Our Position on the Macon City Council Proposal to prohibit 18 to 20 year old adults from entering certain establishments
Overview
City Council member Filomena Mullis recently proposed a new ordinance which will ban young adults, aged eighteen to twenty, from entering establishments in Macon which derive over fifty percent of their gross annual sales from the sale of alcohol. According to the Macon Telegraph, Charles Dudley, Jim Lee, Dick Dickey, Charles Jones, Jimmy Patton and Ed DeFore are considered likely supporters of the ordinance.
There has been a great deal of public outcry in opposition to this proposal both on the radio and in the newspaper, but City Council members seem to be deaf to concerns of our citizens, or they simply don’t care about our opinions.
The person who initiated efforts to oppose the City Council is a twenty year old by the name of Jessica Cheshire. Jessica has no political experience or background, but has single-handedly led a campaign against this restraint of freedom of our law-abiding young adults. Now Jessica has some help; the Libertarian Party of Bibb County, by unanimous decision, decided to support Jessica in her cause
Why this Proposal is Wrong
There are a lot of reasons to vote against this proposed ordinance, but few, if any, City Council members are inclined to do so.
Ms. Mullis wishes to
PENALIZE people who have not broken any law. There are already laws on the
books that penalize both bartenders and owners for serving alcohol to people
under the age of 21. Why punish people who have done nothing wrong?
These people are LEGAL
ADULTS. They pay income taxes, can serve in the military or as a police
officer, are enfranchised with the vote, and subject to the draft.
One might reckon that these people are good enough to die for their country,
but not good enough to sip a coke while watching their favorite band.
It will certainly increase
the amount of drunken drivers in town, as these young adults often serve as
designated drivers for their older family members and friends.
It will limit the amount of
bands that can play in these law-abiding business establishments. Many
nationally and world known musicians get their starts playing in bars, and
Macon has more than its share of these talented performers. To support this
proposal is a strike right at the heart of Macon’s world-renowned musical
heritage. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to host the Georgia Music Hall of
Fame and to call Macon "the Music City" when our youngest and
brightest musicians have to go out of town to play.
It will increase the amount
of unemployment in the city. One club owner recently suggested that perhaps
30% of employees of these establishments are in the 18-21 year range.
It will hurt business. Many
of Macon’s clubs derive a substantial amount of income from ticket and
soft drink sales to musical venues at their establishments. Add to that the
lost pool of employees and less bands to attract patrons. How many Macon
institutions will be forced out of existence by this persecution by the City
Council? Is running people out of business the way to revitalize downtown
Macon?
Hypocrisy! Macon organized events are not covered by this proposed infringement of rights. The Centreplex can sell beer at hockey games and minors can still go to the Cherry Blossom street party. It seems the city wants exclusive rights to the profits these young adults generate.
It gets much worse!
The official proposed ordinance uses these words: "Whereas, the Mayor and the City Council find that that [their typo, not ours] such undesirable and illegal activities involving young people are most prevalent at nightclubs and bars, as opposed to bona fide restaurants, hotels, public stadiums and similar establishments." First of all, who is the City Council to decide what type of business is bona fide and what type isn’t? More importantly, when an Open Records Act Request was sent to the Mayor’s office, Police Chief, and the City Council, several interesting things occurred.
The Office of the Police Chief responded that it has no public records about complaints about the presence of persons, 18-21 years old, in bars and nightclubs, and has no statistical evidence relating to the occurrence of crime with respect to these people or establishments. There were no citations issued to bars or nightclubs for underage drinking on the premises in the last year.
The Mayor’s Office passed the buck with its request, stating that they keep no records of the type requested but will forward the request to the City Council. The City Council failed to act to this request within the time prescribed by law.
The City Council was asked for 4 items: minutes, correspondence received, statistical evidence and correspondence sent pertaining to this issue. Their illegally tardy response included only minutes of the City Council meeting.
The minutes state that there are "increasing reports from the Police Department" about increasing numbers of young people in nightclubs. The proposed ordinance states that the City Council has "received documentary evidence". Yet, when such information was requested under O.C.G.A. Section 50-18-70, all responses were in the negative. Where are these reports and documentary evidence that Ms. Mullis cites? Did the City Council not only violate the law in their lack of responsiveness to an Open Records Act Request, but also be less than honest in the wording of the ordinance?
Additionally the City Council feels that citizens of Macon have no rights with respect to this issue, as they held part of the hearing behind closed doors. The committee met privately behind closed doors in order to discuss the legalities of the issue. Councilman Lee said officials discussed "what would be required under law [for the ordinance] to pass public scrutiny", according to the Telegraph. We wonder why that has to be discussed away from the public eye?
Their Spin Machine
Councilman Jim Lee constantly refers to the individuals affected as "kids" or "children". If they are kids, why are they allowed to own firearms, to pay taxes, to serve time as adults in prison, get married, vote, or die for their country?
Councilman Charles Jones characterized Macon clubs as "horrible, indecent and illicit" and likened the situation to raping children. Rape? That is a pretty strong word to describe a 20-year-old young woman dancing to her favorite band, or an airman trying to meet some people his own age, or a college student checking out a new band.
Ms. Mullis has stated, "I can’t believe those young people are going into bars to drink soft drinks." Wake up, Ms. Mullis. They are going to listen to music, to meet people, or to dance, or for other social activities which have been considered perfectly normal and healthy for young adults since the dawn of humanity.
Their True Intent?
It is already illegal for bartenders to serve drinks to minors. Both the bar and the bartender receive a stiff fine if convicted. It is also illegal for under-aged people to attempt to obtain alcoholic beverages. Why do we need more laws, when the ones already in existence will suffice?
According to Ms. Mullis, we need them because bars foster alcohol and drug abuse, sexual activity, and violent crime. Being as violent crime is already illegal, and being a substance abuser is something to which no rational person aspires, we wonder what Ms. Mullis’ true motivation is?
Does she really feel it her duty to impose her personal morals upon others? Does she feel that law-abiding adults aren’t capable of making their own decisions? Is it the $80,000 grant the City Council just received from the state?
Conclusion
The First Amendment of the Constitution reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Being as they fully intend to restrict the right of 18-21 year old people ‘peaceably to assemble’, it seems that Ms. Mullis, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Jones seem to think they know more than our founding fathers did when they drafted the Bill of Rights. In going behind closed doors to meet, they certainly limit our right to ‘to petition the government for a redress of grievances’.
Let the City Council set whatever rules they want for their own adult children so they don’t become addicts or criminals. But leave the rest of us law-abiding citizens alone!
What you can do to help
Show up for City Council meeting to voice your displeasure, scheduled for Nov 20, 6PM at the Macon City Hall.
Vote against every single Counsel member who supports this proposal
Write letters to the paper and the city council, call in on AM-940
Become more involved in local politics-one such way is listed below
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
Contact Us!
The Libertarian Party of Bibb County
2644 Northwoods Drive
Macon, GA 31204
(478) 746-6751
http://BibbCountyLP.homestead.com
Chair: David Corr (478) 788-1471; email: j.p.corr@worldnet.att.net
Press Contact: S. Philip Gordon (478) 737-2385; email: flash@hom.net
Updates !
A hearing was held on the ordinance on November 20th. Where the ordinance was tabled.
The Macon City Council is trying to revive the Young Adult Ban after tabling the measure in November. A 17 year old young woman was tragically killed in a Thanksgiving day car accident. Christian-Marie Elizabeth Hester was a passenger of a car that crashed in a single car accident. Filomena Mullis is using this tragedy to push her Nanny State agenda. You can read the latest Macon Telegraph article on this issue here.
The Macon City Council Public Safety Committee voted down the the ordinance, 3 to 2 on February 26th. Filomena Mullis, the sponsor of the ordinance, may still bring up the ordinance before the whole city council.
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