By Greg Wagstaff
Tuesday, October 17 City Hall – The proposed amendment to the alcoholic beverages ordinance for the purpose of prohibiting public discrimination was discussed and public comments were taken.
By and large, the board’s narrow focus was only on the issue of illegal discriminatory practices of certain bars that could be made subject to the denial, suspension or revocation of alcoholic beverages licenses.
There were questions to the Attorney as to the legal aspects of the City’s action to enforce prohibitions that would impact only certain bars but not restaurants or other businesses.
Only Commissioner Kelly Girtz commented on the larger scope of the problem in this city, saying that if discriminatory behavior is manifest in bars, surely there is an undercurrent of discrimination in our community as a whole. Commissioner Girtz addressed the Board noting that hundreds of communities across the country are dealing with the problem of discrimination by creating Civil Rights or Human Relations Commissions.
Commissioner Girtz made it clear that such a commission would not have legal or judicial powers, but would serve as a liaison to our diverse community and would serve to make recommendations to improve the quality of life in Athens through acceptance and inclusiveness, education and advocacy.
It is apparent that the Board of Commissioners reluctance to consider a broader solution signifies their preference for the status quo: to sweep the problem under the rug. We have witnessed the tragic ineffectiveness of the status quo in recent headlines. We can no longer afford to continue to marginalize the members of our society impacted by the plague of discrimination.