"Ridiculous and Stupid" A Letter to the Editor

Small Town Shenanigans 

 

There is a saying that goes something like, "If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention".  Over the past few years as I have campaigned around the city, and developed connections with different people I have begun to tap into the grapevine of local information.  These are the background stories, what's happening behind the scenes, the unofficial stories.  I don't refer to them or publish them because they are often shared in confidence, and can't be verified or given proper attribution.  But, every once in a while something pops into the public sphere that when you look at it, is so absurd on its face that it demands comment.  Such is the case regarding a recent hearing of the Liquor Control Commission in Zion, and what follows is the text of my letter to the editor of the Zion-Benton News.

To the Editor,

 

Like many others, my property tax bill arrived in the mail last week.  After reading through the various appropriations for the city and the school districts and so forth, I turned my attention to the front page of the Zion - Benton News and the headline; “Callie’s faces liquor license violation”.  Callie’s being the restaurant inside the Inn at Market Square on Sheridan Road.

The story that followed detailed the proceedings of a hearing before the Liquor Control Commission held on May 1^st at City Hall, chaired by Mayor Hill.  At first, the story only held passing interest for me, until I read the details of the violation and how it was determined.

“The Zion Class B liquor license requires that a restaurant have at least 50 seats, not including any at a bar. Zion Police Department's compliance officer, Sgt. Rick Brown, made arrangements for two sets of plain clothes officers to rent a room at the Inn at Market Square and go to Callie's and order a meal with alcoholic drinks on March 15 and again on April 15.

Sgt. Brown said the purpose of the compliance check was to watch the sale of alcohol, verify the count and location of chairs as well as to verify signage (display of license).” – Zion - Benton News 5/5/2016

What is being described isn’t a “check”, to ensure compliance, but an undercover surveillance operation with the intent to persecute.  If the purpose was to ensure compliance it could have been done in a single visit by one officer, with a clipboard and a checklist.  Instead, the man-hours of three officers and the cost of rooms, meals, and drinks were expended in order to count chairs.  Let’s not forget to add the legal fees and the cost of holding the hearing to the tally. That’s a lot of our tax dollars being used to catch a local business in a technical violation worth a whopping $1000!  On the scale of misplaced priorities this “sting operation” is off the chart, being both ridiculous and stupid simultaneously.

Zion is plagued by real crime, drugs, and gangs and this is how the City is spending it’s time and our money? 

I look at my tax bill again, and think that whoever authorized this farce owes the citizens of Zion an apology, and a refund.

Sincerely,

Christopher Fischer