Newspaper Page Text
TWEAKING ALCOHOL LAWS
This week’s Pub Notes is written by flagpole City Editor Ben Emanuel.
It's a perennial discussion in Athens: the drinkin' This year's
edition has been a weird one, a tedious process in which the
Athens-Clarke County Commission fielded an unwieldy set of revi
sions to the rules governing alcohol licenses—a lot of them nec
essary—that came to them from government staff back in March.
They've been trying to get them into shape since then, and they're
locked into voting on them Sept. 4.
What's it all mean, besides no more drink specials after 11
p.m.? If you work in a bar or restaurant and are involved in the
serving of alcohol, pay attention. Under the proposed rules, ev
erybody will have to take a short online training course to be
certified to serve drinks. What's also been talked about—a lot—is
requiring criminal background checks for doormen. Background
checks? Some people think that's a little harsh; some don't. It all
goes back to the fact that this set of ordinance revisioqs started
with the staff, not Commissioners. However, as Mayor Davison said
at last week's agenda-setting meeting, nobody can deny the hard
work that Police Chief Jack Lumpkin, and his staff in particular,
have put into this thing, including explaining what it's like trying
enforce the messy laws that are currently on the books.
Not all commissioners are ignorant of the landscape of Athens'
nightlife—just some of them. Commissioner Kathy Hoard is one of
those people who goes down Clayton Street late one night for the
first time in years and then runs home thinking Athens is the cen
ter of sin in the universe. Without question, we need to renew a
wide discussion about the effects of this town's fondness for drink,
from its role in sexual assault to the sad fact of young folks grow
ing into alcoholics too often and early. The question of legislating
solutions to those problems, however, is complicated, and this
year's policy discussion at City Hall hasn't been the place for it.
Chief Lumpkin will be the first to tell you that most alcohol
license holders are on the level, and a few bad apples are spoil
ing the bunch. At the same time, it was a law-enforcement per
spective that led the draft
Not all commissioners are
ignorant of the landscape
of Athens’ nightlife—just
some of them.
ordinance to zoom in on
doormen. Though it's well-
intentioned—a way to ap
ply legal pressure to help
bar owners with their own
self-imposed check on under
age service—the narrowly-
focused doorman provision
has gotten skewed toward harshness because r« where it came
from. Commissioner Hoard wants to take the staffs suggestion at
full face value and put it into law. What happened to the wide 1
perspective decision-making that we expect of elected officials?
Enough of the rest of the Commission has enough perspec
tive that the background-check provision is losing steam. For a
while there, it looked like Elton Dodson was putting as much stock
in public stakeholder input as Hoard puts in staff recommenda
tions. A flawed compromise—drawn up by some members of the
Community/Campus Coalition for the Prevention of Alcohol and
Other Drug Abuse and a half-dozen downtown bar owners—came
out of Dodson's Legislative Review Committee; it would have re
quired background checks but continued to allow 18-to-20 year
olds to be employed in the serving of alcohoL
The bar owners have gotten their act together better on this
year's edition of the alcohol discussion, but they haven't formed
a unified front and could have a better sense of timing. If you
missed last Thursday's agenda meeting, you missed a good show
when the Mayor went into schoolteacher mode to lecture them on
how to come to the table. She gave them good grades for improve
ment, but not without wagging her finger like a pro. As for the
Mayor and Commission: you can't say anything but that they're •
very open to public input. The process of obtaining so much of it,
though, can get unwieldy for them and for the citizens, too.
So, the last sticking point of a complicated ordinance revision
is moving towards a resolution at next week's meeting. As much as
they tried to work it out beforehand, they couldn't do it; it'll be a
moving target right up to the end for those citizens following it.
I'm told that the votes are there to kill the background check pro
vision, but that it won't happen without a little more compromise,
the terms of which got sketched out last week by a few commis
sioners at—you guessed it—the Manhattan.
Funny thing: the "open'' Commission takes so much public
input that the task of whittling it into law is a pain in the ass,
and they still have to get together over beers (but not cigars, like
in the old days) to draw it up the right way. If, by chance, your
commissioners don't respond to your emails about this vote before
nr»xt Tuesday s meeting, try the bar: I'll owe you a beer if you can't
f .nd 'em there.
Bor Emanuel ben9flagpole.com
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & FEATURES
Comment 8
On Transportation and Technology
Another perspective on mass transit: part one of two.
Comment 9
Shouting Underwater
We are all victims of Katrina.
Art Notes 15
The Proof is in the Clay
“Perspectives" opens at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation.
Movie Pick 18
Boss Of It All
The dope on Lars von Trier's latest opus, which starts Friday at Cine.
MUSIC
The Bucks Stop Here 28
Pegasuses-XL Rocks The Boat And Offers Up Its Sounds For A Donation
The Athens trio released its third EP earlier this year on Quote Unquote Records.
Liner Notes : 32
The Complicated Dude They Call Smog
What does it mean to be a fan of the music of Bill Callahan?
LETTERS
4
THE GEORGIA REVIEW.
19
CITY PAGES
6
ABC '
21
CAPITOL IMPACT
7
ABC9ATL
27
COMMENT: TRANSPORTATION....
8
PEGASUSES XL
28
COMMENT: KATRINA
9
SPOTLIGHT
29
COMMENT: JEKYLL ISLAND
....10
RECORD REVIEWS
30
SUMMER OF LOVE
....11
LINER NOTES
32
OUT THERE!
....12
THREATS & PROMISES
33
ART NOTES
....15
COMICS
34
MOVIE DOPE
....16
REALITY CHECK
35
MOVIE PICK
....18
CLASSIFIEDS
36
EDITOR l PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR l PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner
MANAGING EDITOR Margaret Moore
ADVERTISING SALES Anita Aubrey, Melinda Edwards, Jessica Pritchard
MUSIC EDITOR Chris Hassiotis
CITY EDITOR Ben Emanuel
CLASSIFIEDS. DISTRIBUTION A OFFICE MANAGER Paul Karjian
AO DESIGNERS Ian Rickeft, Kelly Ruberto
CARTOONISTS James Allen, Cameron Bogue, Jacob Hunt Missy Kulik, Jeremy Long, Clint McElroy, Zachary McGar
ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell
ABC Chris Hasskrtis
WRITERS Michael Barthel, Phillip Buchan. Tot Crawford, Emerson Dameron, David Egan, John W. English,
Stephen Fleming. John Huie, Jyt Inov, Dan Johnson, Gordon Lamb, Charley Lee, Walter Mosley, John G. Nettles,
Beth Sale, Michael Wehunt. Drew Wheeler
CIRCULATION Charles Greenleaf. Jimmy Courson, Robin Mathews, Annie Page
WEB DESIGNER Ian Rickert
ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Nicole Haysler
ADVERTISING INTERN Charlotte Hundley
MUSIC INTERN Scott Reid
COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto
featuring pottery by Ted Saupe from
the “Perspectives” exhibit at OCAF
CONTACT US:
STREET ADDRESS: 112 S. Foundry St., Athens, GA 30601
MAILING ADDRESS: P.0. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603
EDITORIAL (706) 549-9523
ADVERTISING: (706) 549-0301
FAX: (706) 548-8981
ADVERTISING: ads9flagpole.com
ARTS & EVENTS: outthereQflagpole .com
COMICS: comics90agpole.com
EDITORIAL editor9flagpole.com
LETTERS: Ietters90agpole.com
MUSIC: music90agpole.com
MUSIC LISTINGS: abc90agpole.com
WEB SITE: www.Oagpole.com
VOLUME 21
ISSUE NUMBER 34
Flap*. Inc. publishes Fbgpok Mafnzk* weekly and distributes 17,000 copies
free at over 275 locations around Athens. Georgia. Subscriptions cost $55 a year.
$35 for six months. C 2007 Flagpole, Inc. All rights reserved
(#)® 0
tmmWW» W WMWMfro w»' imiMiii
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
AUGUST 2?, 2007 • FLAGP0LE.COM 3