War on Liquor Violations Praised : Activist Cheers Pacoima’s Success in Curbing Sales

Pacoima is making headway in its fight against liquor law violations by bars and liquor stores that figure in traffic deaths and other community problems, a community activist said Saturday.

Augie Maldonado, chairman of the Pacoima Community Coordinating Council’s alcohol prevention project, cited the group’s success at blocking zoning permits for new liquor stores and placing restrictions on existing outlets where drug trafficking or sales to minors have occurred.

Maldonado took part in a drug- and alcohol-abuse conference Saturday at Maclay Junior High School in Pacoima, which attracted about 125 adults and children.

Pacoima and neighboring low-income areas are teeming with bars and liquor stores, and police and community groups say liquor law violations are rampant, including sales to patrons who are underage or obviously drunk. This is one reason the area leads the city in the incidence of alcohol-related traffic injuries and deaths, including 11 such fatalities last year, they say.

Dealers’ Responsibility

Maldonado said his group isn’t out to ban alcohol but to balance the store owner’s right to sell with “our right to safety and protection. There is a big responsibility that goes along with selling liquor,” which he called a bomb in the hands of drunk motorists or gang members.

“We don’t want any more liquor stores here, and we want the ones that are messing up to clean up,” said the Rev. Arthur Broadous, president of the coordinating council.

Maldonado, clad in a “Refuse to Abuse” T-shirt like many at the conference, cited several successes by the alcohol project during the last two years.

Working with other community organizations and police, the group persuaded zoning administrators to deny liquor permits for eight new liquor outlets and convenience stores, he said. Then in the spring, three existing outlets with a history of problems were slapped with restrictions ranging from a prohibition on sales after 10 p.m. to a ban on sales of cold beer and “short dogs”--cheap, unusually strong wine in small bottles.

Maldonado said that on two other occasions, the group persuaded organizers of public outdoor events not to allow alcohol sales.

One goal of the project is a ban on liquor sales in Pacoima after 10 p.m., “and we think we can get that,” Maldonado said.