Meeting on drink specials ban proposal draws hostile crowd
A meeting to get public input on a proposal to ban drink specials in Columbia drew a standing-room-only crowd to City Hall on Monday.
Participants filed into the city council chambers as the meeting began at 3 p.m. to hear the proposal after a group of restaurant and bar owners gathered outside the protest the ban, which would end all drink specials.
Only one person spoke in favor of the ban.
A playback of a live video stream from the meeting is available in the player below.
“I think this is the most involved I’ve seen anyone in city politics in 20 years,” said Jesse Garcia, owner of Penguin Piano Bar and the Social Room in Columbia. Garcia was one of several business owners who spoke against the idea of regulating drink prices as a means to curb alcohol-related violence.
A February report by city staff found that the number of alcohol-related deadly car crashes in Columbia compared to that of St. Louis and Kansas City. The report also found underaged drinking and other issues to be present in Columbia.
“The theme would be that Columbia tends to fare worse across the board when compared to our peer cities when it comes to alcohol,” said Steve Hollis of Columbia/Boone County Department of
Public Health and Human Services.
Many at the meeting, though, said regulating drink prices won’t help, especially in the downtown area.
“Of course there’s going to be a spike in alcohol related incidents, you don’t have any enforcement down here. There’s more people living down here every single day and you haven’t done anything to help them,” Garcia said.
After several public questions and comments, Betsy Peters, the Ward 6 Councilwoman, said it could be several months before council revisited the issue.
Peters said she wants to gather input from more restaurant and bar owners. She added that the council will continue to explore drink deal price regulation as well as other means to improve public safety.
Interim Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones told ABC 17 News that he did not favor or oppose regulating drink specials, but that something should be done to address alcohol-related issues.
