The Club Aquarius controversy is continuing in Springfield.
Following another disturbance in the area of the club this past weekend, Mayor Domenic Sarno pushed for its licenses to be revoked.
But, the city's licensing director, Alesia Days, said in a statement yesterday that there has not been any decision on what, if any sanctions will be imposed.
Five Springfield City Councilors have released a joint statement.
Springfield City Council President Justin Hurst:
"It is unfortunate that Mayor Sarno has not placed Nathan Bills, Mardi Gras, and Samuel’s, under the same microscope that he is now subjecting the Aquarius to. These other establishments have had their fairshare of incidents that have required an undue amount of police resources to investigate crimes and incidents of misconduct by owners, employees and patrons and yet they have received little to no public scrutiny. The Mayor’s vitriolic comments hinders the License Commission’s ability to objectively do theirjob after having received all of the facts. They already face an uphill battle in convincing people that they are not acting at the Mayor’s behest because he is responsible for appointing all but one of them."
Meantime, the Chairman of the City Council Public Safety Committee Orlando Ramos says:
"Chairman of Public Safety City Councilor Orlando Ramos:It has become more and more evident that the mayor employs a double standard when it comes to minority-owned businesses in our city. Whereas the violence that occurred in the vicinity of Aquarius nightclub this weekend is concerning and warrants an automatic review of their security plan; there have been far worse incidents at other establishments that have cost the taxpayers millions, and where people have been indicted, and the mayor has yet to call for a hearing on those incidents. I call on the Mayor Sarno to afford every establishment equal treatment.”
The Springfield Mayor has not commented further on the issue.