URGENT! March Membership Meeting Follow-Up
Following a discussion on pub crawls at the March meeting, City DOT hosted a meeting this week for representatives of South Baltimore communities (Brooke McDonald and Betsy Homer attended for Federal Hill) with Tom Akras of the Liquor Board and representatives of City departments and the police who are involved in reviewing applications for pub crawls.
Two important outcomes that signal some hope for keeping these events tolerable for communities:
(1) The City agreed to ensure early notice to affected communities of applications for pub crawl events so that community concerns can be considered (and hopefully addressed) prior to the issuance of a permit. They also agreed to post-event reviews with communities.
(2) All the City staff and Mr. Akras called for residents to report to the Liquor Board, either by calling 311 or on-line, any bad behavior, or in the case of dangerous or criminal behavior, 911, from this Saturday’s Irish Stroll in Federal Hill. If using the on-line 311 connection, make sure you specify that you want to direct the complaint to the Baltimore City Board of Liquor License Commissioners. The City reps all indicated they hadn’t heard complaints from residents before (!!), so keep your eyes and ears open on Saturday and if you see bad behavior, let the City and the Liquor Board know about it!
We all hope for a pub crawl that is under control, where attendees have fun and everyone stay safe. But if we see things out of control, let’s let the City know about it!