4/9/2008 9:58:00 AM Big talk on underage drinking Town hall addresses alcohol, youth
From Staff Report Williams-Grand Canyon News
A number of local organizations and community leaders held a well-attended town hall meeting at the Williams Recreation Center to examine underage drinking in the Williams area. The April 1 meeting began at 5:30 p.m. Agencies such as the Coconino County Sheriff's Office, the Coconino County Attorney's Office, Coconino County Board of Supervisors, Williams City Council members and city personnel and a number of other organizations took part in the event.
Speaker Amber Dent, 27, said she believed the April 1 town hall meeting was a productive one. Dent's brother, Matthew Dent, perished in the Sept. 10, 2007, accident on Perkinsville Road that took the lives of five local youth. She said she hoped some good would come as a result of town hall.
"It seemed like it was productive. I got some ideas that I hadn't thought about. People seemed to offer some good solutions. I like the idea of including juveniles in the process of prosecution toward their peers. I thought that would be a good way to let them experience both sides of the system," Dent said. "I think if people take it seriously and act on the information that we got it will improve the situation in Williams."
Patricia Helgeson, of the Williams Alliance, said the town hall meeting was a part of a national effort geared toward alcohol prevention for youth. Approximately 2,000 town hall meetings were to be held simultaneously nationwide during alcohol prevention week.
Williams City Manager Dennis Wells attended the town hall and said several key components were discussed. Currently Arizona is one of 20 states that do not require those that purchase kegs of beer to register those purchases. Requiring that keg purchases be registered and imposing tougher penalties on bootleggers were both suggested, in addition to raising expectations of youth, Wells said.
"We need to encourage kids to dream big. When they are not drinking all the time, they can visualize the things they can accomplish," Wells said.
Five pages of raw data were collected during the town hall meeting from six different focus groups, said Williams Alliance Director Beth Britton. Since some points are mentioned in the raw data multiple times, Williams Alliance staff are analyzing the data and will release a full analysis at a later date.
The six groups included business/law enforcement, government/public officials, support services, Hispanic, parents and youth. The groups were asked to list three actions that can be taken to prevent underage alcohol abuse, three actions that can reduce the demand for alcohol by underage individuals and three actions that can reduce access to alcohol by underage individuals.
