I was talking to the dean of a major medical school who hopes to be president of a University someday. He told me that the two major negatives of the job are handling the football team and student drinking. Here we touch on one of those two.
The Camera's question is what can/should the city do to combat alcohol abuse. A key part of this issue is there are very severe limits on what the city can do because of state statue. Arguably the best answer is to lobby the legislature to give cities the power to limit liquor sales and to reintroduce 3.2 beer for age 18.
And so here we go.
Ken Wilson B+ : Good answers and ideas. And an appreciation of the limits of what the city can do today, and that it should use it's powers carefully.
Rob Smoke C- : No good suggestions to reduce the problem, but no dumb ideas either. So it passes the "first do no harm" rule.
Eric Rutherford B- : Lists specifically what the city should do (all good & reasonable ideas). And then a general statement that we should learn from cities that have handled this effectively - but no specifics.
Tom Riley A : A lot of good specific ideas on various efforts we should create to change the mindset - which hits the source of the problem. He also brings up the possibility of lowering the drinking age. Really good answer.
Larry Quilling B- : Does want to stop lawsuits the city will lose. Aside from that some good general statements. They're the right idea but awfully vague.
Susan Peterson B : Susan gets a lot of points for a number of specific innovative ideas. Coming up with ideas like this is step 1 to finding some new solutions. Not all of them are workable IMO, but are still good starting points.
Eugene Pearson C+ : A couple of ideas. They're good and sensible, but mostly what we are already doing.
Susan Osborne D- : Susan supports "all effective measures." Does that mean the other candidates only support some? Basically a vague generic answer that everyone short of Scrooge would endorse.
Alan O'Hashi B- : Alan actually has a number of very good points, but his answer reads like it was written by a sociology professor which makes it difficult for most (ie me) to understand.
Lisa Morzel B- : Lisa is apparently channeling a sociology professor just like Alan. Again, a number of really good thoughts written using phrases that no one outside of government uses.
Adam Massey C : Short answer that is pretty specific. But no innovative ideas and no real hope that much new can be done.
Kathy Kramer B+ : Easily the most heartfelt post on any Q&A to date in the election. Some good ideas on what to do but even more important, a clear passion to address this issue and an intelligent mind working on ideas.
Nabil Karkamaz D : Reasonable answer and then says "...I am not sure if the state of Colorado allows the city to regulate alcohol through zoning." Nabil, this has been discussed a lot in the community and the city is involved in a major lawsuit over it. If you don't know this you have not done basic homework on becoming a council member.
Philip Hernandez D+ : Basically says nothing. But at least doesn't make a dumb comment.
Andrew Harrison F : no answer.
Crystal Gray C : Basically we need to continue doing what we are doing. Nothing new, not even a general statement of trying to improve. This clearly is not something Crystal is focusing on.
Angelique Espinoza C : Another group of general statements. They all make sense but there's nothing new here.
Macon Cowles B : This was a really hard one to grade. It's mostly talking about what has been tried legally (can you guess that Macon is a lawyer?) and the limits of the laws. Then he talks about trying to the the state leg to change the law (great idea), but then gives up because the leg is busy with other things. So he says we should quit before we try. On the plus side, he managed to use the word caterwauling in an answer.
Shawn Coleman B : Superb answer on not wasting money on lawsuits the city will lose. And a good understanding of where the problem occurs and an excellent concept of the power the university has to address this.
Seth Brigham C : Some good general answers.
Philip Bradley F : Wow, a direct libertarian response. Unfortunately the effects of drunks impact all of us from drunk drivers killing people, to fights, to property damage, to the lives of friends and family impacted as someone destroys their life. And keep in mind that student's minds have not fully developed yet - they are young adults and we should still provide some form of guidance.
Matthew Applebaum A : Ok, a bunch of relatively general answers but in the course of that touches on every key point. Very impressive both in the points and how it was written.
