OUR VIEW: SLA permit reversal is only the first step

Editorials

August 27, 2008

Anonymous The Tonawanda News Wed Aug 27, 2008, 01:19 AM EDT

Today’s front page news is a victory — the first in what we hope will be a series of wins for the Twin Cities and the entire Empire State when it comes to liquor laws.

The state Liquor Authority has reversed its wrong-headed decision and restored beer permits to vendors at Gateway Harbor Park for the popular free concerts held there, which had been canceled when the beer sales were halted.

Underage drinking is a serious matter, but a single violation shouldn’t sink an entire concert attended by tens of thousands each week. From the onset, we’ve called these decisions arbitrary and unduly harsh. We’ve questioned the motives and called for this very reversal.

We are as happy as anyone to report the news of the SLA’s decision, but it only answers one of the many questions we and every fan of music — and economic progress — have about why this happened in the first place.

The SLA’s reversal solves the most immediate problem, but it does not address the overarching concerns about the entire process that have become obvious as a result of this whole ordeal.

What we have in New York is an unelected, unsupervised authority, bound only by its own discretion, possessing the power to make and enforce regulations over the sale of alcohol.

The situation cries out for legislative guidance.

It is the job of elected lawmakers — assemblymen and state senators — to craft a uniform statute addressing underage drinking and other liquor sales violations. We urge them to undertake this process immediately.

Some, like state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, have questioned the need for the Liquor Authority to exist at all. We’re not sure we agree with that sweeping change, but it should be a part of the conversation as the state moves forward and undertakes a review of New York’s liquor regulations and their enforcement.

What is needed is clear leadership from New York’s legislative branch on the necessary and prudent regulations for alcohol sale and consumption — and even more importantly, the punishments for violating them.

If the SLA is the enforcement agency, that’s fine — but it shouldn’t be the sole judge, jury and executioner.

As for here in North Tonawanda, the SLA still must come clean about what mistakes were made — and at who’s urging they were made. Business owners who’ve suffered from this deserve an explanation. Local officials who’ve had to divert the public’s time and resources to addressing this matter deserve an explanation. Every taxpayer in the Twin Cities deserves an explanation.

In short, there’s no shortage of explaining left to do.

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