Now the time has come for us to agree that there is nothing good about Beach Party Weekend. It has no positive aspects. The people who come to Galveston for Beach Party Weekend do not want to partake in any of the tourist amenities that we provide for our visitors, not even the beaches.
I want to thank Mayor Roger Quiroga and members of the city council, as well as City Manager Steve LeBlanc, Police Chief Bob Pierce, Special Events Coordinator Paula Ozymy, and the city staff, who did their best to alleviate many of the unacceptable parts of Beach Party Weekend.
First and foremost, the city council made the conscious decision to not sponsor Beach Party Weekend, and to not ask the Park Board of Trustees to sponsor it. This decision, probably more than any other, had a large impact on the way the event was perceived in Houston and elsewhere in the country.
Although our visitors on other weekends must endure 55 mile per hour speed limits to comply with the Clean Air Act, Beach Party Weekend visitors revel in unconscionable congestion on Broadway, Seawall Boulevard and 61st Street, burning valuable fuel in the most inefficient way, polluting our atmosphere.
Friday night and Saturday night there was no letup in traffic, and the visitors showed no consideration to people living in homes on their routes, blaring the most offensive music so loud that it rattled windows. In addition, they freely threw their trash into the streets and yards of residents.
Because of Beach Party Weekend, the USS San Jacinto chose to not celebrate San Jacinto Day in Galveston, but instead held its event in Houston. Our burgeoning cruise ship business was threatened by blocked traffic arteries. Galveston’s tall ship Elissa left town for the weekend. And on Earth Day, while the remainder of the world was celebrating the environment, City of Galveston crews and volunteers were cleaning up filth left by our visitors.
It is time to quit comparing Beach Party Weekend to Mardi Gras, Dickens on the Strand, or any other sanctioned event. There is no official sponsor of Beach Party Weekend. It does not exist as an event.
Beach Party Weekend has traditionally occurred on the third weekend in April. In 2003, that coincides with the Easter Sunday weekend. This is unacceptable.
We want people of good will, beginning with the city council, and including spiritual and business leaders of the community and the organizations they represent, to make a positive statement that "We have had enough!"
The statement should be this: Beach Party Weekend has no benefit to Galveston, but continues to attract young people who show no regard for laws against excessive noise, blatant littering, the Seawall alcohol ban; and who exhibit other offensive and lawless behavior. Thus, we people of good will in Galveston want it known that we do not want Beach Party Weekend to occur in 2003. Those who have come to Beach Party Weekend in the past are welcome, of course, to come at any time. We ask only that all residents and visitors observe the Galveston Rules of Common Courtesy.
In addition, we urge the city council to instruct the city manager to require that police enforce the “boom box” ordinance with vigor, beginning immediately. We hope that the city will issue a news release to the Houston and statewide media, that visitors to the island will be required to keep their radios at a reasonable level or face stiff fines.
This also will address problems caused by late night visits by gangsters from Houston on Mardi Gras Weekend, and those “spontaneous” Rave parties on the Bolivar Peninsula. These groups do not arrive on Galveston Island until after midnight, and they do nothing other than cruise our streets with their radios blaring.
It is unacceptable for our island, or any city, to be invaded by loud, obnoxious visitors after midnight. Even if their goal is to sit in the ferry line to take their offensive behavior to Bolivar. Like our mothers used to say, “Nothing good happens after midnight.”
Thus, I am calling upon our political leaders, and other people of good will, to consider instituting a one a.m. curfew on special event weekends. Signs should advise those who cross the Causeway after midnight that they should have a specific place to go by one a.m., or to not enter the island. We will seek cooperation from the Bolivar Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, Sheriff Gean Leonard, and Galveston County Commissioners Court to institute a similar curfew on the peninsula, so that we can work together to bring this unacceptable activity to a halt.
If necessary, I suggest that we will take the proposed curfew to the Texas Legislature and/or the United States Congress. This problem with unruly young visitors is nationwide, if not worldwide, and is unrelated to issues of race, creed or color.
If it sounds like I am suggesting that we make our communities inhospitable to rowdy visitors who have no consideration for the rights of the residents - that is correct.
Another message should be directed to the family tourists that we want to attract. We want them to support our efforts to promote the Galveston Rules of Common Courtesy, to discourage undesirable visitors, and to make Galveston a nicer place to visit.
Jim Guidry
