Punish clubs, group urges

Strip bar faces more citations

GREENSBURG — The Moral Alliance of St. Helena is pushing for the Police Jury to revoke the liquor license of a Montpelier strip club after the bar received eight more citations for alcohol, closing hour and obscenity violations late last week.

The most recent citations, issued Friday, are detailed along with 18 others against The Mansion Gentlemen’s Club in a letter the Sheriff’s Office sent to the St. Helena Police Jury on Monday, Chief Deputy Chester Pritchett said.

The Sheriff’s Office served club manager Tyrone Butler with four citations for serving alcohol during prohibited hours, three for dealing in “lewd, immoral and obscene entertainment” and one for violating the parish closing law, Pritchett said.

Nightclubs, bars and other establishments that serve alcohol in St. Helena Parish are required by parish ordinance to stop serving patrons at 1 a.m. and must close at 2 a.m.

Timothy Fondren, attorney for The Mansion, did not respond to a telephone call to his office Monday afternoon seeking comment.

The latest violations come on the heels of an undercover investigation the weekend of April 27, bringing the total number of citations against the club to 26, Pritchett said. The Sheriff’s Office also cited Triage nightclub for six violations, he said.

Richard Sandberg, alliance steering committee chairman, said the Police Jury should take action against The Mansion.

“It’s a well-documented pattern of them refusing to close, continuing to serve alcohol after the legal limit and nightly breaking the nudity laws,” Sandberg said.

Sandberg plans to request the license revocation at the Police Jury’s May 22 meeting. It is too late for his request to be added to Tuesday’s agenda, he said.

The Police Jury on Tuesday will consider a resolution approving a contract with legal consultant Scott Bergthold to draft ordinances regulating The Mansion and other adult businesses in the parish.

The Police Jury voted in late March to hire the Chattanooga, Tenn., attorney following a recommendation from the alliance.

Bergthold has worked with clients in California, Texas, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to his website, and recently helped the City Council in Kenner craft anti-nudity ordinances. He also helped Ascension Parish develop ordinances regulating sexually oriented businesses.

The latest round of citations in St. Helena Parish concludes Sheriff Nathaniel Williams’ investigation into violations of the parish closing law, Pritchett said.