Council Talks Money, Noise
Budget Discussions and the Noise Ordinance Debate Continue in Gulfport At the June 15 meeting, Gulfport City Council meeting sped through most of the agenda items in just 30 minutes before pivoting into a lengthy discussion on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This meeting will be the last for over a month, as council agreed to not meet on the usual date of July 6, and will next meet July 20. LGBTQ Resource Center Gets $5k At the start of the June 15 council meeting, Councilmember Paul Ray presented a check for $5,032 to LGBTQ Resource Center Board President Susan Gore, money raised by the recent Gulfport Pride event on May 29. “This city is extraordinary. I just wanted to thank each of the councilmembers, Mayor Sam, Jim O’Reilly, everyone who helps support the LGBTQ Resource Center – thank you from the bottom of our heart,” Gore said, accepting the check. More Noise Over Noise Kelly Wright, co-owner of the North End Taphouse, the central figure in the recent drama over noise complaints, presented to council a list of restaurants along Shore Boulevard that signed on in support of the temporary adjustment to Gulfport’s noise ordinance proposed by Mayor Sam Hender-
RICHARD RISK
By Ryan McGahan
From left, Councilmember Paul Ray, LocalShops1 founder Ester Venouziou, events promoter Suzie King and LGBTQ Resource Center Board President Susan Gore.
son at the last city council meeting. The proposal lost in a 2-3 vote on June 1, but Councilmember April Thanos, after seeing the petition, said she would be willing to reverse her earlier “no” vote now that other restaurants had been consulted. The current noise ordinance sets the maximum noise amount at 65 decibels, and drops to 55 at 11 p.m., but the temporary change would raise the limit to 75 decibels for most of the day, but drop to 55 at 10 p.m., an hour earlier. This shift would serve as a compromise
between restaurant owners and musicians who have complained about having police called for even lower-volume performances, and local residents who have complained about loud music being played late into the evening. Councilmembers Ray and Christine Brown retained their “no” votes, with Ray insisting that bars and musicians are too loud already. “I still don’t see that there’s a viable reason to have to raise it even higher….I’ve been to every one of the restaurants, I’ve been to every
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theGabber.com | June 24, 2021 - June 30, 2021
