Mifflin - Need I say more?

Flickr - MJKauz

If you live in Madison, it's hard to miss the recap of this past weekend's Mifflin event and the horrors that took place...

One shattered kneecap after a victim was hit with a baseball bat...
Two separate stabbings and at least two sexual assaults...
Three MPD officers injured...

The list, unfortunately, goes on and on. Mifflin was a disaster but good can come from it. Mifflin is the culmination of a growing alcohol abuse problem that plagues not only Madison, but Dane County and Wisconsin. It's time to step up and prevent risky and problem drinking and, fortunately, there are evidence-based strategies that we can pursue in order to do this.

To reduce alcohol abuse we have to reduce what those in the field call the "Four A's":
Making alcohol less Available, Attractive, misuse less Acceptable and less Affordable. Can you see where Mifflin went wrong?

Flickr - MVWorks

So where do we go from here? Well Mayor Soglin has a good idea in making changes to the conditional permit process so those applying for this permit, sometimes called a "picnic license" have to go before city officials who will make decisions to allow or not allow it. That is a great step in the right direction and we applaud Mayor Soglin for his efforts to address this issue.

What else can we do? Madison made the right move implementing an alcohol-outlet density ordinance in downtown a few years ago, but that very ordinance could potentially sunset if our city officials don't vote it through by July 5th. Alcohol-outlet density ordinances are evidence-based strategies to reduce violent crime in an area saturated by bars. Studies worldwide show that if you reduce the number of alcohol outlets...there's that A again (availability)... you will reduce violence and crime in that area. So we must protect the alcohol-outlet density ordinance, keep it strong and make it permanent.

The Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse is happy to work with the city and other policy-makers and stake-holders to reduce the very real, very negative and very costly burden of alcohol abuse that was so blatantly depicted in last weekends event. Mifflin can and should be a learning experience for all of us that it is time to address the alcohol misuse present in Madison and help the businesses, families, students and all those that live work and play in this area thrive.

Want to hear more about what went down on Mifflin Saturday? Click here.

For more evidence-based strategies to prevent alcohol abuse, click here.

FTC Needs Your Input! - Does Self-Regulation of Alcohol Beverage Manufacturers Work?

The Federal Trade Commission announced plans to begin a study of the self-regulation of the Alcohol Beverage Industry. The Commission began major reports on the effectiveness of self-regulation among this industry in 1999 and the upcoming study will serve as the part of the basis for their fourth report. Out of past reports have come recommendations such as the Industry should have third-party review boards and the Industry should raise their ad standards. The new report will examine if voluntary guidelines are working today to reduce advertising and marketing of alcohol to underage audiences.

So here's where you come in. The FTC is looking for public comment on the proposed collection of data from alcohol manufacturers, the first step they must take in order to conduct their study. The topics they are looking to include are:

• "the companies' compliance with voluntary advertising placement provisions, sales and marketing expenditures;
• the status of third-party review of complaints regarding compliance with voluntary advertising codes; and 
• alcohol industry data-collection practices."

To share your comment on this issue click here.

The Marin Institute has also released a report on this topic titled, "Why Big Alcohol Can't Police Itself A Review of Advertising Self-Regulation in the Distilled Spirits Industry." It's definitely worth checking out. The report examines the code previsions the Industry is supposed to "voluntarily" follow, the number of complaints against ads violating these codes and follow-up action taken.

Let FTC know how you feel about the Alcohol Industry's self-regulation. Does it work? It doesn't take much looking into before coming to the easy conclusion of... no.

It's That Time Again! The Alcohol License Review Committee Meeting!

It's already mid-March! Can you believe it?! I know I can't! With the middle of the month comes... Alcohol License Review Committee (ALRC)! The meeting, tomorrow night (Wednesday March 16th) will be at its usual place, the City County Building rm 201. At this meeting, the ALRC will likely be VOTING on the proposed changes to the Alcohol License Density Ordinance.

The changes include:

Entertainment Venue Exception -proposed change would add new exception for establishments that provide entertainment, discussion continues over allowed percentage of alcohol revenue for this type of establishment.

    Coalition's Position: The Coalition does not support the entertainment venue exemption as drafted and the DCCRAA believes any entity with more than 50% of its revenue coming from alcohol sales will, in fact, make a significant contribution to the alcohol problems in the ALDO area.

 

Exceptional circumstances -proposed change would increase allowed percentage of alcohol revenue from 25 percent to 50 percent of total revenue for businesses in this category.

    Coalition's Position: If an outlet gets more than 50% alcohol revenue, it should be viewed as a bar not a restaurant or entertainment venue. More than half of a business’ revenue does not need to come from alcohol in order for it to be successful. Therefore, the Coalition feels the exceptional circumstance clause should remain as it is in the existing ordinance with no more than a 25% liquor sales allowed for non-bar establishments. Our community will thrive when we address the very real issue of alcohol abuse in Madison by keeping ALDO strong.

365 day clause -proposed change would increase window from 365 days to 730.

    Coalition's Position: Doubling the window of time for allowing a new tavern to open does not limit and slowly reduce through attrition the number of alcohol outlets. Therefore, it does not do what ALDO was set out to accomplish. If an establishment closes and new tenants are not found within 365 days, our leaders should seize that opportunity to reduce liquor outlets in our neighborhood.

If you care about the health and safety of our downtown, please stand up for ALDO with us. If you are able to attend the ALRC meeting Wednesday, March 16th at 5:30, please join us as we support ALDO. If you can't make it, consider submitting a written testimony, or taking a few minutes to register in support of ALDO, in-person, before the meeting.

For more information on the drafted changes to ALDO click here.

Join the Dane County Coalition's Facebook page to stay informed on what efforts are underway to prevent alcohol abuse in your community by clicking here.

ALRC Meeting WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH!!

The next Alcohol License Review Committee (ALRC) meeting where committee members will discuss changes to the Alcohol License Density Ordinance is tomorrow night (Wed. 2/16)!!!! The meeting is at 5:30 at the City County Building rm 201.

Tomorrow night, the ALRC will only vote on whether or not to extend ALDO as it exists now, to July 1, 2011 instead of allowing it to sunset on March 5, 2011. The other suggested changes to ALDO will be discussed tomorrow, but not voted on.

Some of the changes to ALDO that the ALRC sub-committee has put forth are:

• 365 day window
• Exceptional circumstances
• Entertainment venues

Here is where the Coalition stands on these revisions:

365 day windowà We want to keep the 365 day window as is, not double it.

We know from extensive research done around the globe that limiting the number of alcohol-outlets reduces crime and violence. However, doubling the window of time for allowing a new tavern to open after an existing tavern closes does not work to gradually reduce the number of stand-alone bars over-time. Therefore, expanding the window does not do what ALDO was set out to accomplish. We must keep the 365 day window in place and strong. One year is a reasonable amount of time to find a new tenant in a competitive real estate area like downtown Madison. If new tenants are not able to be found within that time frame, ALDO does not keep other successful businesses from opening up in that location, just not another bar.

Exceptional circumstancesà We do not want the allowable alcohol revenue percentage for exceptional circumstances to be increased.

Currently, the exceptional circumstance clause does not allow more than 25% of a non-bar business’ revenue to come from alcohol. Increasing this percentage, as is being recommended by the ALRC sub-committee, allows more alcohol to be poured in our downtown which undermines the purpose of ALDO and puts our downtown at risk. Half of a business’ revenue does not need to come from alcohol in order for it to be successful in downtown Madison. 

Entertainment Venuesà ALDO was created to limit and gradually reduce the number of Class B alcohol licenses in the ALDO district so we do not want this revision to become a back door for bars. 

ALDO was created to limit and gradually reduce the number of class B alcohol licenses in the ALDO district. It doesn't matter what you want to call the establishment, a bar or an entertainment venue, but the point here is that the overall number of class B liquor licenses must not increase. Changing the mix is great, adding more entertainment venues sounds fantastic, but don’t make it a back door to ALDO for bars and allow the overall number to increase. 

The Coalition wants to see the Madison community, including businesses, thrive. But adding to the already saturated bar market in our downtown will not carry our neighborhood forward! Let's keep ALDO strong and make it permenent! 

SUPER BOWL WEEKEND!!!!

Super  Bowl Weekend is only hours away! Are you ready to celebrate the big game? This Super Bowl, keep safety in mind. If you are going to drink, drink responsibly. Here are a few tips from the Department of Transportation on how to have a safe and fun Super Bowl:

• If you’re hosting a Super Bowl party, serve lots of food and have non-alcoholic beverages available.  Take care of your guests and don’t let them drive if they’re impaired.
• Don’t serve any amount of alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. Wisconsin’s Absolute Sobriety Law prohibits drivers under age 21 from having any alcohol in their system while behind the wheel.
• Pace your consumption of alcohol and don’t drink on an empty stomach.
• Bars and restaurants participating in the Safe Ride Program can provide a ride home for patrons. Visit the Safe Ride web page for more information.
• Above all, plan ahead and designate a sober driver.

GO PACK GO!!!!!

Click here for WisDOT Press Release and more information on having a safe Super Bowl

ALRC Meeting Update From Wed. Jan. 19th

Photo Credit: Flickr- Brian loni

At last week's meeting, the ALRC discussed the recommendations for the Alcohol License Density Ordinance (ALDO) given by the ALRC sub-committee. The recommendations included a few changes to the current ALDO.

Some of the changes being considered are:

• to double the 365 day window that a bar has to open with new tenants before the liquor license is surrendered, 
• to increase the percentage of allowed alcohol revenue, which now sits at 25%, for exceptional circumstances, (establishments that are not bars) and
• to add a clause allowing "entertainment venues" to be viewed separate from bars with a to-be-determined allowable percentage of revenue from alcohol.

While there was some discussion of these recommendations during last Wednesday's meeting, many ALRC members agreed more time is needed to discuss the particulars and therefore the focus of the conversation became making sure ALDO doesn’t sunset on March 5th, as it is scheduled to do now. It seems there is strong support  to keep ALDO alive, so the ALRC has recommended to the City Council that the sunset be pushed back to July 1, 2011. This will give both the ALRC and the City Council more time to discuss the ordinance and any changes they want to make to it. 

Some of the above-mentioned, changes to ALDO have the potential to weaken the ordinance. Here's the Coalition's position on some of the recommended changes from the ALRC sub-committee:

• The window of time for allowing a tavern to reopen within the ALDO area - Allowing the liquor license to stay with a building for twice as long as was originally put in place by ALDO does not limit the number of alcohol outlets, therefore it does not do what ALDO was set out to accomplish. We believe 365 days is a reasonable amount of time to refill a location's establishment with another bar or tavern. After one year there are still many business options for that location, just not a bar.
• Exceptional Circumstances - The same measure that was originally written into ALDO, and mentioned above, should be applied to those businesses seeking licenses as “exceptional circumstances” in the future. The level of alcohol revenue allowed should not be increased. Setting a higher acceptable level of alcohol revenue will prompt new businesses to present themselves as “extraordinary” situations but are in reality – bars with entertainment. ALDO’s goal is to gradually reduce the crime and violence downtown by reducing the number of bars and other alcohol outlets downtown.  The Coalition feels we should encourage business owners to bring in non alcohol-dependent entertainment, retail and cultural offerings to our community. 
• "Entertainment Venues" - The idea of giving business owners the option of opening up an entertainment venue is great, as long as it's not in addition to another bar. If an establishment applies for a license, it should either be to open a bar OR an entertainment venue, NOT both. Our fear is that the new "entertainment license" will otherwise become a back door to ALDO for bars!

Upcoming Meetings:

The City Council meets on February 1^st and will more than likely discuss the sunset of ALDO, and hopefully vote on extending the sunset to July 1^st. The ALRC meets again on February 16^th, in the City-County Building, room 201 @ 5:30pm. 

Upcoming Alcohol License Review Committee -Subcommittee meeting TOMORROW!

Tomorrow, a very important issue for the Madison downtown area will be discussed and the outcome of this discussion has the potential to be much further reaching than just the downtown neighborhood.

The Alcohol Licensing Review Committee (ALRC) - subcommittee will discuss and potentially make final recommendations on the Alcohol License Density Ordinance (ALDO) TOMORROW, Tuesday, January 11th in Madison. The meeting will be held in the City County Building, Rm 103A from 4 - 6 pm.

ALDO controls and limits the amount of alcohol licenses allowed in the designated downtown area. This is an ordinance the coalition feels very strongly should be made permanent. Studies have shown alcohol outlet density does correlate with rates in violence in certain areas and looking back in our city's history there is no denying Madison has seen, on several accounts, the negative effects an area with a high density of alcohol outlets can experience.

Furthermore, the over-saturation of alcohol outlets pushes businesses into price wars to lower the cost of alcohol in our town, which at times can drive overconsumption..

This important ordinance will sunset on March 5th if action is not taken to extend it. Tomorrow, the ALRC subcommittee will discuss this issue and may make a final recommendation which will then go before the ALRC on Jan. 19th and then the Common Council at their meeting on Feb. 1. The possibility exists that a recommendation will not come out of tomorrow's meeting, in which case the decisions will be pushed back. Look for an update after tomorrow's meeting to see where the discussion went, what decisions were made and what that means for more upcoming meetings.

This is an issue that not only effects those who live, work, learn and play downtown, but also Madison as a whole. The more of us that can attend the meeting the better.

See you there! And remember if you can't make it check back for updates on how the meeting went later this week!

Click here to learn more about the ALRC