Mont. Co. Needs More Alcohol to Retain MCPS Graduates?
Riemer, Young Dems Ask: Can Young People Afford To Live In MoCo?
...“When we look at young people that we educate in this county, we spend, the average is $180,000. That’s what it costs us to educate a person all the way through our public schools, which is a testament to our commitment to education. But when our young people graduate from Montgomery County Public Schools, do they stay in Montgomery County or do they go to college and move to some other part of the country or some other part of the region,” Riemer asked. “The unfortunate news is that they are not staying in Montgomery County. They are moving to other parts of our region. They are moving to other parts of the county. We have to do a better job, absolutely in my opinion, at least capturing our share of young people who want to move to the Washington region.”...
...One participant complained about Bethesda’s lack of options and the 1 a.m. closing time for bars. Riemer mentioned the 50-50 alcohol to food ratio requirement, indicating it could face scrutiny as part of the county’s initiative...
Riemer's right.
ReplyDeleteForcing all night club owners to become a successful restauranteur is tying the entire industry's hands.
Chefs that make good meals don't come cheap. Meals that aren't that good can't be expected to sell well. People ineterested in paying higher margin for good food often don't wish to be hit with pounding music at the time so you miss out on some common clientele.
You produce a necessity to accomplish a very tenuous complicated calculus to get a goal accomplished (50% food sales) that has almost nothing to do with your core mission.
Throw in the smoking ban and you have an explanation for the dead night life of Montgomery.
Picture a world where we insist McDonald's sell a beer for every happy meal that goes out the door. It's only slightly less silly. It's not what they DO. Let a club be a club, let a restaurant be a restaurant. Let either be both if they want to give that a go. But a LAW that forces the unwieldy marriage of the two? It's a bad idea that should have been put aside long ago.
Why? What benefit would Montgomery County see from more drunks on the road? Do we need more trauma surgeons? Less young people? More AA meetings?
DeleteWhat about gambling? Why didn't you argue for gambling, drinking and smoking. Now there's a winning combination for any community.