Let Them Drink Chardonnay

Good Neighbor Agreements red-line cheap hooch; State Liquor Board takes moral high ground but stands to profit

by Doug Nufer, the Free Press

ood fences make good neighbors," wrote Robert Frost, but King County Executive Ron Simms has a better idea: simply fence out those pesky street drunks by refusing to sell them the high octane swill that fuels their icky lifestyles. As figurehead of the Good Neighbor Agreement Demonstration Project, Simms urges Seattle merchants in neighborhood after neighborhood to "promote responsible business practices" (i.e. don't stock malt liquor and cheap fortified wine). That way, they will "enhance community livability standards and greatly improve the quality of daily life for all of the persons who live and work in the downtown corridor." (12/23/97 letter to liquor licensees)

Eventually, the besotted poor will be driven from communities near and far, leaving in their wake nothing but good neighborhoods

Simms has taken other steps to address the street drunk problem. He set up the Chronic Public Inebriate Systems Solutions Committee, a private/public partnership which, aside from administering Good Neighbor Agreements, monitors liquor license applications and crimes associated with booze. Better yet, in September, 1998, King County expanded services for "chronic public inebriates," when the Dutch Shisler Sobering Center opened in downtown Seattle. The Center has a patrol van that answers calls to pick up folks zonked out on the street and space for sixty to sleep off their highs. Those ready to take the cure can get into a treatment program through the Center.

Strategically, however, a comprehensive plan to get at the root of a complex social issue can't beat a grandstand play cheered on by public relations. With tough love bolstered by self-righteousness, anyone yearning to take a stand can send a message to Seattle's estimated population of 1500 street drunks: quit drinking Mad Dog or leave town.

And while you were sleeping . . .

Two days before Christmas, Washington beer and wine retailers received a greeting card from the Liquor Control Board: proposed rule changes that would identify Alcohol Impact Areas all over the state. Nowhere in the 6-page document did the Board specify which wines or beers were to be excluded in these areas. Most of the specifics are to be left up to local groups of vigilantes--er, citizen review boards or something like that--whose stated mission is to protect "Neighborhood Livability." These local groups would have the job of identifying zones that are thought to be overrun by street drunks, then to see that no beverages favored by street drunks be sold in these zones. Although state liquor stores in these neighborhoods would comply with ad hoc restrictions not to sell certain wines and beers, the liquor stores would continue to sell competing forms of cheap booze.

"Public" hearings were sneaked onto the calendar the first week of January, presumably to prevent anyone from objecting to the rule changes.

--D.N.

Perhaps Simms has a sophisticated, farsighted view of the opportunities created by chronic public inebriation. As the International District, Pioneer Square, the Denny Regrade, lower Queen Anne, and Capitol Hill red-line cheap hooch, hordes of drunks follow brand loyalty to the suburbs. 7-11s from Kirkland to Renton brace for the onslaught of new customers, followed by the onslaught of Good Neighbor Agreements. Eventually, the besotted poor will be driven from communities near and far, leaving in their wake nothing but good neighborhoods.

Although these agreements are "voluntary," they're supported by the Washington State Liquor Control Board-- more good-cop/ bad-cop than good neighbor. While the enforcement division of the Board leans on merchants to quit selling 40-ouncers and kickass pints, the sales division dutifully provides these products or their surrogates ($4 flasks of gin) in state liquor stores. After all, most cheap hooch consumers don't live on the street. They live--and work--any way they can and make what they will of their spare time with precious little help from good neighbors like Ron Simms.

Once our unsightly drunks vote with their feet by relocating to Pierce and Snohomish Counties, will he be satisfied? Probably not. Aiming at Slade Gorton's U.S. Senate seat, Public Neighbor Number One won't rest until every last wino in the state of Washington has been exiled to Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia-- or converted to a more upscale high. Let them drink Chardonnay.

Thanks to Bob Redmond and Tim Harris of Real Change for background info.

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