Woodstock Liquor Czar - too much power?

Was it a mistake for the Woodstock City Council to dismantle the Liquor Commission a few years ago?

What was left was, in effect, a one-man liquor commission, because the only person remaining in charge of booze in Woodstock was Mayor Brian Sager. Sager retains the title of Liquor Commissioner, even though there is no liquor commission.

Prior to dismantling the Commission, there were three liquor commissioners. There were appointed by Sager, as Mayor, with the "advice and consent" of the City Council. The liquor commission meetings were open to the public. Minutes of meetings were available to the public.

Now? If a liquor licensee or  applicant wants something, he must go on bended knee to the Liquor Czar and be happy with whatever bone is thrown his way. Meetings are scheduled at City Hall, and they are not announced to the public or open to the public. The City Council is informed of the mayor's actions as Liquor Commissioner.

The "bone" now is the privilege of letting people drink their own wine, if they carry it into a restaurant. Who even knew they could do that, but there were apparently "agreements" between the City and restaurants. An October 17 article in the Northwest Herald informed readers that liquor licensees will now be charged a healthy fee for a Permit to let you drink your own wine. There is something about a "corkage fee".

It's too late to read the entire article on the Northwest Herald website, because the article has already been archived. Now you must pay a fee to read it.

You can go to the Woodstock Library and read the file copy of the Northwest Herald for that date.

Or you can go to the Woodstock Library website and, if you are a library cardholder, search the Online Research Databases for NewsBank, and then for the Northwest Herald. Search for "corkage" and the article will be easily found.

Do you think the Liquor Commission should be re-established in Woodstock? Should two residents of reasonable ages and with sufficient brainpower be appointed? Two who would not necessarily just rubber-stamp whatever the mayor wanted?

If so, contact a member of the City Council and ask for your preference to be brought forward.

This, of course, leads me to another topic for a future article. Should City Council members be elected from specific districts in Woodstock, rather than at-large?