To the city’s credit, it crumpled and threw away a draft proposal of its own that had been floated in the fall. That ordinance “is off the table,” Mayor Nancy Vaughan said last week. The city rightly has decided instead to start from scratch, with a blank slate.
The second of the two virtual town hall meetings on the issue, both led by Vaughan, was held May 10. Both sessions have raised some good questions.
What comes next, the mayor said, is a draft proposal based on the public and stakeholder input. That’s when sharper disagreements are likely to arise. There’s no way everyone will be happy with the final result.
But it’s better to come up with lasting solutions that at least most of the parties — the City Council, police and bar and club owners and the general public — can buy into rather than to rush a policy onto the books that no one likes or supports.