Sides Stake Turf in Beach Drinking Ban Fight : Fans of Downing a Few ‘Brewskis’ Think Possible Ordinance Is All Wet

Dale Berghart and his buddies were out having a few beers, when the subject of a ban on drinking on city beaches crept into the conversation like an unwanted intruder.

Berghart scrunched up his face. He scowled. He muttered obscenities. Then he said what he really thought.

“I’m a Vietnam vet--I fought for this beachhead!” he said, referring to Ocean Beach.

Berghart’s geography notwithstanding, he left no doubt that he was angry. He saw the enemy behind every can of Miller High Life stacked on the boardwalk wall.

Equally outraged were Mark Finley and James Locascio and all the others who surrounded Berghart.

“O.B.” is where these men drink. The ban would extend to all city beaches, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The San Diego City Council is expected to pass the measure at its meeting Monday.

Residents in beach communities want the law to combat vandalism and diminished property values caused by “rowdies.” Police favor the measure because it will give them greater leverage in fighting a growing problem.

Some critics say existing laws cover the crisis and that the city can ill afford beefed-up police patrols to enforce new regulations.

Berghart sees it as nothing less than a violation of civil liberties.

“This is where we meet our friends,” he said, wiping the suds off his beard. “What would they rather we do? Slam heroin or snort cocaine? It’s like drinking is all of a sudden this federal crime.”

The crowd at Ocean Beach invoked the dignity of the Constitution in saying they should be allowed to drink whenever and wherever they please.

“It’s just not right,” said Mark Finley, 31, who said he works as a cook at a local restaurant. “A lot of these people at O.B. have no home to go to. What is society doing about these people? We’re not fighting, harassing, shooting or maiming. We’re just drinkers sittin’ on our butts, not hurtin’ anybody.”

Finley belched and said, “This disturbs me. I have a job. I’m a taxpayer. It isn’t right for someone to tell me I can’t stand on this here beach sand and drink a brewski. This town is so damn up-tight.”

Helen Duffy, president of the Mission Beach Town Council, which favors the ban and has lobbied tirelessly on its behalf, did not resist the description. She said “up-tight” was a fair and warranted adjective, for good reason.

“It’s very disturbing to go to work at 7 in the morning and find that the puddle of liquid by your mailbox is not water but some drinker’s urine,” she said. “It’s really disgusting, and it ought to stop.”

Duffy lives on Mission Boulevard, not far from the roller coaster at Mission Beach.

“The ban is being sought because there are problems in the late evenings associated with drinking at the beaches, and the beaches are residential as well as recreational areas,” she said. “A lot of activities permissible during the day really interfere with residential living at night. Drinkers are frequently loud and boisterous, they leave lots of trash and show disregard for basic hygienic respect.”

‘Getting Out of Hand’

Jim Moore, president of the Pacific Beach Town Council, said his group endorses the ban.

“The drinking is getting quite out of hand,” he said. “The longer it goes on, the harder it is for cops to quiet it down. Many people wanted a complete ban on alcohol on the beaches, but we see this as a better compromise. It allows people to drink until a reasonable hour, and then put it away. I know of people who’ve spent anywhere from $250,000 to $1 million for an oceanfront condo or house, then have to put up with this. It’s just not worth it.

“It seems like everybody turned loose by the mental health department is down at the beach at night, drinking. All the psychos, freaks and weirdos are down there. Sooner or later, the city has to do something about the homeless problem. The homeless are invading the beaches and drinking at night.”

Moore and Duffy said the quality of life has eroded in residential areas near the beaches and that the California fantasy of living on or near the water has become, in Duffy’s words, “the definitive mixed blessing.”

“Mission Beach is still an absolute delight to go home to,” she said. “Even now, the water is still warm. You can go body-surfing at night. The water smells good, it feels good, but at the same time, you deal with these characters out carousing, these good-time Charlies who forget that the rest of the world just isn’t on vacation.”

Enforcement Problems?

If the ban is approved, critics suggest enforcement might be a problem. During the summer, police make beach patrols a high priority, when the size of the staff doubles from 8 to 16 officers. On a recent weeknight, between 8 o’clock and midnight, no police officers were spotted during a random survey of Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach.

Moore sighed and said, “Well, at least the ban would give the police an added tool. It won’t completely stop the drinking or the hooliganism. I guess that won’t happen until we add more police and jails. But I hope it curtails it a little bit. Anything is better than what we have today.”

Mike Gotch, who represents the 6th City Council district, which includes La Jolla, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach, isn’t sure. Gotch believes “existing laws, already on the books,” are enough to curb desecration of private property and many of the offenses Duffy is angry about.

Still, Gotch said he might vote for the measure. He remains opposed to a total ban but might agree to the nighttime compromise. He simply hasn’t decided.

“My position on a total ban is that it’s simply not a good use of police manpower,” he said. “And this measure is certainly the camel’s nose under the tent. That’s what I don’t like about it. To pass another law that requires the police to arrive on the scene at 10 p.m. detracts from higher priorities and matters of a greater life-and-death nature.”

Enthusiastic Support

Officer Jim McGhee, who runs a police community relations office in Pacific Beach, disagrees with Gotch. He supports the ban with enthusiasm.

“You generally get your rowdies down there after 10 p.m.,” McGhee said. “Those are the folks who come down to the beach to play their loud music and create havoc among the neighborhood.”

McGhee said existing laws don’t cover the problem.

“The thing is, you have to see the crime being committed,” he said, “whether you’re talking destruction of private property, urinating on private property, etc. But with an alcohol ban, if you see them drinking, you arrest them and eliminate a lot of the other stuff right away.”

McGhee said nighttime drinking is more of a problem at Ocean Beach and Mission Beach than it is at Pacific Beach and La Jolla Shores. But he said Fiesta Island may pose the worst problem of all.

“On weekends, you’ve got 2,000 to 3,000 out there drinkin’ at night,” he said. “Playin’ loud music, too. We do have a problem with crowd control in that area. Between June 1 and Aug. 31, we had 115 arrests for public drunkenness at Fiesta Island alone, plus 836 minors in possession of alcohol. So, that’s the hot spot.”

On the boardwalk at Pacific Beach, Katherine Gold, 21, and Sandy White, 22, were both drinking beer, watching waves roll gently into the shore.

“I’d say the cops have a pretty good hold on it as it is,” White said. “It’s all so silly. It’s like the city wanting to ban smoking in public places. People are getting so carried away with all this stuff.

“Maybe Mission Beach is a different problem (than Pacific Beach). At times, Mission Beach gets violent and rowdy, and Ocean Beach is almost uncontrollable. That’s where the real crazies are, the bums and the homeless drifters. But the ban would lash out at La Jolla Shores and Pacific Beach, where I don’t think it’s any big problem. Not even in the summer.”

White said friends of hers, who live along the boardwalk at Pacific Beach, are nervous about the ban.

“These are folks who like to walk outside with a glass of wine in their hand,” she said, “but with the ban, if they venture too far, like onto the boardwalk, they could be nailed for drinking. How absurd.”

Craig Yager, 26, and Guy Jones, 25, were sipping beer farther down Ocean Front Walk. Jones said they understand the motive for the ban. Youthful “problem” drinkers give older, more responsible drinkers a bad name, he said.

“Still, the police could be off doing more important things,” Yager argued. “They could be out catching rapists. That’s a big problem in both La Jolla and Pacific Beach. Why can’t they spend their energy doing that?”

Along the Mission Beach boardwalk, Tim Scheinzeit, 25, was waxing philosophical about the ban’s effect on his life style.

“I get bad energy just thinking about this,” he said. “I sit here enjoying the ocean, having a beer. I ain’t causing no drunken disrespect. It all depends on how you project your energy, man. I don’t project no negative energy. The only authority is God. The police really have no authority. God has the power. Nobody can tell anybody anything. To do that creates an energy of flux which violates the laws of thermodynamics, I mean the very principles of thermodynamics, and the beach way of doing things, man. I mean really, man, this is just crazy.”

While Scheinzeit continued his beer-drinking, and his pontificating, to the silent accompaniment of a covey of friends, a group of sailors from the aircraft carrier Constellation swilled beer and warmed themselves by a roaring fire a few feet away. The sailors asked that their last names not be published.

“We’ve been out in the middle of the Persian Gulf protecting America,” said a young 19-year-old named Ryan, “and then we come to San Diego and get hassled by the cops for drinking a beer on the beach. That is some howdy-do. I got a ticket out here the other night for under-age drinking. I can fight and die for my country and drink on the base, but I can’t do it here. Does San Diego love the Navy as much as it says it does? I don’t think so.”

“What’s the purpose of a beach if you can’t party, man?” echoed Ryan’s friend, Greg. “You know what, that ban’ll never work. It’ll cost too much to enforce. I mean, how many cops you see around? I ain’t seen any tonight.

“What good is a law if a cop won’t enforce it?”