Barnes Ltr Muddy Waters NoisePage 1 of 3
Jeanne Schneider
From:"Echo 3" <booking@echo3band.com>
To:<jschneid@cityofdubuque.org>
Sent:Tuesday, November 19, 2002 1:49 PM
Subject:Concern for the Youth of Dubuque
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
I would like to bring the community's attention to, what is for now, the
end of all ages musical
performances at Muddy Waters Coffee Shop. This news is most unfortunate.
Muddy Waters has been for over a year,
one of the few places anyone could go to see live original music in the
city of Dubuque. It gave countless young
people a place to go, music to enjoy, and a safe environment to do it in.
There has never been any fights or drug
and alcohol violations there, yet the shows seemed to bring great police
interest. I of course thank the police for
their concern, it is their job to protect and serve, and until lately, as
hard as they tried, they could not really
find any offense that was being committed at these shows. Originally their
complaints had centered around a
violation of the noise ordinance when the performances continued past 10
PM. Aware of this issue, and trying to
avoid any further trouble with the police, there was a show at Muddy Waters
last week that ended at 8:30 PM. The
police arrived, after the band began packing up their equipment, to put an
end to the show, and issue a $325 ticket
for disturbing the peace of the neighborhood. No one in the neighborhood
had complained about the show. Being on
the corner of 18th and Central, a major highway through the city, there is
not much peace there to disturb. At past
shows the police had tied to bully the owner, that produced no results,
but the police seemed bent on putting an
end to shows at Muddy Waters.
The city noise ordinance gives them unchecked power to do just that. There
is a blanket provision in the city
noise ordinance that allows the police to apply the law as they see fit.
Essentially they make up the rules. For the
police to make up the laws as they go along seems a gross abuse of power,
and a total disregard for the American
system of justice. When the police were asked how the concerts could
continue within the law, they had no answer.
It was obvious that they did not want these shows to continue.
A week later, when I was leaving Muddy Waters, I could hear the music of
the bar at the end of the next
block: The police had taken the time to stake out the coffee shop, where
the nights musical performance had been
canceled due to fear of more tickets, and but done nothing about the noise
of the bar.
11/19/2002
Page 2 of 3
I had thought that perhaps Muddy Waters was being singled out, but I was
recently disturbed to find that the
police harassment is more wide spread. In another incident last week, the
police stopped a musical performance at
the Dubuque County Fairgrounds due to the noise. I question who could
possibly be disturbed by a concert out at the
fairgrounds. The performers that night a contract to rent the space for the
performance, as it is one of the few
places in the Dubuque area to have all ages shows. It has housed numerous
events in the past, even musical
performances outdoors that would have generated far more "noise". It seems
that for some reason the police are
targeting these events in hopes of putting an end to them.
I have heard many older people talk fondly of all the dances that took
place in their youth. These concerts
are the modern equivalent. The kids that attend them may look different,
but they are all in search of the same
thing, something to do.
In this city of over 60,000 people there is very little offered to the
youth for their entertainment. The
Dubuque phone book lists over 70 bars, but not one all ages venue to see
musical performances. These concerts in
area coffee shops, CD shops, and at the fairgrounds give kids a place spend
time together that is accessible and
safe. Parents know where there children are and what they are doing.
Oppressing these events will cause them
to go underground, making them unsafe and more likely to involve dangerous
activities. These concerts foster creativity through
music. Many of the bands performing in the shows are in there teens or
early twenties, and much of the audience
consists of aspiring musicians. Perhaps the youth of the people involved
leads the police to believe they are east
targets.
Dubuque, a city that works so hard to build a community, that pays millions
of dollars to bring people back
to the downtown area, and tries to stop young people from moving out of the
city, would seem irrational to oppress
entertainment that does just that. These shows have never cost anyone a tax
dollar, beyond the cost of all the
policing the city thinks is necessary, yet they have brought about so much
good. We must value young
people engaged in positive activities.
These actions have generated much concern. No one involved intends to give
up on the youth of Dubmlue
without a fight, yet it seems irrational that there must even be a fight.
Again I ask, how can these shows continue within
the law? We are willing to work with the police department and the city to
serve the young people of Dubuque. Please
contact me so we can begin a dialog on how these shows can continue to
enrich Dubuque. Thank you for
your time and consideration.
11/19/2002
Page 3 of 3
Be well,
Jessica Barnes
Echo 3
PO Box 1621
Dubuque, IA 52004-1621
563.564.9317
booking@echo3band.com
11/19/2002