April 4, 2008

Do you remember the first time?
How many of you remember your first time? I do. It was November 1972. I was 20 years old and had come home from college, ready to make a stand with my father. I had a choice. I could tell him. Or I could keep quiet. That was my mother’s advice.

I didn’t take it.

There I was setting the table for supper in the dining room, when my dad came home from work. First I greeted him. And then I asked him: “Did you already vote?” He had. I couldn't wait to tell him I had too. For the very first time during a presidential election. And I was eager to let him know I was my own person: I had voted for George McGovern.

My father was apoplectic. Except, what could he say?

He had fought in WW II to preserve democracy and instilled in his kids the importance of voting, of being counted. To him, voting was a sacred privilege as well as a right. He believes that when we don’t vote, we dishonor the many men and women the world over and through the centuries, who have fought and are still fighting fiercely to be counted. No matter how much my dad and I differ politically, on this we agree.

The older I get the more I believe that if we are not part of the solution, by vote or by deed, we are part of the problem.

In yesterday's Advocate, you would have found a Letter to the Editor letter (page 9, “Advocating business growth”) from the Board of Directors in support of the sole ballot question being put to voters on Saturday, April 5. If you are an Arlington resident and a registered voter, the Chamber encourages you to cast your vote in favor of reducing the number of restaurant seats required (from 99 to 50) to apply for an all alcohol license.

Letter to the Editor, April 3 issue of The Arlington Advocate
Dear Editor:

On Saturday, April 5, Arlington voters will face one ballot question: whether to grant the Board of Selectmen the authority “to reduce from 99 to 50 the minimum capacity for restaurants and function rooms for the sale therein of all alcohol beverages to be consumed on the premises.” At Town Meeting in 2007, Warrant Article 25 addressed this issue. After considerable debate, Town Moderator John Worden conducted a standing vote, resulting in 162 voting in the affirmative and 8 voting in the negative to reduce the number of seats required. The Arlington Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors wishes to explore the effect of this on the business community, and by extension, the Town.

Currently Arlington can authorize ten all alcohol licenses for use by restaurants with a minimum of 99 seats, of which seven are in use. This requirement prevents the town’s 8-10 mid-sized restaurants (with 50-98 seats) from offering the same full dining experience that patrons now enjoy at Flora, Tryst, Ristorante Olivio, Not Your Average Joe’s, Punjab Fine Indian Cuisine, Shanghai Village and Jimmy’s Steak House.

When beer/wine licenses were first introduced, the town benefited from a burgeoning restaurant scene and it put us on the dining map in greater Boston. With the increase in all alcohol licenses last year, both Olivio and Punjab have expanded and are flourishing, as a result. Keeping the number of seats at 99 precludes Arlington’s mid-sized restaurants, with neither the room nor the inclination to expand to that size, from offering patrons the same enhanced dining experience.

The Chamber of Commerce believes that Arlington’s reputation as a dining destination benefits other businesses by attracting potential customers to town. Our restaurants are also a source of enjoyment for both local and out-of-town citizens. For these reasons, the Chamber endorses the decrease in the number of seats from 99 to 50.

The Arlington Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting have been wise to provide the voters with a choice to reduce the number of seats required for a restaurant to apply for an all alcohol license.

The Chamber’s Board of Directors is not advocating increased alcohol consumption. It does, however, advocate for business growth and allowing mid-sized restaurants an opportunity to provide their patrons with the same selection as a larger restaurant can and the opportunity to flourish as the larger restaurants have been able to do.

The Chamber of Commerce endorses ballot questions that promote business and foster a vital and thriving community; the Chamber encourages you to cast your vote in favor of this ballot questions on April 5.

Respectfully,

Robert E. Bowes, Bowes/Pennell & Thompson GMAC Real Estate
Kathleen K. Darcy, Leader Bank
Dr. Maureen Gormley, Gormley Chiropractic & Massage Therapy
Rob Mirak, Mirak Automotive Group
Richard S. Moskow, Richard S. Moskow Associates
Rebecca Riccio, writeCHANGE
Jan Whitted, Artbeat the Creativity Store
and Michèle M. Meagher, Executive Director, Arlington Chamber of Commerce

I hope you will cast your vote and be counted tomorrow.