The arrival of December and winter often brought its fair share of joys for people looking forward to Christmas, though there were times when these ideas ran into issues that were rather humorous at times and problematic at others. And to a degree, even Animalians were not incapable of making some of these mistakes, as noted as William Tarr looked over to a relatively large Dog Animalian panting rather hard across from him.
"Do you need any water?" William Tarr asked as he looked to the Dog Animalian, who had introduced himself as an associate of "Miss Fabina" in Lyre/Animalia. That gave him some hint on what was wanted by this Animalian, but wasn't necessarily something that he could offer or even agreed with if he could. However, between fairly long fur and the jacket he was wearing, this Animalian was also panting hard, not recognizing that the part of Texas they were in generally stayed pretty warm all year around.
"No... I'm fine," the Dog Animalian answered, "it's just... well... a bit warmer here than in Lyre and Animalia. We've had our first snow there recently... not deep, and could be swept up with brooms, but still..."
"Well... this is Texas, not northern Nevada," William Tarr answered, "while we can get some cooler temperatures from time to time, it's pretty rare that we'd get temperatures below freezing for long. Which was in part what made the previous "winter storm" as hard for the state as it was. It happens, but not often."
"Yes..." the Dog Animalian nodded, "but don't worry... I'll be alright. Though, we'd best get down to business."
"Yes," William Tarr looked back and down to him, "and I'm to assume you're here wanting Dino City to allow for a strip club, like the Meat Market."
The Dog Animalian blinked for a moment but said nothing. It was like he was expecting that he would raise the issue or that the male Parasaurolophus Dinotopian would be more curious than anything else. This, however, was an issue that William Tarr had expected and had to deal with when Dino City was first established, and he and the "interim" City Council had agreed to keep the city clear of that sort of thing. Not because they disliked that Animalians generally had a higher libido than Humans and not necessarily because they were going "legislate morality," though the latter could be part of it, but because they'd also seen some of the trouble that those sorts of clubs tended to attract with it. And reports from Lyre reinforced the concerns they had, as it seemed that, particularly before the Covid pandemic cut down on tourism, that the Meat Market had had to deal with its fair share of drunken patrons that either harassed employees or got nauseous and had to be removed. That was something that William Tarr and the others had agreed they didn't want.
"You've stated you're representing a Miss Fabina," William Tarr said slowly to the Dog Animalian, "who is well known for running the Meat Market in Lyre."
"Well... yes," the Animalian nodded, "though... I... I didn't expect you would be bringing it up directly."
"This wouldn't be the first time Dino City has dealt with this particular issue," William Tarr answered, "and some seem to think that it's truly desired here..."
"But surely, you're aware on the libido levels Animalians have..." the Dog Animalian managed, "and the Meat Market provides honest entertainment, we've had rules against minors entering, and so on."
"I am aware," William answered slowly, as since his marriage and conversion, he had enjoyed having plenty of fun with Candace, "but what I do with my wife is NOT public. It is private and shows my love for HER. Libido and exhibition are two different things."
"The Meat Market is not a sex shop... or brothel," the Dog Animalian tried to counter.
William Tarr nodded, as he'd seen no news reports on anything of that nature, but that still didn't change his opinion on the matter and likely wouldn't change the City Council's opinion. It was a bit larger now and included a few Dinotopians, and one Cenozoic armored mammal Animalian who had hooked up with a Dinotopian, but from what contact William Tarr had with them since they took office after the elections the previous year, he didn't think they were going to just change their minds because Meat Market wasn't a brothel.
"That isn't the point though," William Tarr answered, "when Dino City was founded, I and the Glen Rose residents that would be incorporated into Dino City formed the city council to make sure that as the city grow and functioned... it would function and wouldn't have any growing pains."
"But this wouldn't be growing pains," the Dog Animalian answered, "and it would provide for added opportunities... and besides, didn't at least one of the residents here used to work at the Meat Market?"
"There were a few that did," William Tarr sighed and then rubbed his dark blue scaled crest for a moment, "but that's not the point. For we've also looked at a lot of issues and things that have surrounded the Meat Market in Lyre, and do you know what we found?"
The Dog Animalian shrugged in response, not really knowing where the Dino City Mayor was going with this.
"Most of the people that went there have come from OUTSIDE the Lyre/Animalia area," William Tarr continued, "people that have come in as part of the tourist trade just to see Animalia and Animalians and with the idea that they could get a quick romance with an Animalian or something like that. It's also lead to a fair number of drunk and disorderly conduct charges resulting from that. And to a degree, as a new city, Dino City really didn't need people coming from out of state or out of the general area to get drunk and then either hit on those that live here or wreck their car afterward. Shoot, to some degree, people seem to be quite easily capable of getting drunk and wrecking their cars, and Texas isn't alone in that."
"But your city is established now," the Dog Animalian countered, "and you have officers should there be problems."
"We do," William Tarr answered, "but that doesn't mean we want the problems that would come from it. And we do have the social facilities that allow people to visit and socialize without having to turn the Dinotopians into sex objects."
"But wouldn't you want the added business, regardless of what you think?" the Dog Animalian asked, "it'd bring in more money to Dino City. Or give those Dinotopians who do want that kind of work the freedom to do it?"
"For the moment, Dino City has actually helped Glenn Rose bring more people into the state park with regard to tourism and in a way that helps people learn about prehistoric life," William Tarr spoke, "so, money isn't a pressing issue... and there are Dinotopians want the job, there are other towns and clubs that aren't that far away that could make offers to them."
The Dog Animalian looked back to William Tarr as the Dinotopian looked back to him.
"And regardless of whether or not I agree with you," William Tarr then finished, "dealing with local rules and regulations for the city would go through the City Council first. Not through me. I can offer my suggestions for what is needed to be done, but the real decision-making power lies with them. What I can do separate of them is rather limited."
The Dog Animalian frowned and admitted defeat by saying, "I see..."