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Articles
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| Northeast commissioner to serve on alcohol board |
VOICE writes, "Northeast commissioner to serve on alcohol board
BY BEN WEINSTEIN
Mayor Adrian Fenty recently nominated Northeast resident Nick Alberti to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, the independent panel that oversees alcohol-licensing and enforcement issues.
Alberti, a five-year member of the Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commission, said he is up to the task in part because of his years of community activism.
"I think it's always good to have a fresh voice," Alberti said of the beverage control board, adding that as a neighborhood commissioner he knows how board actions affect businesses and neighborhoods."
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Alberti also said he has seen "how a responsible business can benefit the neighborhood ... and an irresponsible business can be a detriment," citing liquor stores that have "changed attitudes" under new owners. "They've gone from being a problem to being a benefit. ... They're still selling the same products, but it's how the owners conduct their business."
Alberti said he has been frustrated by past alcohol-board decisions -- and by the slow speed with which those decisions are made -- but he added he does not fault the process. "It may not have been what I like as a resident, but I've understood their decisions."
Advisory neighborhood commissions regularly vote on licensing issues, and during Alberti's term the board will most likely take up cases the Northeast advisory neighborhood commission will also yea or nay. But, according to a board spokesperson, Alberti will recuse himself from those votes.
Beverage control board member Mital M. Gandhi, a Forest Hills neighborhood commissioner, said he votes only on the commission's licensing issues for businesses in his single-member district -- a small slice of the panel's area. For other licensing matters, he said he leaves the room until discussion and voting is over. "I don't want to hear about anything," he said, in order to remain impartial as a beverage control board member.
"I ran for the ANC and I feel like I need to do justice to my constituents," Gandhi said. But, he added, there are few license holders in his district, so a conflict is rarely an issue.
Alberti said he expects to recuse himself from cases that affect his neighborhood commission. His single-member district -- roughly between East Capitol, C, 12th and 16th streets NE -- has few license holders. But the commission covers much of the H Street corridor, a commercial strip with several bars, restaurants and liquor stores.
The D.C. Council has not scheduled Alberti's confirmation hearing.
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Posted on Nov 15, 2007 18:54pm.
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