6/21/2007 4:04:00 PM Local groups back alcohol ordinance Proponents of the drinking ordinance say the measure will help Williams youth
High numbers for alcohol use
An Arizona Youth Survey, based out of the Arizona Justice Commission, is administered every two years to teens at Williams schools. The survey is given to youth from grades 7 to 12. According to Beth Britton, of the Williams Alliance and Williams Unified School District Community Learning Center, Williams is a "hot spot" for underage binge drinking. Results from a recent survey are as follows:
• Most teens that drink in Williams take their first drink between the ages of 11 and 13-years-old.
• More than 69 percent of Williams youth try alcohol before reaching high school.
• Fifty-eight percent of Williams High School seniors drink alcohol regularly.
• Fifty percent of the tenth graders surveyed report that alcohol is easy to obtain.
• Twenty-two percent of eighth graders, 28 percent of tenth graders and 37.5 percent of twelfth graders report binge drinking on a regular basis in the survey.
• Thirty-eight percent of the Williams youth surveyed reported that parents were favorable to drug and alcohol use in their attitudes.
By Patrick Whitehurst Williams-Grand Canyon News Reporter
While Ordinance No. 854 has not been voted on by members of the Williams City Council, local organizations have made a concerted effort to push the measure into the public eye.
Members of the Williams Alliance, who are in favor of the new ordinance, recently discussed the problems of drinking in areas where large numbers of minors are present. The Williams Kiwanis chapter recently offered their support for the ordinance as well.
"I think the perception of this is that we're trying to stop drinking at our lakes, at our parks, and that's really not what's behind this," said Williams Police Chief Herman Nixon, who has worked to implement the ordinance in Williams.
He said similar ordinances were already in place in other areas throughout Arizona, including locations in Phoenix. The ordinance is expected to go before council June 28. It was originally slated for May 24, but was held back due to staffing issues within the city of Williams.
"We have the backing of the Williams Alliance, a chapter of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), community members and Kiwanis. We just got a letter from Kiwanis, so we have a lot of backing out there," Nixon said. "I'm not out there trying to stop alcohol use. That's a bad perception. That's not true. We're trying to prevent alcohol being used in front of our youth. That's not a good role model for our youth. We're trying to prevent our youth from drinking, we're trying to educate them on the dangers of drinking, yet we have adults out there drinking at their programs and we need to stop that."
Currently, officers cannot do anything about the consumption of alcohol during youth-related events. Nixon, along with attorneys for the city of Williams, have recently revised verbiage in the ordinance that would allow for drinking in certain areas and at certain times.
"What's behind it is that alcohol shouldn't be at the events where we have our youth, the rec center, Little League, when there's a non-alcoholic event at the rodeo grounds. The ordinance has been revamped by attorneys and will be posted in certain areas, so it will only be enforceable if it's posted," Nixon said. "I'm not against the rodeo grounds serving alcohol when the cowboys get in there and we have our rodeos. I'm not against that. I am against alcohol at the Little League field or at the rec center, which I think everybody is. The perception is we're trying to prevent all alcohol at Buckskinner Park, Kaibab, Cataract Lake and that's not what it is. People should be able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage if they want to at those areas. They can come in and get a permit for the whole season, they don't have to come in every week," Nixon said. "We're not trying to prevent the use of alcohol in every park. We're trying to prevent it when we have our youth out there."
Patricia Helgeson, with the Williams Alliance and Community Learning Center, said that while the ordinance is geared toward adults, her group is geared toward preventing alcohol in areas where youth are present.
"It's part of the work that we do with the Access and Tolerance, which is a separate committee of the Williams Alliance. Much of our involvement is with members of the community, from Rob Krombeen from the police department, Chief Nixon who participates when he can, Andrew Hamby a councilmember, we have quite a few big names - of people who are involved in the Access and Tolerance Committee," said Helgeson, who added that the alliance works to find ways in which to alter "social norms" for youth.
"We have a lot of people that have come together to try to oversee things in our community, related to the access of alcohol in our community, and the tolerance that we have, that community members, have toward the availability of it, the sale of it and any aspect of it."
"We're interested in any kind of ordinance that would send a message to youth about what's okay and what's not okay, because the legal age for drinking is 21 years of age. It's not 11 and 13 and yet that's when a good portion of our youth are beginning to experiment with alcohol," said Beth Britton, also of the Williams Alliance and Community Learning Center.
"Our unit is part of the Williams Unified School District," said Britton. "The unit's title is Community Learning Center. It's a grant-funded unit and two of those grants are awarded, not to the school district directly, they're awarded because we have an alliance. If we didn't have an alliance, they wouldn't award it. But because the alliance is not really an official entity, it's not a 501(c)3. It's a loosely organized group of people with bylaws and officers and so forth, but it's not a legal entity. The school district serves as a fiscal agent for those two grants. When we go out to the public, we identify ourselves usually as part of the alliance. We also identify ourselves, too, as part of the Williams Unified School District with the Community Learning Center. There are two grants that have been awarded to this community and the first grant is the Drug Free Communities Grant. Drug Free Community Support Program is its official title."
One of the grants administered by the Williams Alliance is the Strategic Prevention Framework Grant. The grant utilizes federal dollars through the U.S. Department of Health Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. The federal dollars are distributed to the state of Arizona, which then administers the funds to various local organizations such as the Williams Alliance.
"There were 11 grants in the state awarded last year for the Strategic Prevention Framework and we were one of those 11," said Britton. "We were fortunate to get it, but also, the downside, is our statistics. That's what made us eligible. Some of the statistics are not what we would like them to be for our community, because we know that our community is a caring community. Our community works hard for youth."
