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| Liquor compliance training pays off |
By: Kay Fate
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Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010 9:41 pm
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Every employee of Gran Plaza restaurant in Faribault must take the alcohol awareness training provided by the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition. The restaurant was one of 31 businesses that passed a recent compliance check. Here, manager Salvador Robl
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For the first time in Becky Ford’s memory, not a single Faribault business failed the most recent alcohol compliance check.
“This is definitely a milestone that we want to recognize,” she said.
In November, the Faribault Police Department — working with underage youths — entered businesses with liquor licenses and attempted to illegally purchase alcohol. All 31 businesses checked the youths’ IDs and refused to sell them alcohol.
The Gran Plaza was among those tested.
“We check IDs all the time,” said server Adrian Gomez. “If they look young, I ask to see an ID.”
An employee there for about five months, he attended the mandatory alcohol awareness training provided by the Rice County Chemical Health Coalition.
The training is an integral part of reducing youth alcohol, tobacco and other drug use in Rice County, said Ford.
The businesses are helping, but it’s not all about the youth, she acknowledged.
It’s a crime to sell alcohol to a minor in Minnesota. A first-time offender faces up to 90 days in prison, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. A second violation brings a fine of up to $3,000 and up to a year in prison.
Both the business and the individual who makes the sale can be held responsible.
“I’m sure the financial incentive helps,” Ford said.
Young employees may be intimidated by carding an older patron, she said, “but that’s all the more reason for them to be trained. That way, they have the skills and knowledge to handle the situation.”
Mike Sandberg is one of three trainers who teach the alcohol awareness training; he’s been doing it for more than four years.
“I tell them to lie,” he said of the young employees who fear being intimidated.
“Just say ‘the boss tells me to card everybody.’ Pin the blame on somebody else if you can.”
Formerly a science teacher at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, Sandberg said the training was “one of the things I was thinking of when I retired. It’s something I can do, and it’s valuable work. It needs to be done.”
The financial consequences of selling to a minor is taught in every class, he said.
“The boss might pay the fine, but he won’t cover your lawyer fees, or the time off work that you’ll spend in court,” Sandberg said.
It isn’t worth it, he tells participants.
“If you don’t know the person, if there’s any question in your mind, ask for identification,” Sandberg said.
The training is held at South Central College in Faribault and the Northfield Community Resource Center. Sessions last about two hours, Ford said.
It’s also available as an on-site service; that’s what The Cheese Cave did.
“Mike (Sandberg) took a driver’s license and broke (the information) down for us, showed us tricks to use to see if it’s a fake,” said Laura Paquette, manager at the downtown Faribault business.
He also brought several examples of identification cards from around the state, she said, including those from Native American reservations.
“If you serve someone who’s obviously intoxicated or isn’t old enough to drink — whether you meant to or not — it’ll come back to you,” Paquette said. “I know our employees are using their skills from the class.”
Sandberg, who estimates he’s taught several hundred people about alcohol awareness, said the reason he remained in the classroom after retirement is simple:
“There are too many people dying on the highways,” he said, “and too many people driving drunk. I have three grandchildren now that I want to be safe on the roads.”
Statistics have shown that alcohol use by underage persons contributes to crime, car wrecks, injuries, sexual assaults and deaths. Law enforcement officers find that alcohol also has a role in many of the more frequent minor crimes and nuisances that are expensive and degrade the quality of life in a community.
Many noise complaints, vandalism, littering and similar concerns involve young people who have been drinking.
“In the end, the classes are keeping alcohol out of the hands of our youth,” Ford said, “and that’s our goal.
“Whatever’s motivating them to do it, it’s getting the job done.”
— Staff writer Kay Fate may be reached at 333-3128.
BUSINESSES THAT PASSED
Haskell’s, Basher’s Bar & Grill, Joe’s Sports Café, Kwik Trip #772, Boston’s Gourmet Pizza, Faribault American Legion, Pizza Hut, Hy-Vee Grocery, Spike’s Bar & Grill, Grampa Al’s, Wal-Mart, Duff’s Liquor, Rice County VFW, Northern Liquor, Bauer’s Paul Bunyan, Knights of Columbus, Lori Ann’s, Depot Bar & Grill, Monte’s Steakhouse, Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits, Carriage House Liquor, Signature Bar & Grill, Bauer’s Southside Liquor, Nik and Jo’s Bar, Boxer’s Grill, Holiday Station Store, Eagle’s Club, Southern China Café, Gran Plaza Mexican Grill, El Tequila and Fugalli’s Liquor Box.
TO RECEIVE TRAINING
In Faribault: 3 p.m. April 6
In Northfield: 3 p.m. March 4;
7 p.m. May 6
For more information about the training, contact Ford at 838-1788 or Jennifer Swanson at 389-7203. |
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Member Opinions:
By: Juice4You on 2/11/10
The results of this compliance check are great to see! Keep up the good work!
By: siera28 on 2/12/10
Yayyy! Good news!!
By: plum on 2/12/10
Good job, all! I wish someone would have carded me 25 yrs. ago as an 18 yr. old; could have corrected my bad judgement, at the time, to go into a bar, drink, drive, and nearly die. Not to mention that it could have saved the bar it's license and they would not have had to close.
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