Letter: Adult businesses will increase crime

Letter: Adult businesses will increase crime
Regis Nalepka
St. Augustine<
Publication Date: 08/27/07
Editor: I have witnessed many changes since coming here in the early 1980s. I eventually found that I wanted to live in this slow, gentle, quiet and comforting town.

Now we have large developments, shopping centers and traffic that goes with the surge in the population and growth. What's happening to this quaint historic town?

I've been following the crime reports in The St. Augustine Record for the last six months. The arrests for DUI's, drugs, driving without a license, etc., continue to show no significant decrease.

What have our officials done to help decrease these violations? If the majority of these violators are first timers, we are in big trouble. Whose responsibility is it to correct the problem? These people seem to get a slap on the wrist and go on their way to do the same again. The problem falls in the laps of the local governments, law enforcement and the courts. Why can't stiffer penalties be imposed?

Now we see our St. Augustine officials going in a direction that will surely bring on more crime; the dreaded adult entertainment business.

Mayor Joe Boles and City Commissioner Errol Jones said that concentrating these businesses in "one area can feed crime." Do they believe that spreading it around would not bring in crime?

How many of these businesses will they allow in the city? Why not have it ( meaning, just one if it must be) outside the city limits in a remote commercial area?

I commend City Commissioner Don Crichlow for speaking against the plan and to confine them to the original four parcels.

Are the officials who we elect are looking out for our best interests? Keep track of the arrests in The Record for a couple of weeks. You'll be surprised.

Regis Nalepka

St. Augustine

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