On Fairness - Representative Whitehouse's Response to Councilor Obrey's Question

In response to his letter of August 6th, Councilor Obrey asked if it was fair to businesses that paid for liquor licenses that BYOB businesses could be open later. Below is Rep. Whitehouse's response.

Thank you for that question. I can see how that might seem like a concern because both involve being a place to drink, but the economics of the market actually do not show that bar consumption and BYOB activity are competitive activities. The two spaces serve different purposes.

But let us assume that they are competitive and that bars do feel they are losing business to BYOB establishments. This ordinance would do nothing to address that concern as it is currently structured, and creating a curfew that is 2 hours before the bar curfew does not seem even to me.

Furthermore, the facilities which are licensed are those where one acquires alcohol: bars, restaurants, liquor stores, etc. To purchase the B which one BYO's they have to go to a licensed liquor store (or brew it themselves I suppose), so they have patronized a licensed establishment. Even if BYOBs were banned entirely, people would still have the ability to purchase liquor from liquor stores and drink at home or anyplace else the found a place to do so.

What appears to be "leveling the playing field" turns out to be picking winners, choosing to support bars over liquor stores.

The ordinance will also affect a variety of other events such as wedding receptions, holiday parties, etc. I would not think a wedding reception is competition for a bar. We also find a class issue here. Wealthier people can afford $8 for a glass of beer. Lower income people cannot. So, while a wealthier group might just go to a local restaurant or bar for their celebration, a lower income group might choose to rent a space and create serve their own store bought liquor to save money. I speak as one who has been an organizer of such "lower income" events, which were quite safe and which ran quite late, so I know what I'm talking about.

Finally, Midnight Hookah in particular fills a niche which a bar cannot: providing lounge space for people who get off work at late hours. There have been efforts in Hartford to create some kind of 2-4 AM liquor license to serve that community, and it has failed so far. This means that the only way that someone who gets out of work at 2 AM because, for example, they are a bartender or bar owner, is for a BYOB facility to offer them extended hours. If we're talking about fairness, I believe that the people who poured us cold ones all night deserve to crack open a cold one themselves among friends.

It should also be noted that, at the time this was written, the ordinance could create a midnight curfew all week long, and it was amended by Councilor Heede to change the weekend times to 1 AM.