Opinion: Editorial

Why can’t we be friends?

Last Thursday, Capitol Neighborhoods Inc. decided to suspend and reevaluate the direction of its Alcohol Issues Committee. It has been a little over a year since CNI laid out an ambitious policy to curtail underage drinking and general alcohol-associated tomfoolery in downtown Madison. The original plan called for doubling drinking citations, adding intervention and treatment and a hodgepodge of other initiatives.

The accomplishment of these goals was left to the AIC, founded ostensibly with the mission to, among other things, “develop working relationships with community partners” toward addressing the problematic drinking-driven debauchery.

The AIC took to the task with gusto and helped introduce ID scanners (purchased partly with university money) in many liquor establishments and lobby for the adoption of an alcohol license density plan.

To be sure, it seems AIC was successful in affecting policy changes meant to curtail the acquisition and enjoyment of intoxicating spirits; however, it did so in a decidedly unilateral and arrogant manner. Along the way, it ignored not only the wording of its mission statement but also critiques from the Madison Police Department about the accuracy of its assessment of the drinking situation, a muted response from the university and strong opposition from students, alders, business owners and even the mayor.

The aftermath finds CNI fractured, since State-Langdon seceded over the draconian behavior of AIC, and mistrusted by the thousands of students living in and around downtown Madison.

CNI Interim President Melissa Berger specifically mentioned the AIC’s “general quality, professionalism and tone of transmissions to the ALRC [Alcohol License Review Committee]” as issues that led to its suspension. Such an honest evaluation of the situation at hand leaves us optimistic that CNI may be prepared to move in a new direction with students rather than against them. There are many issues in which CNI-student collaboration would have the potential to make positive change in the downtown area and city as a whole, and it would be in our mutual interest to recognize those and work together to address concerns like safety, transportation, tenants’ rights and other neighborhood issues.

Should CNI decide to continue advocating for increased enforcement of alcohol policy, we hope this move signals a new willingness to fulfill one of its original goals of campus-community collaboration. We have repeatedly called for more outreach to students and are sorry to say the incorporation of one (questionably qualified) ASM liaison hardly counts as a full and encompassing effort at inclusion.

So, as CNI prepares to move forward, we again renew our call for dialogue. Let’s talk about this, figure out where we each want to go and hash out how to best get there — together.