Letter: Alcohol ordinance was more newsworthy

I am taken aback as to why the News-Press called the monument story the number one news story of the year when the more important news was that the Glendale City Council passed a city ordinance to allow alcohol to be served on public property for the sake of generating revenue. What is the message the council sends to the public when it promotes alcohol usage?

The comfort women monument was a political issue, but how does that issue affect Glendale citizens every day when they drive the streets of Glendale? Most people know that alcohol kills more people every day, week, month and year than one Sandy Hook incident, which ultimately led, for political reasons, to the closing down of the city gun show on public property. Our former chief of police said there had never been any problems with law and order at the Civic Auditorium where the gun show had taken place for many years.

When an individual is intoxicated, one loses one’s ability to react in a safe and timely manner. Just one second of a motorist taking his eyes off the road can result in an entire family being killed by a drunk driver. A person arrested for a DUI, in my opinion, is a person carrying a weapon.

I hope the next time a member of our City Council or the editorial board of Glendale News-Press sees a police department DUI check point, they can remember they could have made a difference. Rather than remaining silent, they could have promoted the message of no alcohol on public property.

Mike Mohill
Glendale