Bid for ‘good news’ appears transparent on election eve

It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen the type of political grandstanding Howell Mayor Timothy Konopka at-tempted to pull off last week when he announced that a local business, Tokyo Therapy, would not have its operating license renewed.

That the mayor chose to make this announcement two weeks before he faces a challenge in the June 6 Democratic primary is an insult to voters. It was a shamefully transparent act aimed at making residents believe he is "cleaning up" the community.

Apparently, the mayor be-lieves this type of business, which offers massages, has no place in Howell, based on moral issues. Funny, but we don’t recall the mayor making an issue about adult entertainment businesses or massage parlors during the first three years of his term in office. Why now, two weeks before a contested primary election?

A similar move to rid the town of an adult entertainment business blew up in the mayor’s face two weeks ago when police reported there was no reason for the mayor and Township Council to deny the renewal of an operating license to the Adult Funtime Boutique.

So, in what can only be seen as a desperate pre-election move to accomplish something related to this "community cleanup" issue, the mayor had the code enforcement department go after Tokyo Therapy.

And while it’s true there were arrests made at Tokyo Therapy in 1995 and 1999 alleging that prostitution was taking place on the premises, no one seems to know the outcome of the 1999 arrests. So how can the mayor be convinced something immoral is occurring at the business?

Last week’s announcement by Konopka accomplishes nothing in his newfound crusade to rid Howell of all that is immoral. Instead, the action carries all the imprint of an election eve ploy.