But instead Gilroy has a new dance group. Honestly, the police and the city have tools aplenty to shut down a restaurant or club that's off the charts in terms of requiring police response. Noise regulations, building safety codes, fire regulations, health regulations - there are so many laws on the books, so there's always something a rogue establishment is not in compliance with.

In establishing the dancing downtown rules, Gilroy overreacted. Don't we want to have a vibrant downtown where people have a good time? How about a wedding reception at Old City Hall upstairs when it re-opens - no dancing?

What about youth music concerts where teens spontaneously dance if the music's right? Happens all the time in Morgan Hill. But that's not what we want, ever, downtown in Gilroy at the Gaslighter Theater? Hey, Five Minutes to Freedom, take your born-and-bred Gilroy music somewhere else besides downtown Gilroy.

Downtown Gilroy business owners should be able to figure entertainment into their business plans, and the city in concert with the police department should be figuring out how to support those plans. Can you imagine telling the folks at the Westside Grill that dancing isn't allowed any longer?

It's amazing that fixing the ordinance has become such a federal case.

Wouldn't it be great if this community actually began to think about going downtown for entertainment? Gilroyans might even begin to stop by the bookstore before eating dinner out downtown, then decide to have a cocktail and hang around for the music before making the big decision to get up and dance ...

What is the vision, exactly, for downtown. Isn't it quiet enough there already?

Let's foster the re-birth of our downtown, let's bring back the music and the entertainment and, most importantly, the people. Think about it, folks, what if we banned dancing at the Garlic Festival?