The Finance and Executive Committee of the East Baton Parish Metro Council recommended an ordinance Wednesday that would make it more difficult for bar patrons to get discounted drinks.
The ordinance, proposed by the Campus Community Coalition for Change in October, would make it illegal for bars and restaurants to sell drinks below retail price or in oversized containers, host alcohol-related games or advertise alcohol promotions.
The committee passed the ordinance four to one to push it closer to passage by sending it to the full Metro Council on Dec. 14 for an up-or-down vote.
Councilman Mickey Skyring, whose district includes part of the University, was among those who voted in favor of the ordinance.
In preliminary discussions, three people spoke in favor of the proposed legislation: CCCC Executive Director Nancy Matthews, Mothers Against Drunk Driving State Executive Director Janey Dewey-Kollen and Sarah Kennedy, a mother who is sending her daughter to college in the next year.
“Sixty-five percent of LSU students who reported participating in drink specials reported driving afterward,” Dewey-Kollen said. “This is a common sense solution to a public safety problem.”
Matthews offered other statistics in favor of the proposed ordinance.
“Eighty percent of Baton Rouge voters agree that drink specials lead to binge drinking,” she said.
But Darren Adams, owner of Reggie’s bar in Tigerland and the only person to speak against the proposal, disputed Matthews’ logic.
“To suggest that lower drink prices encourage people to get drunk is like saying lower speed limits encourage people to drive faster,” Adams said.
In a pamphlet he distributed to council members titled “The Truth About Alcohol Statistics,” Adams disputed some of the CCCC’s statistics related to DWI-related fatalities and the frequency of binge drinking.
While Adams spoke to the committee, Matthews was visibly shaking her head in disagreement.
Despite the argument, most of the council members spoke in favor of the ordinance.
“If you’re going to [binge drink], get it done before 8 o’clock,” said Councilman Pat Culbertson. “I think that’s perfectly reasonable.”
Councilman David Boneno, the only member to vote in opposition, said he was fearful the ordinance would only encourage drinkers to leave the parish to find specials.
“I am fearful of creating indirect harm from causing people to travel to get the drink special,” he said. “I would be concerned that there may be a counter problem [of drunken driving] created by this.”