At this point, "harassment" is an appropriate word for the actions of Lubbock councilperson Sheila Patterson Harris.

Patterson Harris showed up at the concert Saturday night, escorted by police claiming that the concert was breaking the Lubbock sound ordinance. (Clarification: My sources at the Amp now say Miss Harris approached the Amp employee who was monitoring the sound for the neighborhood and was not on premises) Now, let's stop right there. She actually showed up in person. Does that seem normal to you, or like the actions of someone who has an ax to grind?

At this point, let's get technical. Sound waves are measured in three ways, with the A method being the accepted standard because it behaves like the human ear. Also, for some ridiculous reason, sound levels are measured at a businesses property line, and not near areas that may or may not be affected by that sound. That means, you could be by up land for 50 miles all around, have ZERO neighbors and you will still be measured near your parking lot. That's ridiculous.

Now, back to Saturday night. Unbeknownst to Harris, management had done their due diligence and measured sound levels with law enforcement before the show. The Amp, in short, was way below the levels they're allowed according to the aforementioned A meter.

Later, Patterson Harris called in law enforcement claiming they were breaking the code by pointing to results on what turned out to be was a rarely used C meter. I'm also told she tried to insist that the sound levels be checked hourly. Apparently, her drama was eventually ended when the onsite law enforcement communicated with those who checked the levels before the show.

This nonsense with Patterson Harris has been going on for two years. You may remember that she tried to get an even more restrictive sound ordinance passed, but was shut down by community comments and a lack of support by her fellow councilmembers.

Still, she insists on talking law enforcement off the streets for exercises in futility. The Lone Star Events Center is in an industrial area and is separated from the nearest neighborhood by a railroad switching area, which has the capability to scare you out of your shorts when the cars slam together. The Amp is hardly a problem, and they have done their due diligence to comply with the law. They don't deserve this councilperson's petty harassment and complaints.

As many of you know, I lease property at the Lone Star Events Center. I spend almost 50 weekends a year, plus almost the whole month of October on-site, and have done that for nearly 11 years. We hear the music from the clubs over there way louder than we can even hear the music from the Amp. We hear a loudspeaker from some type of evangelical church loudly on our property. We also hear the sirens and worse from the neighborhood. We deal with constant theft and trespassing. We pass by homeless people pushing shopping carts down the middle of the street and banging on car windows at the stoplights. Still, like the Amp, we persist and spend our money trying to bring something good, nice and safe to that area of Lubbock. Patterson Harris needs to back off this petty grudge and start working on the real problems her community has.

In my opinion, Patterson Harris and her friends and relatives will continue to make this a problem, wasting tons of resources for many years to come. My guess is that the Amp will eventually have to sue for relief. How about instead of that we work together? I am just not seeing that in the actions of Sheila Patterson Harris. Instead, she's using her position on the city council for what appears to be a personal grudge.

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