The Lindsay City Council denied a request to serve alcohol at the McDermont Fieldhouse following comments by two long-time Lindsay residents.

City staff in charge of the McDermont Fieldhouse was requesting for a conditional use permit to serve beer and wine with meals at three concession windows throughout the facility. While city staff recommended the project because the center already had the proper mixed use zoning, two residents were against of mixing drinking adults with kids.

Ellen Blumer and Janie Elson both talked about the adverse affects of serving alcohol at the youth recreation center. Blumer, a member of numerous organizations including the Lindsay Hospital Guild and a resident since 1958, said she felt there were enough bars and restaurants in Lindsay where people could have a drink with their meal.

“I am adamantly against it,” said Blumer, a councilmember herself from 1986-1996, after the meeting. “Everytime something new comes to town they want to serve alcohol there, but this place has been designated for youth. If parents can't be without alcohol for three to four hours something is wrong with them. We have enough drunk driving in our community that our police department doesn't have time to babysit. This is just not acceptable.”

Elson, director of Lindsay Unified School District's Healthy Start program, said Lindsay youth are already above the state average of teenage drinking. Sixty-one percent of LUSD high school freshman and 67% of juniors reported having at least one glass of alcohol in their lifetime, according to a 2006 survey of about 250 freshman and 200 juniors. Forty-three percent of freshman and 48% of juniors admitted to having a glass of alcohol in the last 30 days. Nearly the same number admitted to binge drinking (5 or more drinks) in the last 30 days.

“I don't like the mix of adults drinking while kids are playing basketball,” she said. “We are getting mixed up with what this place is all about. We are giving these kids the wrong impression that this is how grown ups have a good time. We are also providing alcohol to those people who are transporting our kids. I think we are appealing to those people and losing the deeper value of being a role model.”

Elson also mentioned that allowing alcohol could cut off certain funding sources for McDermont. When the Teen Zone was started in the mid-1980s, Elson said it was entirely funded by drug and alcohol prevention programs.

Council member Danny Salinas made the motion to allow the sale of beer and wine during mealtimes at the sports and recreation center but the motion was not seconded by any of the other council members, denying the permit. Councilmember Esteban Velasquez, who spoke favorably of the project at the last meeting, was absent. Mayor Pro-Tem Pam Kimball was the only council member who spoke out against the proposal at the initial public hearing on Feb. 26.

“I got at least a dozen calls from people thanking me for speaking out at the meeting,” Blumer said. “I think there are a lot of people who felt this way but didn't feel like they could make a difference. I hope people see that you can make a difference.”

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