The timing of the Metro Council’s potential vote on repealing “blue laws” that restrict the times and places at which alcohol can be sold on Sundays couldn’t be worse, says pollster Bernie Pinsonat. The council is scheduled to next take up the issue at its Oct. 24 meeting—less than two weeks before the Nov. 6 general election, in which the seats of all 12 council members and the office of mayor are up for grabs.
“The bottom line is, the council is unpopular enough—why do they want to play games with this?” Pinsonat says. “You’re certainly not helping the image of the council as a whole.”
On Wednesday night, Councilman Rodney “Smokie” Bourgeois lightheartedly joked about Councilwoman Alison Gary’s measure to allow bars to open on Sundays and retailers to sell alcohol before 11 a.m.
“I’d like at this time to thank my colleague here for bringing this up at this particular time and political cycle,” said Bourgeois, a restaurant owner, who then laughed for several seconds before ultimately announcing he would vote to approve the measure.
The council nonetheless opted to defer a vote for two weeks. Reached today, Bourgeois wouldn’t elaborate on his statement.
Also on Wednesday, Councilman Ulysses “Bones” Addison introduced a measure to let bars serve alcohol until 4 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It’s a peculiar move for Addison, who in 2007 opposed allowing liquor and wine to be sold on Sundays. He made no public comments Wednesday on Gary’s measure.
At the same time, Mayor Kip Holden hasn’t voiced an opinion on either of the measures, but instead let Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White do the talking on Wednesday. White told the council: “We’re going to average about 10 more violent crimes per month” if bars are open every Sunday, citing a departmental statistician’s study of the major-assaults division.
Meanwhile, Tara Wicker—who’s been a vocal opponent of repealing blue laws—says if the measure passes, then the city-parish isn’t serious about preventing crime.
“We don’t need another press conference to tell you what we’re going to do about crime,” Wicker says.
Councilman Mike Walker, who is Holden’s best-funded opponent in the mayoral race and has campaigned primarily on a crime-prevention platform in the mayoral race, has also stayed silent on the issues. He did, however, vote against a failed amendment proposed during Wednesday’s meeting that would have pushed bar openings on Sunday to 11 a.m., rather than 6 a.m., as was originally proposed (the amendment failed by a 5-6 vote). He also voted against deferring the measure for two weeks. Gary says she will keep working to get the ordinance passed.
Councilman Chandler Loupe, who excused himself before Wednesday’s public hearing on the measure and didn’t vote, did not return calls seeking comment on how he intends to vote in two weeks.
