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By Mary Wang
February 17, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - Last fall, the City of El Cajon passed a Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO) in an attempt to resolve some of the alcohol-related issues many business owners and residents have been experiencing over the years in our community.
But so far there have been few visible improvements; we still have instances of drinking in public, sales of alcohol to minors and sales of single-serve alcoholic beverages. One of the reasons that these problems persist, it seems to me is that the ordinance needs to be enforced, and enforcement costs money. However, the city decided not to impose a fee, which was to be paid by alcohol outlets, to support enforcement of the ordinance.
Perhaps we can take a lesson from the other cities in California that have a successfully running DAO. For example, I recently attended the San Diego County’s Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative Policy Panel Breakfast and heard the speaker from Rohnert Park, a city in Northern California, talk about how they implemented their DAO. One of the key elements was a fee structure imposed on their alcohol stores to pay for a dedicated law enforcement officer.
Lieutenant Mike Bates from Rohnert Park, who served in this capacity, reported that before the DAO and fee structure, alcohol-related problems were draining police resources. There was an overconcentration of liquor stores, no local authority to put conditions on the ones they had, and service past the point of intoxication, leading to violence, was a chronic problem.
But after putting the DAO and fee in place, they could afford an officer that was dedicated solely to alcohol outlets. As a result, store owners became more responsible and developed better partnerships with law enforcement. There were also reductions in sales to minors and other problems that had been plaguing the city for years. As far as the retailers were concerned, they also benefited with lower insurance premiums and reduced liability for any incidents that might take place in their business. And best of all, there was an increase in safety for the entire community.
According to Bates, one of the things that made Rohnert Park’s ordinance work so well was that the city personalized their fee structure so that it functioned on a sliding scale, depending on the factors that are associated with problems. These included hours of alcohol sales, the volume of alcohol sales and the calls for police service to each alcohol establishment.
This made perfect sense to me, and it seems that if this fee has helped better implement the DAO for Rohnert Park, it would work for El Cajon as well.
I realize in the past, store owners in El Cajon have promised to improve business practices on their own, and the City gave them an opportunity to regulate themselves and clean up their act. They were given time to stop selling to minors, to stop selling to people who were already drunk, and to keep their storefronts clean and free of graffiti.
But the problems persisted, and so the DAO was given the green light in August 2013. And now, if a fee structure was added to El Cajon’s DAO, we could take the final step to having a healthier business climate. What would the money pay for? Each and every store would receive Responsible Beverage Sales and Service training that includes sections on how to check identifications and how to refuse service to an already-intoxicated customer. There would also be a dedicated enforcement officer to establish a positive relationship with the business community, conduct compliance checks and enforcement operations.
Not only would these resources help reduce sales to minors and other problems, but they would greatly reduce liability for store owners. If a bar or liquor store can say they have done everything possible to prevent problems, including staying in compliance with local regulations and having their employees attend RBS training, they are much less likely to be held liable in a lawsuit.
For several years, the community group that I belong to, 2nd Street Alliance for a Better Community, has been working with City officials, business owners and community members to identify the concerns related to alcohol outlets and find ways to deal with them.
Our coalition believes that the fee structure is the right answer. For alcohol outlets, it is just the cost of doing business. Just like an auto shop pays oil collection fees or a restaurant pays for a grease trap service, an alcohol outlet fee would function in the same way.
In addition, such a fee and the resources it would provide, would benefit not only alcohol outlets, but other businesses as well, and every member of the El Cajon community.
By solving alcohol-related problems, community members would see fewer beer bottles littering their yards, fewer drunks defacing property and ultimately, save tax dollars trying to resolve these issues as they happen.
Alcohol-related problems have been a concern for quite some time in our city. The question is; are we finally going to do what it takes to make them go away?
Tracey Corenman is the Media Advocacy Specialist for the Institute for Public Strategies, www.publicstrategies.org. Mary Wang is a member of the community group 2nd Street Alliance for a Better Community, who authored this piece. The opinions in this editorial reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of East County Magazine. To submit an editorial for consideration, contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.
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