StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/36378
license is issued, before an inspection of the premises has been done. The licensing division has been working at streamlining its process to get licenses to busi- nesses more quickly. “Two years ago, it used to take an average of 111 days to be issued a license, and in Portland [where most of the applications come from] it was 150,” Allahdadi said. “Just by looking and making modest changes in our process, we have been able to bring that number down dramatically, to 75-80 days in Portland.” And that’s in an environ- ment where, despite the eco- nomic downturn, there have been more applications, not fewer. “And there has been a lot of creativity in the business models,” said Allahdadi. “There’s a trend of food carts becoming little micro restaurants – and wanting a license – and there are the Pedal Pubs [which are businesses that take their cus- tomers on pub crawls and winery tours using bicycle/bars built for 16]. It’s a challenge in licensing to sort that all out.” Once a license has been issued, an inspector, one of the enforcement officers, is dispatched to do an inspec- tion of the premises. This inspection has been modified to be, not only an inspection, but also the start of a long- term relationship. Called First Call, the visit happens within the first 90 days. Started last fall, this new kind of inspection is a meeting where the licensee’s assigned inspector intro- duces him- or herself and “tells [them] all the things they need to know so there are no violations,” said Deputy Director Williams. “We want to help our licensees be successful, not fine them. Our goal is not to give out tickets; our goal is for there to be no violations.” First Call was created in direct response to a licensee suggestion. The Public Safety program of the OLCC, likes its Distilled Spirits program, is very pro- active in reaching out to the businesses, in this case licensees, it oversees. “We started a program called Outreach almost two years ago,” said Williams. “We travel to all regions of the state on a quarterly basis. We don’t have an agenda.” The OLCC changed its food rules and table-size rules for restaurants and bars, based on licensee feedback. Another licensee said he wanted some kind of notification when the OLCC made rule changes that were important to him. Though those types of changes are posted on the OLCC website, he did not, this licensee pointed out, have time to always StateWays s www.stateways.com s July/August 2011 be checking. The OLCC insti- tuted a digital-subscription ser- vice. Anyone – licensee, agent, journalist, citizen – can now sign up to receive email or text noti- fications when the OLCC posts news about topics they are inter- ested in. There’s even an OLCC blog to visit, where OLCC per- sonnel answer questions in the comments section. The enforcement officers, or inspectors, continue to maintain their relationships with licensees after their First Call visit. “Licensees know who their inspectors are and we get a lot of calls and questions from them: ‘Is this legal?’ ‘Can we do this?’ We try to be proactive and help them,” said Pete O’Rourke, who is serving as the OLCC’s enforce- ment director pro tem, after the recent retirement of the agency’s long-time enforcement director, Linda Ignowski. The OLCC’s inspectors are peace officers. They have the authority to enforce the state’s liquor laws. They do not carry guns. They sometimes will work the door of a high-volume licensee with the doormen, citing minors on the spot who are trying to lie about their age. They will also work special events that have high-vol- ume crowds and a high-youth appeal, such as rodeos and big concerts. “We help the licensees to check IDs,” said O’Rourke. “Often, we are the only law enforcement there to help them.” The OLCC’s inspectors also run its minor-decoy program. Again, the idea is to work with licensees rather than be adversaries. “If we do see them sell to the decoy, it’s a violation, but if they don’t, we send them a ‘great job’ letter,” said O’Rourke. “We’ve watched the sell rate steadily decline.” The people at the OLCC keep an eye out for changes on the horizon – and also are constantly think- ing of ways to change themselves, in order to improve. Extending its server education program to clerks work- ing in off-premise establishments is a possibility. So is incorporating more information technology into the licensing process within the next couple of years, to fur- ther streamline the process. Other possibilities on the horizon might be allowing corporations, such as ones that own retail chains, to apply to be agents, also perhaps allowing exclusive liquor stores to sell beer and wine as well as distilled spirits. But, as Deputy Director Williams said, the twin missions of the OLCC, to pro- vide access to distilled spirits for the legal consumers who want them, while limiting the social costs of alcohol misuse, will remain the same. 25