Success Story: Lake County's Keg Registration
Prepared by:
Debi MacIntyre, Executive Director
Safe Climate Coalition of Lake County, Inc.
Lake County's Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition
352.408.2009
Debi@safecliamtecoalition.org
AND
Lori Humphrey, Project Manager
Lake County Shared Services Network
352.742.6941
HumphreyL@lake.k12.fl.us
What circumstances provoked attention to the issue?
Upon attending the National Leadership Conference on underage drinking in Arizona and Baltimore, members of the Safe Climate Coalition's Alcohol Workgroup attended workshops addressing keg registration. Capt. Oliver of the Lake County Sheriff's Office shared with us that he felt we needed this in Lake County. He knew from his years of experience that Lake County youth were drinking beer from kegs as they were frequently finding kegs at parties in homes, in orange groves and in the woods. What usually happens at times like this, the kids scatter and all law enforcement is left with is a keg of beer and no way to trace who purchased it, how it got to be at the party and who was responsible.
The 2006 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey statistics informed us that the alcohol use (30 day) of our youth in Lake County had actually moved the county from 6th in the state to 23rd in the state for underage drinking. However, Lake County was still only 2% points away from being in the top 10 counties again for underage drinking with 34.11% of our middle and high school aged youth drinking. In addition, we knew that 16.5% of those children were binge drinking and that 57.8% had used alcohol on at least one occasion during their lifetime.
Frankly, the Safe Climate Coalition (SCC), Lake County's substance abuse prevention coalition and Lake County Shared Services Network (LCSSN) did not like these numbers. As a result, they decided in the fall of 2007 that they needed to go forward in introducing a keg registration ordinance to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners.
When did the attention begin?
The attention to underage drinking for the community really came into focus in May 2005 following the death of two popular teenagers just before graduation while they were driving back to a party after purchasing beer using fake IDs. The SCC introduced the Sticker Shock Project in the spring of 2006 and the "Parents Who Host Lose the Most" campaign in the fall of 2006. Despite the success of the campaigns and media attention they generated, surveys in the fall of 2007 showed an acceptance by the community as a whole of underage drinking in certain circumstances. In November 2007, the Executive Roundtable (the Board of Directors for both LCSSN and SCC) supported moving forward with asking the county to approve a keg registration ordinance.
Who worked to draw attention to the issue?
Initially Debi MacIntyre, the Executive Director of the SCC, encouraged the LCSSN Steering Committee to consider adopting this issue as a project. Lori Humphrey, Project Manager for LCSSN, brought it to the attention of the Executive Roundtable for permission to move forward and then worked with the County Attorney to develop the ordinance.
How did she draw attention to the issue?
Keg registration was discussed at monthly meetings of LCSSN and the SCC. Lori did a considerable amount of research and prepared a powerful presentation that was first discussed in November 2007. Handouts that included statistics provided by the SCC were provided at a variety of community meetings.
What was the reaction to the increased attention?
There was much support for this effort by coalition members, community leaders, law enforcement and organizations within LCSSN. Media articles first appeared in January 2008 after the Keg Registration Ordinance was introduced at a Board of County Commissioner's meeting for an approval vote to advertise the ordinance for public hearing. That appeared to be the first time that we caught the attention of the alcohol industry. It's important to note that we did not experience a negative reaction when we called the area distributors seeking information about keg sales in Lake County in the fall of 2007. In fact, one of them commented that this might actually help them get their kegs back! After the media stories hit the public, the County Attorney's Office received telephones calls from Mitch Rubin, Executive Director of the Florida Beer Wholesalers Association and lobbyist for Anhauser Busch questioning their authority to enact such an ordinance and the statistics provided to commissioners. He also argued the effectiveness of such a policy to reduce underage drinking.
If there was opposition, how was it dealt with?
Once we learned about Mr. Rubin's calls, we knew that he would also be contacting the county commissioners to meet with them. We were made aware of his comments to the County Attorney's Office. We knew that the BCC did in fact have the authority to enact the ordinance at the county level and we had an actual email from the distributor with the statistics provided. Lori and I also set up appointments with each of the commissioners to present our viewpoint.
We prepared packets for each commissioner that contained a copy of the statistics, the SCC's position paper and a copy of OJJDP's Regulatory Strategies for Preventing Youth Access to Alcohol: Best Practices highlighting Best Practice #12: Keg Registration. We also included information about the SCC and LCSSN along with the Coalition's 2006-07 accomplishments. We met with each commissioner and reviewed our materials, answered questions, and sought resolutions for their concerns.
Who was involved in drafting the new policy?
Lori Humphrey met with Kimberly Williams, an attorney with the Lake County Attorney's Office and provided a draft ordinance with "dos and don'ts" obtained from interviews with other communities with Keg Registration laws and research collected from across the US. Kimberly then took this information and drafted the Lake County ordinance.
When was the policy passed?
The ordinance was approved on January 8, 2008 to be advertised for public hearing and passed 5-0 at the public hearing on February 19, 2008. The ordinance will take effect as of May 1, 2008.
Can a copy of the policy be forwarded to us for our clearing house?
Yes, attached in PDF format.
As you worked to get the new policy passed, were any other individuals or groups involved?
Absolutely! This would not have been successful without the support of many individuals and agencies. We appreciate the information and conference call support we received from Carol Hays, Mary Jo Vazquez, Aiden Moore all of PIRE, Michelle Nienhius of South Carolina, and Senta Goudy of the Florida Department of Children and Families. Key players presented testimony to the Board of County Commissioners on February 19, 2008:
Safe Climate Coalition (Executive Director)
Lake County Sheriff's Office (Captain and Chaplain)
Florida Office of Drug Control
Florida ABT (Alcohol, Beverage and Tobacco)
MADD
LifeStream Behavioral Center
Upward Bound Students from Lake Sumter Community College and area High Schools
High School Student Representative
Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance
Florida Highway Patrol
Hundreds of citizens who signed the petition and/or were present at the meeting
How has the community responded now that the policy has been passed?
The ordinance passed less than a month ago and will not go into effect until May 1, 2008, but after print and television media reports, we have received very positive feedback from the community. We have collected multiple emails of congratulations and thanks.
Was media used in this effort? Describe
Yes, reports were included in the Daily Commercial and Orlando Sentinel newspapers along with two network news stations out of Orlando that covered the story.
Is there any one else you suggest I speak with about this?
Commissioner Debbie Stivender, Lake County Board of County Commissioners 352-343-9850 dstivender@lakecountyfl.gov
For political reasons, is there anyone you would like to see mentioned (name or organization) in the success story?
Yes, Commissioner Debbie Stivender of the Lake County Board of County Commissioners was our champion in getting this passed. She has been with us from the beginning and placed the ordinance on the agenda. She fought for us at every level and never waived in her support for the ordinance.
Are there any future plans or follow-up relevant to the new policy?
The Safe Climate Coalition along with the County Attorney and the Lake County Sheriff's Office is moving forward to provide training on the new ordinance to keg vendors and law enforcement. We will continue to collect data on the effectiveness of the ordinance and report these findings to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners. We will also work with other counties across the state of Florida to implement their own county ordinances with hopes of eventually passing a state-wide law.