California Assemblyman Matt Haney wants to bring life back to downtowns across the state of California…by allowing bars and nightclubs to serve alcohol until 4 am, two hours past the current cutoff at 2 am.
Don’t look now, but I think the assemblyman may have been over-served.
The extended times would apply only to venues within locally-defined “hospitality zones” on Fridays, Saturdays, and official state holidays.
The San Francisco Democrat believes this move would bring life back to dying downtowns and draw more tourists, especially in cities that are still struggling with the long-term fallout of California’s draconian COVID-19 lockdowns. He didn’t say “draconian.” I did.
On Instagram, Haney wrote, ”You don’t have to be a person who goes out until 3 am to understand it’s something that helps our state … A thriving night time economy is a win-win and has massive positive ripple effects for restaurants, hotels, cafes and retail stores.”
Melissa Buckminster, a supporter of the proposal and spokesperson at the Downtown SF Partnership, said in a statement that the proposed change “presents a clear opportunity to build on downtown’s growing nighttime momentum.”
While I have great sympathy with the libertarian argument that the state should not determine when bars and nightclubs should stop selling booze, let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that downtowns are struggling because of a lack of available alcohol.
Speaking of bad decision-making, California’s strict, totally capricious and anti-science lockdowns created a hangover that the entire state is still suffering from. Whether it is learning loss for students, empty storefronts in strip malls, or a declining population, Gavin Newsom’s lockdowns are still wreaking more havoc than a senile motorist plowing through a street fair.
In addition to that, California Democrats have uniformly mismanaged the state’s major cities.
That is, the ones they haven’t burned to the ground.
A listener to my radio program on KSFO in San Francisco named DJ recently emailed me about his outing to downtown San Francisco. DJ wrote, “I decided to try out a weekend night in downtown San Francisco this past weekend. Picked up a lady friend and off we went. Drove to 6th and Market Street. OMG!!!! it was a scene from night of the living dead. 10 pm horrific. People walking in the middle of the streets. People dealing drugs, people passed out on the streets, police everywhere not doing anything. All the street parking was full, and no parking signs everywhere. Homeless people trying to sell parking spots, no driving allowed on Market Street. It was pure hell. Never again. Downtown San Francisco is history. Kaput, finished. Cooked, done.”
This same sentiment was shared by countless emailers and callers into the show.
None of their criticisms had anything to do with a lack of alcohol. It’s the basics; rampant crime, homelessness, open-air drug sales and use, a lack of cleanliness and available parking, and everything else that we know to be true in California’s biggest city centers.
Hard to imagine these filthy cesspools becoming more inviting or more prosperous by adding a few thousand drunks searching for their car keys at 4 am.
Haney, Newsom and their fellow Democrats are almost entirely in charge of California’s biggest cities, and allowed the downtowns to deteriorate into the condition they are currently in.
If California’s elected officials expect people to eat, drink and party downtown again, they need to make sure that those spaces are clean, safe, and offer available parking.
If not, I say we announce “Last Call!” for these bums and vote them out of office. There must be somebody around who knows how to run this state, as opposed to running it into the ground.
Unless and until that happens, thirsty Californians will be setting sail with Captain Morgan someplace else.
John Phillips can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on “The John Phillips Show” on KABC/AM 790
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