Here's "modernization" in yer eye
When Ralph says "entertainment district" this is what the church sees.After Gov. Jon Huntsman and Rep. Greg Hughes kicked in the door on Utah's alcohol law reform, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker thinks, maybe, just maybe, it's time to act on his campaign promise to liberalize Salt Lake City's bar laws.
I would like to do some normalizing. I'm confident we'll be able to work out some comprehensive changes to our liquor policies.
Becker wants to relieve restrictions on neighborhood pubs and creat a party-friendly downtown entertainment district.
When Mayor Ralph approaches the LDS church on this — as he certainly will, I'd advise he be careful about vocabulary. Hughes likes the term "modernize" for liquor law changes because he can link it to high-tech license scanning equipment to catch underage drinkers. Others, like the Guv, lean toward "normalize." And what better goal for Utah to aspire to than normal?
No one uses "liberalize" because, well, it sounds liberal. Even worse, calling for "progressive" liquor laws is out — what are we, Wobblies?
3 Comments:
If you create the kind of respectable atmosphere that places like Squatters and The Bayou represent it would be a fantastic thing to have little gems like those in the neighborhoods. Even the Red Door is a reasonable place. Class is the key.
Excellent point Glen! "Normal" people see an establishment where a beer can be ordered without needing a background first. Our protectors see a place where drugs, nudity, debauchery, drunkeness and prostitutes are all on public display and all the children will be standing outside the door waiting to turn 21 so they can get in!
"Normalization" is indeed the correct buzzword if we want to make any progress on this issue.
But why did Becker, the mayor of the most progressive city in Utah, wait until our governor did the heavy lifting on this issue? Is he so afraid to rock the boat--even a tiny bit? No wonder he has a reputation as the easy-going, anti-Rocky. Rocky saw "enemies" everywhere but at least he stood for something once in a while.
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