Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse
August 6, 2010
An Open Letter from the Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse
To: The City of Madison Mayor, Council members and Alcohol License Review Committee Members
It is notable that, throughout the Walgreens liquor license discussion, there was not one citizen letter that we saw and only one testimony
that we heard (from a non-Walgreens employee) that supported the licenses. Yet, the Council approved them anyway. The voices in
opposition are new voices. They are from all walks of life, races and geographic points within the city. Their numbers are growing.
The truth is that, as a community, we are far from normal with regard to alcohol addiction and misuse. We are off the charts with regard to
too many negative indicators. We are already awash in alcohol outlets, far higher than the national average. Our youth are at the top of the
national figures for binge drinking.
We heard no disagreement with the fact that our community has a huge and costly problem with alcohol abuse. The point was made over
and over again by community members that these licenses provided a real opportunity to change our “business as usual” approach in
order to make significant further progress on dealing with our problem. We appreciated the words of those Alders who acknowledged that
the bigger issues of health and safety have to be addressed.
You heard citizens say that enough is enough. You heard the very real concerns about the slippery slope that approving those licenses
means, opening the door even wider to an already terribly oversaturated market. You heard important data about health. You heard
thoughtful arguments about our drinking culture, about youth, about seniors, about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, about unsustainable
costs for law enforcement, jail, treatment, court, property damage, insurance and car crashes.
Research tells us that easy alcohol access is a major contributor to the problem that cannot be ignored. By making it so convenient to get
alcohol anywhere, we definitely have contributed to our current problem.
This means that our current practice of accepting license applications, except in extraordinary circumstances, is not a workable policy; it
fuels an already excessive environment.
You heard one ALRC member say that we had “let the genie out of the bottle” by granting licenses to such venues as Walmart, Target, gas
stations, convenience stores. We agree with that. We believe that, despite past practice, we can turn this around. It will take some
extraordinary, sometimes difficult and even courageous action, but you have witnessed ever-growing public sentiment to take stronger
action.
The Coalition is committed to initiating and supporting strategic action on all these levels.
We believe that the motion to table the Walgreens licenses so that the ALRC could develop criteria to stem this flood and even push some
of the genie back in the bottle was eminently reasonable. We acknowledge that the ALRC has made strides to deal with the current bad
actor licensees and we commend them for that. However, it is not enough. There must be additional criteria developed, in short order, to
not only limit new licenses, but to push back on renewals. These licenses are a privilege, not a right; this community is getting increasingly
resistant to needlessly paying for all the results of addiction and misuse while the alcohol industry and its venues profit because we have
not imposed sufficient restraints.
We therefore make the following requests:
To the Mayor: We ask that you tell us where you stand on this issue and continue, through the Alcohol Policy Coordinator and other staff to
keep the focus on the big picture issues.
To the Council: We ask that you charge the Alcohol License Review Committee with developing criteria for all of the City of Madison, in
addition to the density plan, that will specifically define inappropriate venues for alcohol licenses that will not only forestall new grants to
those venues, but which will play a role in the renewal of those venues. The Coalition stands ready to work with you on this process. We do
not believe that it needs to be endlessly complex.
To the Alcohol License Review Committee: We ask that you develop criteria to prevent further proliferation and to reduce the number of
inappropriate outlets. This is consistent with public safety and welfare.
In closing, we are asking our elected officials and members of the ALRC to keep focused on the big picture, understanding that the issue
is more than simply dealing appropriately with bad actor licensees, but realizing that we have allowed the genie out of the bottle and that
we do great public service by working to reduce licenses to the highest degree reasonable and possible.
Signed for the Coalition,
Kathleen M. Poi Jeffrey Golden Jamie McCarville
Chairs, Public Policy, Messaging and Downtown Alcohol Policy Work Groups
An Open Letter from the Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse
To: The City of Madison Mayor, Council members and Alcohol License Review Committee Members
It is notable that, throughout the Walgreens liquor license discussion, there was not one citizen letter that we saw and only one testimony
that we heard (from a non-Walgreens employee) that supported the licenses. Yet, the Council approved them anyway. The voices in
opposition are new voices. They are from all walks of life, races and geographic points within the city. Their numbers are growing.
The truth is that, as a community, we are far from normal with regard to alcohol addiction and misuse. We are off the charts with regard to
too many negative indicators. We are already awash in alcohol outlets, far higher than the national average. Our youth are at the top of the
national figures for binge drinking.
We heard no disagreement with the fact that our community has a huge and costly problem with alcohol abuse. The point was made over
and over again by community members that these licenses provided a real opportunity to change our “business as usual” approach in
order to make significant further progress on dealing with our problem. We appreciated the words of those Alders who acknowledged that
the bigger issues of health and safety have to be addressed.
You heard citizens say that enough is enough. You heard the very real concerns about the slippery slope that approving those licenses
means, opening the door even wider to an already terribly oversaturated market. You heard important data about health. You heard
thoughtful arguments about our drinking culture, about youth, about seniors, about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, about unsustainable
costs for law enforcement, jail, treatment, court, property damage, insurance and car crashes.
Research tells us that easy alcohol access is a major contributor to the problem that cannot be ignored. By making it so convenient to get
alcohol anywhere, we definitely have contributed to our current problem.
This means that our current practice of accepting license applications, except in extraordinary circumstances, is not a workable policy; it
fuels an already excessive environment.
You heard one ALRC member say that we had “let the genie out of the bottle” by granting licenses to such venues as Walmart, Target, gas
stations, convenience stores. We agree with that. We believe that, despite past practice, we can turn this around. It will take some
extraordinary, sometimes difficult and even courageous action, but you have witnessed ever-growing public sentiment to take stronger
action.
The Coalition is committed to initiating and supporting strategic action on all these levels.
We believe that the motion to table the Walgreens licenses so that the ALRC could develop criteria to stem this flood and even push some
of the genie back in the bottle was eminently reasonable. We acknowledge that the ALRC has made strides to deal with the current bad
actor licensees and we commend them for that. However, it is not enough. There must be additional criteria developed, in short order, to
not only limit new licenses, but to push back on renewals. These licenses are a privilege, not a right; this community is getting increasingly
resistant to needlessly paying for all the results of addiction and misuse while the alcohol industry and its venues profit because we have
not imposed sufficient restraints.
We therefore make the following requests:
To the Mayor: We ask that you tell us where you stand on this issue and continue, through the Alcohol Policy Coordinator and other staff to
keep the focus on the big picture issues.
To the Council: We ask that you charge the Alcohol License Review Committee with developing criteria for all of the City of Madison, in
addition to the density plan, that will specifically define inappropriate venues for alcohol licenses that will not only forestall new grants to
those venues, but which will play a role in the renewal of those venues. The Coalition stands ready to work with you on this process. We do
not believe that it needs to be endlessly complex.
To the Alcohol License Review Committee: We ask that you develop criteria to prevent further proliferation and to reduce the number of
inappropriate outlets. This is consistent with public safety and welfare.
In closing, we are asking our elected officials and members of the ALRC to keep focused on the big picture, understanding that the issue
is more than simply dealing appropriately with bad actor licensees, but realizing that we have allowed the genie out of the bottle and that
we do great public service by working to reduce licenses to the highest degree reasonable and possible.
Signed for the Coalition,
Kathleen M. Poi Jeffrey Golden Jamie McCarville
Chairs, Public Policy, Messaging and Downtown Alcohol Policy Work Groups