I totally agree Mushy. As the director of Hooray for Harriman I will be present Tuesday night to speak against this proposed ordinance. These City sponsored family events are no place for sales of any type of alcohol.

There seems to be and attempt in the State Legislature to do this state wide for Counties and Cities. (link...)

Randy Ellis
randyellis@gmail.com

Mushy, 99% of the time I agree with your posts! You are a positive contributor with great community spirit, but I disagree with you on this one. Whether beer is made available for sale or not, there are always drunks who will show up for public events and bring their own or buy it on the site. Does that mean we should make the rules based upon a few abusers?
Prohibition proved that didn't work. I don't live in Harriman, but Kingston wrestles with this issue over the 4th of July events held here. Like Harriman, Kingston needs every penny of revenue it can get and events like these can generate lots of it. For instance, if Budweiser were allowed to put up a single beer pavilion, they would give 60-70% of the profits to the city in addition to sponsoring a World Class Hydroplane event that would draw huge crowds from multiple states. They get great advertising, local merchants make lots of $$, the City gets $$ and publicity. And yes, some additional enforcement would be needed to make sure troublemakers were dealt with.

I have the utmost respect for our churches, but they get a free ride as it is and are not empowered to write the rules for the entire community.

...had it been brought up to the council before going to the beer board, I would have gone along with the consensus of the majority vote. Just seems a little under-handed to me.

Mushy

Well, if anyone wanted a beer, all they would have to do is go to Big John's or any other local convenient store and purchase one. I have no preference either way, because I do not drink. But, what would be the difference if they bought it at from a vendor or a local store? The only way you can keep it away entirely is to make the event alcohol free by law. And even then, you would have to go around smelling what was in peoples' cups. They will still buy it at the local store, then pour it into cups. So, make the event alcohol free by law, and enforce it, or allow the vendors and make money for the city.

... about the process.

Neither Mushy nor I are in the classification of "teetotalers." :-) And if I understand Mushy aright, it's not so much about the possibility of having such events, it's more about the way the process was handled.

And I understand randmart regarding being "subjected" to things.

Fact of the matter is that at such large public gatherings one can be subjected to an obnoxiously intoxicated individual whether or not beer is available as part of the event. I've seen it hundreds of times at places where beer or other alcoholic drink was not part of the event, and it does nothing to prevent the folks who think it's a "good time" to get snockered and stumble around in public breathing on people and generally acting a fool.

And whether alcohol is served with the event or not, the result should be the same - the offender either leaves immediately when asked to (not driving!) OR there's a trip to the local constabulary and a stay in the "Cross Bars Hotel."

Y'know - it's kinda like saying having a sign up procaiming a "gun free zone" will prevent a deliberate action on the part of a criminal in bringing a gun into the zone. It's purely wishful thinking.

I don't wanna be - nor do I want my family or friends to be - accosted by some drunk at a function in downtown Harriman, or Kingston, or you name it. But it happens - and has historically happened, and will continue to happen whether there is an official ban on the product or not.

IMHO a big part of it is our culture, in which we've been brought up to be titillated by the idea of drinking in public. In other cultures, e.g. Germany, where beer gardens are commonplace and in fact de rigeur, it's not near as much of an issue.

Relative to the above paragraph, we in our neck of the woods need to grow up a little bit and act a bit more like mature citizens of the world.

necessarily think "family" or "family event" and beer are necessarily mutually exclusive. Beer is not per se an "anti-family" thing.

RB

I respect everyone’s opinion and the debate on this subject. There are several aspects to the debate religious, liability etc…. But what makes this a great Country is we are all allowed to have our opinions on subjects. So I encourage everyone here that lives in the City of Harriman to call their Councilman or attend the meeting Tuesday to express their opinion. For me I choose not to subject my son or family to something I feel is wrong some may not feel it is wrong and I respect your beliefs also. We will just have to see how it pans out Tuesday night

Randy Ellis
randyellis@gmail.com

Let the voters decide just like they did with liquor stores and liquor by the drink... People need to quit looking at an issue and acting like they have found their holy Grail to get their names out. I'm sick of RoCo politicians doing anything to be mentioned in the paper or on a news website.. Let the people decide... -Brian