Taylor not looking for later club hours

By Jay Strickland
Journal Editor

April 28, 2008 11:25 am

— Dr. Billy Taylor wants to make one thing very clear — he is not in the Commerce City Council race to seek later hours for his business, The Drunken Mule.
Although Taylor, who is running for the Place 4 Council seat against Bob Monday and Russell Lutes, said he originally got into the race for that reason, he has since taken the late hours campaign to the state level.
“I really believe that the late hours will save lives and prevent bar hopping,” Taylor said. “It’s no longer about that. I’m now working with a state representative and with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) for a statewide law keeping all clubs open till the same time to prevent bar hopping. Instead of saving a few lives, this could save hundreds of lives.”
Taylor and his partner, Tim Johnson, had approached the Commerce City Council previously about changing the city ordinance to allow their club, The Drunken Mule, to stay open later. He says that is no longer part of the issue, but his dealings with the Council convinced him some changes needed to be made in Commerce.
“Quite honestly, I feel like there’s a lot of mismanagement of taxpayers’ money,” he said. “I think it could be better spent. The way I’ve seen it spent is the real reason that I’m involved.”
The main part of that mismanagement is the new City Hall and police and fire complex, according to Taylor. He said that Texas A&M University-Commerce offered to help build the city a new fire station three years ago and that none of the surrounding cities of comparable size have anything near as nice as the Commerce fire facility.
Taylor said he attended a Council workshop and learned that it would take $18 million to repair the streets in Commerce. He would have rather seen the money that was spent on new facilities go to that.
“I’d rather have seen the $3 million bond election go toward these two edifices and spent the $14 million on the streets,” he said.
Taylor said he also learned in the workshop that drainage is a bad problem in Commerce and that fixing the streets will just treat the symptom unless the drainage issue is dealt with.
Another area that Taylor would really like to see changed in Commerce is to make the city more friendly to business.
“Being in business here, I’ve noticed the difficulty in opening a business here,” he said. “Through the inspection department, through the health department, (they) threw up quite a few road blocks. (There were) individuals who were not willing to work on these and work through the road blocks, but just tend to walk away.
“I’d like to see it made easier. And I don’t mean to lessen laws or loosen up on things, but to really work with individuals who are trying to come here instead of trying to block them.”
He would also like to see more things for youth and college students to do in Commerce.
Taylor was raised in Dallas and moved to Commerce in May 2007. He still has a chiropractic practice in Paris, which he is trying to sell. He and his partner opened the Drunken Mule Sept. 11, 2007.

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