Davis

Our local leaders just do not seem to get it. The Enterprise reports that Mayor Ruth Asmundson wants a Òdry morningÓ on Picnic Day. No, Madam Mayor, we need a dry day. Council member Lamar Heystek muses on limiting the size of signage announcing alcoholic drinks being served at 6 a.m., while colleagues Stephen Souza ponders taxing the bad behavior and Sue Greenwald and Don Saylor discuss publicizing the few Òfamily-friendlyÓ downtown establishments that might elect to not serve booze for breakfast.

IÕve got news for you, the entire downtown is no longer family-friendly on Picnic Day. I donÕt know any parents who would risk running the current gauntlet with their kids to find an establishment that sports a sticker advertising they arenÕt pandering to drunks.

ItÕs frustrating when the city attorney seems to only be able to tell the council what they canÕt do to control the excessive alcohol rather than what they can. Yet, The Enterprise and The Bee both offered examples of what other municipalities have done in similar circumstances.

And I donÕt understand the owner of The GraduateÕs unrepentant statements that selling beer for a buck at 6 a.m. somehow does not result in drunken, bad behavior. That defies common sense. It will be interesting to hear our City Council candidates weigh in .

Look, this is Davis, we have frat parties all the time that donÕt end up with fighting and random gunshots. The chief of police reported that the vast majority of the arrests and bad behavior this year involved out-of-town folks, not UCD students. Ask the police and they will also tell you what is different now is that social networking sites like Facebook have suddenly given Davis the statewide reputation as the place to be for wild behavior on the second Saturday in April.

This was our final wake-up call. If our local leaders donÕt find a way to dry it up, next year will be worse. Unfortunately, the tepid language coming from the council so far is hardly encouraging. Our chief of police clearly gets it, is anyone listening to him?

Bruce Hupe

Davis

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