SAN RAFAEL, California, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Members of Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance (LADAPA) will hold a protest rally to demand that the public retains the right to comment upon any new off-sale alcohol license applications in Los Angeles. The rally will take place immediately prior to a Los Angeles City Planning hearing to review Councilmember Krekorian’s proposed alcohol streamline ordinance that will eliminate public comment from the restaurant alcohol licensing approval process.

If passed, the ordinance would allow businesses to cheaply and quickly get a permit to sell alcohol, while communities will no longer have a voice in how it’s sold, when it’s sold, or where it’s sold. The proposed ordinance will do away with public input and automatically grant licenses if restaurants agree to a set of very weak conditions. Opponents call it “a rubber stamp for harm.”

Two recent criminal indictments point to the need for greater public input and oversight of the alcohol licensing process in Los Angeles. A California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agent was “on the take” in Koreatown; and, Councilmember Jose Huizar, who chaired the PLUM committee that reviews alcohol license approvals for the City, has lost his position and is now under FBI investigation.

Rally

• When: Wednesday December 5, 2018
• Time: 8:30 a.m.
• Location: City Hall East, Main Street facing the main entrance to City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012

City Planning Hearing

• When: Wednesday December 5, 2018
• Time: 10 a.m.
• Location: Los Angeles City Hall, Room 1060, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Who: Speakers Include:

• Sarah Blanch, Director of the Westside Impact Coalition, Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance (LADAPA)
• Albert Melena, Executive Director of the San Fernando Valley Partnership, Inc.
• Leonardo Lopez Ruiz, Community Organizer Social Model Recovery Systems
• Gilbert Mora, Prevention Coordinator for the Behavioral Health Services, Inc.
• Brenda Villanueva, Prevention Coordinator, Pueblo y Salud, Co-Chair of the Los Angeles Alcohol and Drug Policy Alliance (LADAPA)

Why:           

• L.A. residents reject the streamline ordinance unless it’s changed to allow for public input and a public appeals process.
• Currently there are 7,878 businesses that sell alcohol in the City of Los Angeles. Over 1,055 new license applications are being processed right now.
• We cannot allow more alcohol into our neighborhoods unless there are significant protections for public health and safety.
• There is no enforcement plan element in Krekorian’s proposal.
• According to a report by Alcohol Justice, Los Angeles County and City spend $2.2 billion a year mitigating alcohol-related harm.
• To see how alcohol impacts different neighborhoods in Los Angles, visit: https://poursafe.com/ca/abc/license/
• For more information on the “streamline ordinance”  read L.A. City Council file17-0981: https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=17-0981
• Read: California suffers over 10,500 alcohol-related deaths and $34 billion in costs annually.

SUPPORTERS:
Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance
Alcohol Justice
Behavioral Health Services, Inc.
Boyle Heights Stakeholders Association
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight
Community Intelligence
Copalm
Institute for Public Strategies
Koreatown Youth & Community Center
Mothers of East L.A.
P3 Partnership for A Positive Pomona
Paso Por Paso, Inc.
Pueblo Y Salud, Inc.
San Fernando Valley Partnership
Saving Lives Coalition
Spa-2 Communities in Action
Social Model Recovery Services
Tarzana Treatment Centers
United Coalition East Prevention Project
The Wall Las Memorias Project
Watts Healthcare Corporation
Women Against Gun Violence
Women’s Christian Temperance Union

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/147418/alcohol_justice_logo.jpg

SOURCE Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance