Wherein Athens Nanny-in-Chief, Super District Commish Elton Dodson, targets "Happy Hour" for eradication.
"Athenians would have to pay full price for after-work beverages under proposed changes to Athens-Clarke County's alcohol ordinance. One change would prevent bars and restaurants from charging different prices for drinks at different times of day, banning happy hours and late-night "power hours" popular with University of Georgia students.
"It's a real problem, and we need to address it," said Commissioner Elton Dodson, chairman of the five-member Legislative Review Committee that will consider the proposed changes.
Because heaven knows, Athens certainly doesn't have anything else going on (rapes, murders, grinding poverty, etc.) which needs addressing at the moment.
Said ol' "Volstead" Dodson: "Some of the things in here are things we should have passed years ago."
Yeah, like 1919.
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8 comments:
I'm afraid you've got your facts completely wrong there Todd. These changes were brought to us by Finance and the Police Dept, without ever consulting the Commission. Many changes make our ordinances consistent with State law, and are long overdue since our laws are invalid. The other changes, including Happy Hour were a shock to all of us. I asked that this be remanded to my committee for further evaluation. Nowhere in the article does it say anything about me supporting the elimination of happy hour, because I don't. Many of us were angry about some of these proposals, and I was one of them. I once told you that you should always feel free to call me if you have questions about anything. I posted my cell phone - here it is again: 706-254-2448.
Also, it is only fair to add that I am a downtown semi-regular (though that's a relative term). I have a daughter and another little one on the way, so happy hour is my preferred (read:only)time to play downtown (with the exception of occasional times after 1am commission meetings, when the entire family is asleep anyway). How many drunken revelers do you see during happy hour? Eliminating those discounts just doesn't make sense. Happy Hours are there to get businesses through a time of the day when business is down - certainly not as a draw for the overindulgent or underage.
Elton, so let me clarify this then: you don't support restricting the Happy Hour sales, nor the banning of the late night specials/discounts? Is that correct?
I'm more than happy to admit an error in facts, but I was basing my comments on what I read in the paper, and I don't see anything in the article suggesting you are against the proposals being offered up by Culpepper/Lumpkin et al.
So, like, the ABH didn't present the facts in an objective way that reflected the meaning of the quote. I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED...
The real question for me is "Why are unelected financial staff, like Culpepper, issuing policy proposals before clearing them with the elected officials, who represent ACC citizens on these matters?"
It truly seems like much of this proposal, like elimination of happy hours, is a solution out there looking for a problem.
Correct - I don't believe picking on happy hour is a solution to anything.
I would think that unelected staff can have the same rights to make proposals just as the voters can.
Except for that when upper-echelon staff make proposals, it's front page news.
I know this is a little after the fact, but has anyone ever heard happy hour, usually 4-7, causing significant problems downtown?
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