Ohio mayor suggests ice fishing shanties could lead to prostitution

HUDSON, Ohio — An Ohio mayor suggested at a city council meeting this week that allowing ice fishing shanties could lead to prostitution.

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Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert made the remarks during a Tuesday city council meeting, WOIO-TV reported.

Council members in the city, located between Cleveland and Akron, were discussing whether ice fishing should be permitted at a city park when Shubert weighed in, saying he wanted to raise some “data points,” according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

The mayor, who has been in office since 2019, said council members should discuss the issue with the city’s fire chief, then changed course.

“Does someone come back next year and say, ‘I want an ice shanty on Hudson Springs Park for X amount of time?’” Shubert asked. “And if you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem. Prostitution. And now you’ve got the police chief and the police department involved.

“Just data points to consider.”

The video of the exchange went viral.

Council member Chris Banweg got his colleagues to laugh when he stated, “So, I’m not in favor of shanties,” the Beacon Journal reported.

Nicole Kowalski, another council member, called Shubert’s statement “outrageous.”

“I was surprised, but then he has made these types of statements before so I wasn’t completely surprised,” Kowalski told WJW-TV.

The council did not take any action on the issues of ice fishing or ice shanties, the Beacon Journal reported.

The Washington Post asked a spokesperson with the city for comment, but she deferred to the mayor.

“We have no issues with prostitution anywhere in Hudson,” Jody Roberts told the newspaper in an email. “You would need to speak to the mayor regarding his personal comments.”

Shubert did release a statement to WJW.

“My comment about ice fishing, the permitting of shanties on lakes, and prostitution stems from my experience as a former television news reporter covering law enforcement agencies, which have made arrests for acts of prostitution in ice fishing shanties,” Shubert told the television station. “When discussing proposed legislation, it is wise to discuss the potential for unintended consequences. My statement was to enlighten (the) council that the future permitting of ice shanties may lead to other issues.”

Shubert made national news last year when he called for the resignation of school board members over an optional book in a college-level class at Hudson High School that he labeled “child pornography,” the Beacon Journal reported.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh’s office reviewed the allegations and called the mayor’s allegations false, the newspaper reported.

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