The state agency that regulates alcohol sales begins the first of three forums on "nuisance bars" today in Des Moines. Lynn Walding is the division administrator of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.
Walding says the forums will look at local efforts to clean up the nuisance bars after the issue has popped up in several cities recently. He says they’ll talk about what a nuisance bar is and what can be done about them. Walding says the discussion will include elected officials and the public.
Walding says they will give a little education about how the current process of dealing with nuisance bars work and maybe explore ideas about how to make the process work better. Walding says dealing with nuisance bars isn’t always a quick and easy thing to do.
He says first you have to define a nuisance bar, which he says can be frustrating to some people "You know, one person’s favorite watering hole, is another person’s eyesore," Walding says. Once the nuisance is identified, then it you move to the process of dealing with it, and he says that process sometimes doesn’t move as fast as some elected officials would like.
Walding hopes the three forums generate lots of input. Walding says the Alcoholic Beverages Commission is anxious to hear the public comments so they can maybe craft a solution for the legislature or handle it in house. The forum today in Des Moines is from one to five p.m. at the city hall. The second forum is October eighth at the Davenport City Hall, and the third is November fifth at the Council Bluffs City Hall. Both the second and third forums are also from one to five p.m.