Anheuser-Busch hasn’t been bought yet
Re: Sebastian Ruiz’s story about the sale of Anheuser-Busch (“Shamu’s future in the air after AB sale,” Beach & Bay Press, July 31).
You wrote, “InBev merged with American Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch earlier this month.”
This is not correct. What is correct is that InBev made an offer to buy A-B and that offer was accepted by the A-B board of directors.
This transaction still needs the approval of the A-B stockholders and certain governmental entities before it can be consummated, and that will take many months, and may not happen, especially if the Governor of Missouri has his way.
Talking about what may happen to SeaWorld is much too premature.
So you may wish to do another article where this error is corrected.
Lou Cumming
Playa del Pacífico

The law is the law when drinking at the beach
“But, Officer, I was only going a few miles an hour over the limit, I wasn’t driving recklessly and I was passed by several cars just before you pulled me over. Besides, I live right in this neighborhood.”
That’s what went through my mind as I read Jasmine Kung’s tortured letter about her friend getting cited under the alcohol ban for drinking a beer on the beach.
Sorry, Jasmine, there is no middle ground. You can either drink on the beach or you can’t, and the voters will decide that in November.
We’ve seen it both ways in the last year and each of us can decide which way we want it.
There are roughly 50 beach cities in Southern California and beach-alcohol bans are now in place in every one of them. The only thing approaching the middle ground Ms. Kung is seeking is special event permits, which a number of cities, including San Diego, offer.
Drinking is still permitted at a few State Beaches such as Silver Strand, but that’s it.
Police officers write tickets at their discretion when they see violations of the law. If a person thinks they are innocent, they can take it to court and let a judge decide. That’s the way the system works. You violate the law at your own risk.
Bill Bradshaw
playa de la misión

Booze ban lets SDPD do their job
I think the article on the Pacific Beach Town Council meeting left the wrong impression about police response and house parties on July 4th (“Alcohol issues return to the top of the PBTC’s docket,” Beach & Bay Press, July 31). I attended that meeting and I heard SDPD Lt. David Nisleit say that in 2007 they had six pages of calls for service and they could not get to them. This year they had one page of calls for service and they got to all of them.
I have heard from many Pacific Beach residents in the last six months that police response times are definitely shorter now that the police do not have to deal with crowds of drinkers on the beach. I also heard Police Chief Lansdowne say on the TV news that for the first time in a decade, on July 4th, they were able to send some overtime officers home.
The bottom line is that alcohol-free beaches are resulting in fewer calls for service, shorter police response times, more police presence in the neighborhoods, and fewer officers needed (less taxpayer cost!)
Let’s make it permanent!
Marcie Beckett
Playa del Pacífico

Faulconer knows the problems of beach drinking
In regards to Cindy Demma’s letter “Kevin Faulconer Flip-Flops Again” (Beach & Bay Press, July 31), I would like to clarify some apparent misunderstandings. When Mr. Faulconer was running for Council District 2, he was one of 17 candidates who all identified the negative effects of alcohol as the most serious problems facing the beach communities. During the campaign and after his election those who had become familiar with the binge drinking problems at the beach continued to educate and encourage him to reconsider his position against an alcohol ban at the beach.
I was asked to serve on Kevin’s Beach Area Alcohol Task Force which met from October 2006 to July 2007. Although a few arguments were offered there was never a proposal made on the issue of beach alcohol. The task force was directed to make recommendations that had a possibility of receiving general consensus. The make up of the committee was never going result in consensus on keeping or removing alcohol from the beach.
On Labor Day 2007 (and during summer months prior to Labor Day), Kevin saw for himself how bad binge-drinking issues had become. He determined that the unsafe conditions demanded a change; in his opinion and the policy of the city. He took a courageous step to stand for public safety knowing that he would be criticized by some who wanted to continue to allow a free flow of alcohol at the beach in spite of the negative effects.
After six months of alcohol-free beaches, many businesses report business as good as or better than last year. SDPD Northern Division reported crimes and citations all down over the July 4th holiday. Calls for service and police response times are down. Lifeguards say they have returned to their primary focus: water safety. Parents, children, singles and seniors are finding local beaches, safer, friendlier and cleaner. Community members who came to help with cleanup on July 5 found almost nothing to pick up and began cleaning nearby streets just to make good use of their time.
Putting the issue of alcohol-free beaches and bay on the November ballot is a not a political maneuver as Cindy Demma suggested. Any move by the council to extend the policy would likely be met by another signature gathering effort to force the issue to a citywide vote. Putting this issue on the ballot in November prevents the expiration of the policy in January and avoids an expensive special election in 2009.
Kevin Faulconer is to be congratulated for recognizing a problem and proposing a solution. Now that we have seen the positive difference with alcohol-free beaches let’s all support the new policy and explain why we do to everyone we know.
Scott Chipman
Playa del Pacífico

Police in riot gear at the beach equals a riot
Re: “City Council agrees to put beach ban on Nov. ballot,” Beach & Bay Press, July 31.
Last week’s story about alcohol-free beaches said “The current alcohol ban was passed by the council on a one-year trial basis following the so-called Labor Day “riot” in Pacific Beach”¦”
It was not a so-called riot. The police who contained the incident were equipped with riot gear. Three people have been sentenced for participating in a riot. If there was no riot, why did they plead guilty?
Two others have been sentenced for battery on a police officer, and another for assaulting a police officer. Several more were arrested for lesser offenses.
The Labor Day incident met the definition of “riot” found on merriam-webster.com, or in any dictionary, as well as the California Penal Code Section 404.
Enough, already. Last Labor Day’s incident at Reed Street was a riot. It was also a disgrace to our community. I am overjoyed at the opportunity to prevent another riot, as well as other intolerable beach behavior when I cast my ballot to make our beaches alcohol-free.
David Kutnock
Playa del Pacífico
Enforce existing laws before writing new ones
I want to express my opinion on this subject: I am against the ban, and there are many more like me out there.
I used to take my employees to the beach for a beer every Friday afternoon, as a type of team-building exercise. It was a way to relax and let the stress of the work week fade away, as well as having a good time outside the office with your coworkers. This is now gone, and it’s just not the same anymore. People come to Pacific Beach to relax and enjoy life, and the draconian enforcement of the trial-ban is ruining it for everyone ” locals and tourists alike. I’ve seen families busted in front of their kids. Why?
Do you really think they will ever come back now? And this isn’t a one-time occurrence, I’ve witnessed this multiple times.
I’ve also had to personally warn other fathers with children that it’s no longer OK to have a beer at the beach. Why do grown adults with their families have to conceal a beer? These aren’t troublemakers with kegs and beer bongs, they’re families and tourists! These blanket-ban laws, combined with overzealous enforcement, are ruining the relaxed atmosphere of our beaches. This is not the image we want to portray of America’s Finest City.
I firmly believe that a compromise that is suitable for all parties can be reached, but we need to reign in Kevin Falconer’s knee-jerk reaction to the unfortunate incident from last Labor Day. The voters will ultimately decide this, but their previous vote says that they enjoy having an adult beverage while at the beach, responsibly. Let’s enforce existing laws against being drunk-in-public before we write new ones, especially when they are so overly broad as to unfairly affect many innocent San Diegan’s.
Gordon Nall
Playa del Pacífico

Compromise is the best solution to the booze ban
I understand that the permanent ban on booze on San Diego beaches will become a ballot measure for November’s ballot. I understand that this decision is a hot button issue for many San Diegan’s (including myself), and will no doubt draw much public interest as the general election gets closer. That being said, I don’t think it is in the best interest of the community to have such a black and white measure on the ballot. I believe there should also be an opportunity to vote for the ban on booze during the busiest summer holidays as Mayor Jerry Sanders once proposed.
As a longtime resident of PB and frequent beach visitor there is no doubt the benefit that the ban had on the major holidays ” Fourth of July this year was especially pleasant with the reduced pollution and public drunkenness. However, I do not feel that taking everyone’s right to responsibly enjoy an alcoholic beverage on a normal day is the right course of action. Many people, including my friends and myself, enjoy a few beers while playing some horseshoes or bocce ball while on the beach. San Diego is a little different, a little cooler, a little more laid back. Taking that freedom away from SD makes us more like Orange County, Los Angeles and all the other cities to our north. San Diego is better then that.
Furthermore, I believe that a compromise (summer holiday ban) has a better chance of passing. Otherwise, I am afraid that we will have the same voter reaction as in past elections; people mobilize and then there is no compromise at all ” no ban at all or total ban; either way, one side is unhappy.
Now is a time to agree to a compromise.
Jared Schulz
Playa del Pacífico