Officials attending a council work session in Hudson, Ohio were dumbfounded after the Mayor suggested–without a hint of irony–that allowing ice fishing in the city would be a slippery slope to prostitution.
Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert argued on Tuesday evening that ice fishing in the city would lead to fishermen setting up ice shanties to protect them from the cold elements, and according to his logic, these shanties would encourage sex work inside.
Keep on the lookout for the reaction of the official seated next to the Mayor in the video below.
According to a recording of the meeting posted on the city's website, Council President Chris Foster said “a number of residents” have requested permission to ice fish on Hudson Springs Lake, an activity that is currently prohibited.
Some officials objected to ice fishing as they feared potential lawsuits from people falling through the ice and that it could pose additional challenges for Hudson’s firefighters, paramedics, and police officers.
However, the Mayor's concern was one that stumped officials.
He said:
"If you open this up to ice fishing, while on the surface this sounds good but what then what happens next year, does someone come back and say, 'I want an ice shanty?'"
"If you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem: prostitution."
"Now you've got the police chief and police department involved."
His statement was followed by a long period of awkward silence enough for anyone in the room to hear a pin drop.
Or jaws hitting the floor.
The official sitting next to Shubert did a double-take followed by a look of utter confusion as he locked eyes with the totally serious Mayor.
"Just data points to consider," said Shubert.
The silence was broken when another official quipped, "That's why I'm not in favor of shanties," and elicited laughter from the room.
Raw Story noted that while it was unclear where Shubert got his information, there was an urban legend that has periodically come up on radio shows discussing prostitutes setting up shop in ice shanties along Milles Lac Lake in Minnesota.
Twitter roasted the Mayor hard.
Mayor Shubert made headlines before when at a board of education meeting, he called a book of writing prompts used in advanced classes for seniors "child pornography."
The Cleveland Scene clarified that the two specific creative prompts raising controversy had never been assigned and that parents were required to sign a waiver allowing their kids to enroll in the college-level course that "might contain adult themes and content."
When some parents who objected to the material voiced their concern, the controversy gained traction, further spurred on by Shubert–who said at last September's board of education meeting:
“It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom. I’ve spoken to a judge this evening and she’s already confirmed that."
"So I’m going to give you a simple choice: either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged."
Although the creative prompts were nowhere near deemed as "child pornography," the argument made national headlines leading to violent threats against the board members of education and the school staff, according to Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.
Walsh also confirmed the writing prompts did not amount to child pornography.
The city also made the news when Hudson high school joined another Ohio high school in Hillsboro in canceling their LGBTQ+– themed production of She Kills Monsters because one of the characters in the play "might be gay."
Hudson also recently joined a nationwide roster of conservative politicians teaming up with angry parents calling for the banning of books found in school libraries relating to LGBTQ+ themes.
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