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Mayor Charlie Hales is taking another swing at wrangling control of bar patio hours from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
The mayor will address the OLCC on Thursday, April 25—the morning before his State of the City address. It's his second pitch to get the commission to let Portland set earlier closing hours for bar patios than the rest of Oregon.
The OLCC is voting on new rules tomorrow that say outdoor seating must close at 11 pm on weeknights and 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays. The city wants patios near residences to be quiet by 10 pm every night.
"We're going to take our case to the full commission," Hales' policy director Josh Alpert says, "and continue to advocate for the fact that Portland has different needs than the rest of the state."
Hales made an unannounced appearance at the OLCC's rule hearing March 21, speaking to a room full of angry neighbors and one OLCC staffer assigned to record comments. This time, he'll address the decision-makers.
Such boozy decisions haven't gone well of late for the city.
As WW reported in today's Murmurs, a bill pushed by City Commissioner Amanda Fritz to establish alcohol-impact areas in Portland died quietly in the state house last week. That bill was a response to the OLCC's decision last July to quash a plan to ban sales of malt liquor and cheap wine downtown.
WWeek 2015