Re-Invent the Wheel

In his search to re-invent the wheel, Councilman Novak will need more than fix-a-flat to make his “unconstitutional” resolution work.

Mr. Novak now plans to replace his pending resolution, which would let voters petition the right to vote a single establishment dry, with another that includes “MORE” due process for the liquor establishment which might be targeted.

In meetings held on this matter, it has been pointed out over and over to the Councilman, and those on Council which support this resolution, that Liquor Control has rules and laws already in place to support his concerns and enforcement but the Councilman seems bent on “grand standing” and opening doors to “witch hunting”.

Like many who seek the “lime light” of publicity, the Councilman has not done his “homework” or asked the right questions BEFORE he embarked on his crusade.

In “Brookpark Entertainment Inc. v Taft, 951 F.2d 710 (6th Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 820 (1992), the Sixth Circuit resolved that a former version of Ohio’s local option legislation violated due process strictures because it arbitrarily and capriciously permitted the local electorate to forbid sales of alcohol at a particular business premise, thus effectively rendering “dry” a single establishment, while contemporaneously preserving the authorization of all other similar enterprises in the same precinct or residence district to vend alcoholic beverages….Particular businesses cannot be “targeted” under these statues because voters must completely exclude all businesses holding a particular [type of] license. Moreover, the voters cannot vote on the issue again for four years.”

Mr. Novak now needs to see if he can invent a “better mouse trap.”