At Tuesday’s county meeting, a heated debate raged over a Las Vegas style dance show planned on St. George Island for Friday night.

County Coordinator Michael Morón aired the subject during his regular report to commissioners. He said he met last week with Sheriff Mike Mock, a team from the sheriff’s office, and Commissioner Rick Watson, who represents the island, to discuss the proposed show which will include suggestive dancing by men clothed in “beach wear.”

Morón said Mock met with the owners of Black Marlin’s Restaurant which is hosting the show and after consulting with an attorney from the Florida Sheriff’s Association, determined the proposed entertainment was not in violation of any county ordinance.

The county’s 20-year old ordinance dealing with lewd public displays specifies that such displays cannot occur inside of a building. Friday night’s show will take place behind the 200 Gunn Street building.

John Cadriel, partner in Black Marlin’s, told commissioners Tuesday he had no intention of causing a dispute and of breaking the law.

Commissioners and other speakers from the audience worried the outdoor event was an even bigger problem than one held indoors, because passersby, including children, might be exposed to a lewd act or nudity.

“We have gone above and beyond what is required by the law for this event,” said Cadriel. “I made sure we hired a professional choreographed dance team. The show will be held on a stage behind the Black Marlin facing the bay. There are already 12-foot fences surrounded by 20 foot pine trees on each side of the property and we have constructed a barrier so the show will not be visible from the bay. There will also be security guards stationed around the stage to prevent inappropriate interaction between the performers and the audience.”

Commissioner William Massey asked if the audience will be allowed to tip the dancers. Cadriel said observers can throw money onto the stage, three to four feet in height, or slip it into the side of a dancer’s costume, but not touch the dancers in any sexual way.

“The dancers know that if they behave in an illegal way, they can be sued by me,” he said, in an interview after the meeting

Mock told commissioners the local ordinance governing such performances “needs more teeth.”

“I am absolutely not in favor of this. Part of the problem is what it brings in. Look at the problems in Bay County. Being against it and being able to enforce it are two different things,” said Mock.

“It’s coming this way so we’d better be prepared,” said Commissioner Cheryl Sanders. “This is not what we do in FranklinCounty. If I had my way, we wouldn’t have any of this here. We’d have shut the gate long ago. What do you think we need to do to make sure this event doesn’t happen?”

Mock said the dancers would not fall under the countyordinance prohibiting public nudity because they would be wearing the equivalent of men’s Speedo swimwear.

“I think we would have to address the ordinance to be able to enforce this,” he said. “I took an oath and I can’t go against that.”

Commissioner Smokey Parrish asked if the sheriff’ would have officers in attendance at the show. Mock said they would and that if any ordinance was violated arrests would be made.

Commissioner Noah Lockley said, “I make a motion we shut them down.” Sanders seconded the motion.

“You don’t have the authority to direct (Mock) to go against the ordinance when his attorney has advised him otherwise,” County Attorney Michael Shuler said. “You are putting him in an impossible position. There is no action he can take. He can’t go against the ordinance.”

Mock said he would do whatever the commission ordered.

“I fear God and I know his laws,” said Sanders. “I am a God-fearing woman. I will not withdraw my second. We can only hope the organizer will have a conscience.”

Eastpoint attorney Kristy Branch Banks took the podium and said she represented Black Marlin’s.

“The ordinance is clear and precise,” she said. “Attire will be the same as you can see on a public beach. If you want to eliminate these kinds of activities, dancing or stripping, you need to take action with an ordinance. If you have seen this coming for years, I don’t understand why you haven’t already done so. Although you may not like an activity, your ordinance does not prohibit it at this time.”

She said her clients own two businesses and were very respectful of the law, but as business owners relied heavily on busy weekends like Chili Cook-off for revenue during the off-season. She said they paid deposits and invested money in equipment, which they would lose if the entertainment was cancelled.

“The event was originally planned for outdoors. If they had believed it was outside of ordinances, they wouldn’t have planned it,” she said.

“I’m not in favor of this and neither is my mother,” said Parrish. “I know these pastors and they know how I was raised. When you start infringing on federal rights it can be very costly to the taxpayers. I think the law needs to be tightened up.”

Scott Shiver, youth pastor for the Eastpoint Church of God, handed a flyer to commissioners, which he had reprinted it from the website.

“The man on this flyer doesn’t have a Speedo on under that towel,” he said. “I think it doesn’t matter whether he paid deposits or not; he’s lost money anyway. We citizens of Franklin County have the right to protest and we will be out there.”

Joyce Estes, owner of the island’s Sea Oats Gallery, said the commission should have addressed the problem of suggestive entertainment when Harry A’s held a pole dancing contest last spring.

“We don’t want the sheriff to get in trouble,” she said. “The people we are attracting to the island are not what we want. I’ve got businesses closing around me, because we have lost the people with higher values. The (Tourist Development Council) needs to address this.”

Scottie Lolley, pastor of the Living Waters Assembly of God, said, “If we allow this, we are suggesting to our children, ‘Why do you need to go to school when you can take the body God graciously gave you and flaunt it?’ If you see me on the beach I won’t be wearing what these guys will wear.”

He asked if it was possible to declare an emergency moratorium to prevent the event. Shuler said it was not a possibility.

Lolley tried to suggest a compromise, asking if commissioners would consider reimbursing Black Marlin’s for expenses if they agreed to cancel the show. But the idea was not discussed.

“If I had known it would get as far as this, I would never have (planned it.)," said Cadriel. "It’s an adult bar that you have to be 21 to get in. We will never do this again. I guarantee that. I graduated from a private Catholic school. I pray every day. I donate to churches and the fire department. I consulted my clients and they said if it was clean, it would be alright. It wasn’t the intent to offend anybody.”

Themo Patriotis, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Apalachicola said, “Speaking for my congregation, this is offensive. You are saying from a legal prospective (we can’t prevent this). We pray allegiance under God but do our actions overshine our words? We’ve got a cultural identity problem going on here. Who are we attracting to the county if we become a sexual destination?”

He said such dancing in the countywould lead to sexual trafficking and pornography.

“I have gotten more calls this than on any other issue since I took office,” said Watson. “I can’t support motion on the floor now. I can support an amendment to immediately advertise for a workshop for a new ordinance. This is not a brand we want to promote.”

Shuler said, “The motion (to shut the show down in violation of the county ordinance) violates separation of powers between sheriff and commissioners. I don’t believe you have the authority to do that.”

Commissioners voted to order Mock to shut down the event, with Watson and Parrish opposed.

“We want to thank you very much. If there’s legal action against this county I will spearhead a fund to support this county,” Patriotis said.

During the public comments section of the meeting, Rev. Mike Whaley of the St. George Island Baptist Church, who said he is also an attorney, appealed to commissioner to rethink their actions.

“If anybody shuts that thing down for anything other than a clear violation of law, the county is subject to lawsuits. Sheriff Mock will also violate his oath and could be removed from office,” he said. “I don’t want the board to be in a legal quagmire.”

Commissioners unanimously passed an alternative motion instructing Mock to vigorously enforce the existing ordinance.

The owners said they show will go on as planned, beginning at 9 p.m. Friday, and is open to all adults over the age of 21.