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The OLCC Enacts Changes: Kids Win!

April 18th, 2008 [11:11AM] Posted by: CASEY JARMAN | 13 COMMENTS

IMG_0732Ok, so maybe “kids win!” is too simple a way to wrap up today’s Oregon Liquor Control Commission ruling. But the four present commissioners (short commissioner Lindy Fisker, who previously opposed the changes) voted unanimously to approve the change to minor posting rules that they rejected back on December 13. The changes give Portland’s music and arts venues more freedom in crafting a liquor control plan that works for them, meaning spaces like Holocene and Someday Lounge may have the chance to admit underage patrons in the future, while non-alcohol-serving venues like Backspace could have an opportunity to sell booze.

Here’s a very amateur video of the very boring decision:

Today’s changes appeared mostly unaltered from those presented to the commission December. Some of the sillier definitions were still included (“Stage Review” means a live performance with adult or sexual themes of a type usually performed on a stage, involving players performing such activities as skits, song, dance and comedy routines.” Oh, Vaudeville!). But then we can’t be expected to bound from the 19th century into the 21st.

This morning’s crowd, which filled the room to a little over half its seated capacity, featured a few well-dressed kids and a lot of older, balder folk.

Commissioner Philip D. Lang, or “the chairman” as he is called fondly by friends and associates, started off the meeting by informing “a member of the media” that he or she had parked in the commissioners’ spot, and “I am not only asking, I am demanding that you move your vehicle.” A nervous Channel 8 cameraman asked “Is it me? Channel 8?” Commissioner Lang shot a stern, humorless “move your vehicle” at him, and the gentleman exited.

Before members of the public made their comments, chairwoman Christine Lewandowski dropped a huge hint that the commissioners were going to approve the changes, thanking the OLCC staff for all their hard work in explaining and writing the legislation. She explained that the commission believed the changes would strengthen liquor enforcement rather than weakening it (the latter being the commission’s original concern), and later Stephen A. Pharo, the OLCC’s Executive Director, reassured the commissioners that the changes will be more enforceable, his contention being that the old rules were outdated and therefore unenforceable. Pharo did little to quell Commissioner Bob Rice’s concerns that it would cost the commission and the state big money to enact the rules changes.

Today’s community voices were all in favor of the changes, including a representative from Sam Adams’ office and the Someday Lounge. Ezra Ace Caraeff of the Portland Mercury (the chairman declined to pronounce his last name) presented the out-of-country Cary Clarke’s statement, and an audibly nervous gentleman named Charles Thompson, voice trembling in front of the commission, told an off-the-cuff anecdote about being shut out of the now-defunct Northeast Portland venue Blackbird. Josh Olmstead of the Multnomah County Youth Commission was a bit more prepared.

Bruce Fife of the Musician’s union (who bears some resemblance to Eugene Levy), another longtime advocate of the changes, presented as well. After the victory he had this to say:

Before the unanimous vote, the commissioners mentioned to those gathered that there were no opposing voices present, chalking the lack of opposition up to the clarity and care put into the proposed rules changes.

So whose victory is this? It sounds like the commission didn’t so much have an ethical turnaround as they had the rule changes and their implications explained to them further. It was suggested by some after the vote that the commission had just been held accountable by the public, and caved under public pressure. But on the record, anyway, everyone involved seems in agreement that this is a step in the right direction for Portland’s all-ages music scene.

Despite the comparative clarity of these new rules concerning minor postings, the OLCC still has plenty of wiggle room to reject proposed control plans and continue to make things difficult on the mid-sized venues these changes are aimed at assisting. Time will tell whether this is a landmark shift or another baby step, but Portland’s underage music fans would certainly seem to have something to cheer about.

 

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