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Cheers! Alcohol Sales Approved At Sims Park

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By KLINT LOWRY

The Suncoast News

Published: November 26, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - There's an old saying that the two things people should never want to see being made are sausage and laws.

But New Port Richey City Council managed last week to grind out and approve by a 4-1 vote a resolution that will allow nonprofit organizations to include alcohol sales at a limited number of events in Sims Park.

And they did it in a way that made it palatable to both sides of an issue that has been brewing on and off for decades and has been coming to a head the past three months.

The permits would only be available to tax-exempt 501(c) nonprofit organizations, and city council would have absolute authority over who gets the permits. Sales and consumption would be restricted to designated areas in the park, and permit holders would be responsible for the added costs for police, fire rescue, public works and parks departments attributed to the alcohol sales.

Each permit would be good for a maximum of three days, and would have a sales cutoff time of 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, an hour earlier than current permits issued for events at Cavalaire Square and on private land south of Main Street.

Just as they did Nov. 5, when the ordinance had its first reading, dozens of residents came out to support or oppose it.

Before opening the floor to public comments, Mayor Scott McPherson threw out the first olive branch. He suggested a one-year probationary period for the amendments.

This would give proponents the chance to prove the amendment will do what it is intended to do, help draw high-quality events to the city, allow the nonprofit groups sponsoring them to raise more money and help law enforcement use its resources more efficiently, particularly in regards to alcohol consumption, according to the mayor.

'This Is A Win-Win'

After a year, council would hold a special meeting to review the results. At that time, if the residents don't like what the council decides, it would give them a wide window to get a binding referendum on the April 2010 ballot to keep alcohol out of Sims Park.

"To me, this is a win-win," McPherson said.

During last week's discussions, a recurring question of whether voting on this issue constituted a conflict of interest for Councilwoman Judy DeBella Thomas, director of the nonprofit Greater New Port Richey Main Street.

There were similar questions, but of a lesser degree, about McPherson, who is chairman of the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce and president of the New Port Richey Rotary.

City Attorney Thomas Morrison said there are two levels of ethics that need to be considered: the city charter and state statutes. For both McPherson and DeBella Thomas there was no conflict of interest by either standard, Morrison said.

Under the charter, conflict of interest is narrowly defined, Morrison said. It pertains only to contracts or land sales from which a council member would directly profit. Under state statutes, conflict of interest doesn't apply because the ordinance is citywide.

"It's like a congressman who pays taxes voting on an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code," Morrison explained. "He's not barred from voting on it because it's a law of nationwide application and it doesn't inure to his special benefit, even though once it passes it will raise or lower taxes and will benefit him."

In the case of DeBella Thomas, because the resolution isn't specifically written for the benefit of Greater New Port Richey Main Street but for all nonprofit groups, it does not qualify as a conflict of interest, Morrison said.

In addition, there aren't grounds for her to recuse herself from voting, even to avoid perceptions of conflict.

A Matter Of Tradition

Councilwoman Marilynn deChant made a motion to reject the resolution allowing alcohol in the park, which failed by the same 3-2 split as the Nov. 5 vote, with deChant and Councilman Bob Consalvo on one side and DeBella Thomas, Marlowe and McPherson on the other.

"I don't think it comes as any surprise that I am standing resolute to my original decision," deChant said. For her, it was a matter of traditions and character, for the city in general and particularly Sims Park.

"There are so many things that tell me at so many different levels that alcohol sales, possession and consumption in Sims Park of all places is absolutely something we should not even be considering," deChant said.

Once the motion to deny the resolution was voted down, Councilman Rob Marlowe added some teeth to McPherson's idea by suggesting a one-year sunset clause be written into the resolution.

"By putting a sunset date on it, it essentially forces the hand of the council," Marlowe said. "We must come back and revisit this at this time next year one way or another, because if we don't it will just go away."

Though he had voted in favor of the resolution, Marlowe said, he had some reservations, and this addition would make him more comfortable in going ahead.

Consalvo returned the gesture, suggesting that he would be willing to approve the resolution if, in addition to the sunset clause, the number of available permits was reduced from 12 a year to six.

With the passing of the resolution, Sims Park will now see up to six events in 2009 that will include the sale of beer and/or wine, with concerned parties on both sides of the issue watching in anticipation of another debate about a year from now.

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