I’d like to thank Nathan O’Conner for a recent Letter to the Editor regarding his stimulus toward creative thinking and for appealing to the good sense of our mayor and City Council.
I agree that by addressing an issue seriously we must not lose our sense of fairness, proportionality and discipline. An incident of a drunken riot [Labor Day at Pacific Beach] is as serious a threat to the public safety, as are incidents of drunken driving.
Should our communities be treated to a more stern sentence for public drinking in every circumstance at every place and for all time?
I think not.
Since our city has experienced and may again experience incidents of a drunken riot, I suggest that the city put every community on notice that the consequence of another such incident shall be the suspension of public drinking in that community during that event for a certain time.
Give notice to every community that after a third such incident a permanent ban on public drinking in that community [be imposed] for that event. That way, every community will have been given fair notice that we take an incident of a drunken riot most seriously and that individual communities are to be held responsible for the events they host (street fairs, parades, holiday outings, sporting events, et cetera).
I hope that it’s not too late for our voice to be heard.