Councilman seeks longer bar hours

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A club-owning Lafourche councilman is pushing an ordinance that would extend weekend bar hours until 3 a.m. in unincorporated Lafourche Parish.


Current parish law prohibits establishments with liquor licenses from selling alcohol between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. every day of the week. Councilman John Arnold’s amendment to current law would change closing time to 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The motivation behind the change is to assist local businesses during an “economic disaster,” said Arnold, of Bayou Blue in Council Dist. 5.


“Our economy is pretty bad right now and all of the local bars are taking kind of a beating,” Arnold said. “There is a lot of them that are falling out to the wayside because of the way the economy is right now. … If you’re going to save businesses, now’s the time to save the businessman.”


He estimated that the extra two hours on the weekends would generate an additional $400 to $1,000 in taxable income per bar per week.

“Actually, the parish is going to profit from it, and the bar owners are going to get through this economic disaster we’re going through right now.”


“The bar business is tough anyway with the DWI laws,” he added.


Arnold owns Club Illusions, formerly known as the G-Spot Lounge, a strip club. He said the club is currently closed but will reopen ultimately with a different form of entertainment.

“I shut it down because I’m getting out that kind of business,” Arnold said. “I took a partner, and we’re going to eventually open it up as a college nightclub.”


Municipalities have their own laws requiring bars to close at 2 a.m. The G-Spot is outside Thibodaux city limits, near Lafourche Crossing on La. Highway 1.


Arnold, who hasn’t consulted with anyone associated with the state Board of Ethics, said he doesn’t believe his sponsoring the law is a conflict of interest because a strip club wouldn’t see the same theoretical benefit as traditional taverns.

“From my aspect on what I’ve got going, it’s totally different than a regular bar atmosphere, so it’s really not going to affect my business in any way,” Arnold said. “These club operators, their big times are between 11 (p.m.) and 1:30 (a.m.), because at 1:30 they’re calling last call and cleaning out the house. … With my clientele, mine starts at 5 o’clock in the afternoon and just goes on. It really don’t affect me in any way. I, myself, don’t care to be there until 3 in the morning.


“Six in one, half a dozen in the other, I don’t have to vote on it,” Arnold added after disclosing his future plans for his club. “It’s really up to the council.”


When posed with a hypothetical question, Board of Ethics Communications Director Alainna Giacone said it does not appear a councilman in Arnold’s situation would violate the state’s code of ethics, as long as the hypothetical councilman didn’t see a substantially greater economic benefit than other bar owners.

Also a general contractor, Arnold voted with the council in October to reduce construction permit fees for building farm structures and installing residential generators. During that meeting, he voted against 10 other permit-fee reductions and said afterward he didn’t consider recusing himself from the votes because he felt strongly against most of the proposed changes and wanted to log his opinion.

With the bar-hour extension law, Arnold said he plans to amend his measure to include a provision that requires the council to readdress the issue in six months in case of passage to give councilmen the chance solicit opinions from the sheriff’s office on how the proposed change impacts public welfare.

Not all bar owners believe the change would benefit their finances.

“That all sounds good on paper, but in reality I don’t think it’s going to make that big a difference (economically),” said Glenn “Rocko” Caillouet, owner of Rox’s Bar in Thibodaux. “It really doesn’t matter to me one way or another. … If you can’t make your money by 2 o’clock, you need to go into another business.”

Caillouet would not immediately benefit from the proposed law, as his establishment is inside Thibodaux city limits. Regardless, he said he believes patrons would adjust their schedules according to times of business ¬– showing up later in this case – and that they still wouldn’t spend more than their budgeted amount on liquor.

Bobby “Beck” Grabert, who owns Beck’s Bar in Raceland, would be impacted by the proposed law. He said he prefers the law as already written and does not see the extra time impacting his bottom line.

“Point blank, the answer is the status quo is good enough for me,” Grabert said. “Personally I like it the way it is. As far as government intruding in my business, I’m against it.”

Per council procedure, the measure was scheduled for introduction yesterday. Discussion regarding the ordinance and the council’s vote was set for the next meeting on Jan. 22. At press time, it was unconfirmed if the measure was introduced as planned, but Arnold did not give any indication that he would reverse his position.

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UPDATE: 12:48 p.m. Wednesday

The council on Tuesday unanimously requested the district attorney to opine on whether his office feels Arnold’s sponsorship of participation in the law violated conflict of interest ethical laws.

Arnold seconded the motion, which Councilman Jerry LaFont drafted from the floor.

Club Illusions, formerly the G-Spot Lounge, is owned by Councilman John Arnold, who was scheduled to introduce an ordinance last night that would extend bar hours on the weekend in unincorporated Lafourche Parish.

ERIC BESSON | TRI-PARISH TIMES