect the women to go crazy over their guns and trucks. Stupid rednecks.
Good job John! Is this out in Kayenta?… We should do a dance protest in front of a city building. :).. Anyone that wants to at least hold signs with me should let me know.
P. S. I won’t be returning to work probably. Was a nice place though!
Anonymous – dance.: http://youtu.be/0Oi05n1Dfc4
There has been miscommunication on both sides of the issue, but fact of the matter is, there is no ban on dancing. The city just simply asks that for large scale events, that you apply and follow the appropriate processes to obtain a permit. The event organizer did not follow the correct order when applying for this permit, nevertheless, the city continued to try to work with him even though he applied for his permit much too late. When applying for his permit, he knew that there could not be dancing allowed because he applied for his permit too late. When the city failed to uncheck the dancing section on his permit, he took advantage of it in an attempt to deceive. The event worker has been through this before, he knew what he was doing. He has been in trouble with city governments before. Also, the police are just doing their jobs. They are great people, and work to serve you. When the police do something that is out of line, there is an internal affairs division to ensure that what police officers do is justified. they do not need us and it is not our job to judge the police force. Give the city workers a break, they are only trying to do what is best for our community.
Locomotive, so the City was supposed to “uncheck” the box that was previously checked when they stamped it “Approved”? Really! And you act like they didn’t know this was a dancing party, given the fact that this was the third year for the SAME dance party. You’ll go to any lengths to explain away the bad behavior of these grammar school administrators. And spare me the brain dead nonsense about questioning the actions of the police. They work for the taxpayer and are paid by the taxpayer. We not only have the right, but the responsibility to hold them accountable when they abuse their authority and misuse public funds. Their petty, foolish actions are available for all to hear on the above audio. They had plenty of opportunity to handle this long before the event started, but chose to hide in the bushes and wait for some big, bad bust of…. Dancers! You keep your head buried in the sand and follow the herd.
Tinman, you are right, people don’t need to jump to defend the police in any case. Regardless of who’s fault it was, no one needs to start saluting government. The State is is not God, no matter how much this runaway federal government wants us to think that. It unfortunately trickles down to a local level. People love kissing the government boots that could soon be the same boots stomping their faces.
All you sheep, read this and tell me the promoter has a real complaint. He got kicked out of Washington City because of his poor performances, and now he is in St. George doing the same think!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/244671940/Monster-Mash-Emails-1
ADAM STUART The only blatting of sheep I hear is coming from you. Who cares about the quality of the promoters performances. That’s a free market matter that you have no business to regulate. Quite a number of people who paid a fee to go to his event disagree with you. And Capt. Staley, who knew about the miscommunication surrounding the permit and potential conflict, dropped the ball — or worse, deliberately set up a sting — when he could have handled this long before the event got started. Very sloppy administrative work by SG City and very abusive use of police force and resources.
Tinman, yep.