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Today and tomorrow are your last opportunity to affect the outcome of a planned vote at the DeKalb Commission regarding the cut-off times for on premise (restuarants, bars, clubs, etc.) sale of alcohol. The ordinace supported by our commissioner, Jeff Rader, proposes to close establishments that serve alcohol 2 hours earlier each night. Presently, DeKalb allows pouring until 3:55am Mon-Fri and until 2:55am Sat/Sun. The proposal would shorten the cut-offs to 2am for Mon-Sat and midnight on Sun.
Since the City of Atlanta recently made a similar change, supporters argue that late-night club owners are planning to move into unincorporated DeKalb. Certainly, this would bring additional tax dollars into DeKalb. However, opponents claim it will bring increased nuisance and criminal activity that goes along with the wee hours and alcohol consumption. Personally, I believe this is an issue that clearly pits the interests of affected residents (peace & tranquility) against the interests of business owners (lower costs in DeKalb, longer serving) and the larger community interest (tax revenues) - a tough call depending on your priorities.
If you agree with this proposed change or want to express your opposition, you should contact each of the commissioners who has not publicly taken a position vis-a-vis the proposal. For your reference, here is a FAQ distributed by Commissioner Rader's office. Contact these folks by email or phone to express your position:
The commissioners who have not announced how they will vote are as follows:
Commissioner Larry Johnson, District 3
larryjohnson@co.dekalb.ga.us 404-371-2425
Commissioner Burrell Ellis, District 4
burrell@burrellellis.com 404-371-4907
Commissioner Lee May, District 5
lmay@co.dekalb.ga.us 404-371-4745
Commissioner Connie Stokes, District 7
conniestokes@co.dekalb.ga.us 404-371-3053
In addition to Commissioners Boyer, Rader, and Gannon, a fourth commissioner must
support the proposal in order for it to pass.
CEO Vernon Jones is threatening to veto the measure. You may want to add him to
your phone or e-mail list to express your support or opposition:
CEO Vernon Jones
ceo@co.dekalb.ga.us 404-371-2881
Note: As a follow-up note for readers, I placed my own calls today to all of the contacts mentioned in the article. Since publishing this article, I have heard back from CEO Jones. Mr. Jones expressed many concerns about the proposed change and supporting arguments. A few I noted are: 1. Mr. Jones stated that clubs/bars are among the most secure retail establishments in DeKalb and that area malls are more of a security problem (He posed: "Should we close malls earlier because of the associated crimes committed on their premises?") 2. He is concerned about the employment impact to DeKalb residents. 3. He felt that negative impact to sales tax revenue could lead to increase property taxes.
I asked specifically about the mini-controversy around this debate in which some have implied Jeff Rader has racist motivations and Mr. Jones said, "Jeff Rader doesn't have a racist bone in his body."
Here's an 11Alive report I found on this topic.
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Vote Deferred (Score: 1)
by kim on Tuesday, October 09 2007 @ 14:13:17 CDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | Snippent from AJC today:
By TY TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/09/07
The late-night partying can continue in DeKalb County, at least for another month.
DeKalb commissioners voted 4-3 Tuesday to wait until their Nov. 13 meeting to decide on a proposal by Commissioner Jeff Rader to require establishments serving alcohol to close at midnight Sunday and 2 a.m. all other nights.
The decision came after an hour-and-a-half public hearing with a standing-room-only crowd, with many in the audience wearing T-shirts proclaiming "No" to the early closing hours.
Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones said he opposed the legislation because he said it would cost the county money in lost sales tax revenue and hurt bar and restaurant workers' incomes.
Rader said the tax loss would be minimal, and that commissioners had received 1,000 e-mails supporting the proposal.
DeKalb's finance director, Mike Bell, said he could not quantify the economic effect of closing bars earlier.
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