ST. CHARLES, Mo (KMOX) - He says he's tired of being called "Mayor Footloose," but two weeks into his ban on dancing and loud music at bars along Main Street, Mayor Dan Borgmeyer says it's working.
"I was down there this weekend," said Mayor Borgmeyer. "It's usually my practice to be down there Friday and Saturday night with the police. Compliance was good, crowds were smaller-- we expected that. But for the most part, it was the kind of street that we want to have--calmer, not much trouble."
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Borgmeyer ordered the ban after the increasingly popular Main Street bar district started to see rowdy crowds, street fights and a fatal shooting.
That deadly shooting happened on a parking behind one bar in early January, when LaRico Martin, 32, of St. Louis was killed. A Bell Ridge man, 26-year-old Marcell Foster, is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Some nightspots are complaining that the mayor is cutting into their business. But he argues they aren't licensed to operate as though they were a "night club."
"When you cease serving food at night, and close your kitchen, and move your tables out, and have DJ's and amplified music and live music--it becomes a night club," Borgmeyer said. "There is no provision in our ordinances for nightclubs."
The mayor says his police department used up $200,000 in overtime in recent months patrolling the large crowds, a situation that was no longer affordable or safe.
As for when the dancing may return to St. Charles Main Street, the mayor says some day, but not until it can be done safely.
"I would like to see it come back, and I would like to get rid of this 'Mayor Footloose' moniker that's been hung on me," Borgmeyer said.
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