Agenda Packets - 1985/01/02 - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 I MEMO TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNC L FROM: CLERK-ADMINISTRATO DATE: DECEMBER 7, 1984 SUBJECT: LIQUOR SALES BAN DURING STATE WIDE ELECTIONS Mayor McCarty was recently contacted by Simon Simon, owner of Simon Liquors regarding the provisions of Municipal Code Chapter 100.09, Subdivision 1 which in part prohibits the sale of intoxicating liquor between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the day of any state wide election. The 1984 Legislature repealed provisions in State Statutes which contained the same prohibition. Many cities in the Metropolitan area in response to the repeal of the statutory prohibition also removed similar prohibitions from their ordinances, however, we did not do so in the City of Mounds View. Mr. Simon has requested that the City consider repealing this section as it is causing him lost revenue on these days. I would, as the staff member responsible for the conduct of City elections, take a very strong position opposing the repeal of this provision on the basis of our experience at the most recent national elections in November of 1984. At that time both myself and several City election judges were forced to deal with intoxicated residents wishing to cast ballots. Fortunately, in all cases these individuals were not inebriated beyond the point of being coherent and were in no way violent, however, the level of their intoxication placed in our minds questions regarding their ability to cast a valid ballot and what would have happened if their level of intoxication had been greater than that we experienced on that evening. I feel that the significance of the occasion, namely a national and state wide election choosing individuals who will have signficant impact upon our lives over the next two to four years justifies any reasonable effort to discourage the use of any legally provided intoxicant and, therefore, would strongly encourage the City Council to retain the provisions of this section of our City Code. DFP/mjs