Rick Patrick: Greene Publishing, Inc.
During the public comment portion of the Tuesday, July 11 meeting of the Madison City Commission, a local businessman raised issues he had encountered in relation to an event he had scheduled at an event center he operates. David Lawton took issue with how a code violation, related to the event, had been handled. Lawton had planned an event at his event center for Saturday, July 1. The event, called “Booty Warz,” was advertised with flyers featuring a scantily clad African-American woman along with other bare-bottomed African-American women in the background. The carefully worded flyer stated that “Doors open at 10 p.m., admission $10, ladies $5 until 11 p.m. Free food and alcohol with donation per drink.” When Bennett learned of the fact that alcohol was planning to be served at this event, he sent a notice of the code violation to Lawton to be delivered by a uniformed police officer. Lawton took exception to being served this notification at his business by a police officer. Lawton said this was the third time law enforcement had come into his store during business hours. Lawton questioned why law enforcement came into his store when he felt that a simple phone call could have addressed the issue. “I almost believe it's because I'm an African-American business owner. I will be very blunt and straightforward about that... Take it for what it's worth,” said Lawton. Lawton then went on to explain that an event called “Booty Warz” had been planned at his event center. This event was to “cater to a younger crowd” according to Lawton. Lawton told the commissioners he planned to hire off-duty police officers to provide security for the event. Lawton admitted, “We made a mistake” in advertising that “free” alcohol would be served for a “donation” and that a cover charge would be collected. “I did not know that was against the law in the state of Florida. The law works different where I'm from,” said Lawton.
On the evening of the event, Lawton claimed there were seven police officers outside the event at one point during the evening. Lawton also claimed that Bennett showed up, which he (Lawton) thought was very disrespectful. “It was insulting and intimidating to me and my people who rode by,” said Lawton. Lawton claimed the police lieutenant at the scene admitted, “This is a little too much.” “I know Mr. Bennett is not happy to see me up here, but I'm here, and you'll see me again; if Mr. Bennett and I can't resolve the mutual respect for each other that we should resolve,” said Lawton.
“I come to you with an issue, and I expect that issue to be handled professionally,” he continued.
“I wouldn't change a thing we did that Saturday night,” said Bennett. “What we did was after conversations with law enforcement and our (the City's) attorneys.” Bennett referenced an event that happened in another community similar to Madison wherein someone put on a similar event and allowed things to “get out of hand,” resulting in numerous complaints of noise, etc. “[It] would have been dereliction of duty if we had not prepared for a similar situation,” said Bennett. “Just a couple of weeks ago, we had two stabbings. We've had four murders, possibly a fifth, in the last thirty months. That is the environment we are operating in.” Bennett disputed the notion that there were seven officers outside the venue. “I saw three, plus the chief and me,” said Bennett. “They were active because I asked them to be there. We were prepared for the worst, yes. We have gone through this one time and will be able to better adjust the next time.” Bennett then informed the Commissioners the reason a police officer went into Lawton's store on previous occasions was because Lawton was parked where a “No Parking” sign was posted. “He was in there two or three times because Mr. Lawton kept parking there. It was a public driveway with 'No Parking' signs,” added Bennett. “Any goodwill built up went out the window when, and it's my belief, he [Lawton] tried to sneak, and I use that word on purpose, sneak an alcohol-related event into downtown Madison, breaking a city ordinance. He broke the law; we don't take that lightly,” said Bennett. “There is no way, on my watch here in Madison, however long that is, that I'm going to stand back and allow something to get real bad if I could've prevented it ahead of time. We had a show of force out there that night. You start bringing alcohol into a 'booty wars,' the first time in the City of Madison... there's no way we were not going to react and do what we needed to do that night to keep a situation in hand and lessen the risk of it getting out of hand,” said Bennett. “I will defend his right to get a fair shot at making something work.”
Lawton told the commissioners he was also concerned about safety and that he would not allow any alcohol, drugs or weapons into the event. “Mr. Bennett never asked me what I was doing on my end [for security],” said Lawton. “I didn't bring any alcohol onto the premises. I told people, 'If you gonna get buzzed, you gotta get buzzed before you come in,” said Lawton. “I can't afford to have three officers or seven officers standing outside my business.... He [Bennett] met with the police chief, but he didn't meet with me, and I was the one putting on the event. [That] was a blatant disrespect for me.... For the record, I want to say that I had two other officers from the Department of Corrections from the State of Georgia there as well.”
Capt. Edwards from the Madison Police Department (MPD) addressed the Commissioners. “We did not have seven police officers there. There may have been some county officers that came by,” said Edwards. “In this situation, I have to agree with Mr. Bennett, we have to be proactive. I can't say that because police officers were there, that shut down your business. We had to be prepared. I know you [Lawton], but I don't know you that well; I don't know what your intentions were,” said Edwards.
Commissioner Jim Catron addressed the other Commissioners. “The City Manager is here to enforce the city ordinances. Every business should be treated in a way where they can be successful. What I understand the case was, your business license did not cover what you wanted to do. It's easy to pin blame. There were a lot of mistakes made. I commend you [Lawton] for talking, I think the Commission was listening. The Mayor certainly gave you a good deal of time.”
“A lot has been said; we have a lot to work on; I think this is a work in progress. We're going to correct it together as a community, as a city, and as a business leader,” said Mayor Rayne Cooks.
The next scheduled meeting of the Madison City Commission will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in City Hall, located at 321 SW Rutledge St., in Madison.