Council meeting wrapup

• One of the unusually contentious items was the proposed ban on public drinking. Now, I don't have a problem with this in the slightest, but apparently there are some paranoid people at Pomona Habla who thinks this gives permission for coppers to barge onto porches and send folks drinking beer to County, or randomly arrest people walking around Downtown carrying a red cup from one art gallery to another. Their unease with the ordinance is bizarre because you can't leave a ABC-regulated restaurant or bar with alcohol in your hand, and the cops wouldn't have time to enforce the first unless the situation was egregious.
  
  It may be good to have that power in reserve to prevent debacles like Fourth of July in Huntington Beach, where there was once massive drinking adjacent to the public street, causing public disturbances. This could also be used as encouragement to break up large parties. However, "public place" will now only include businesses and the road right of way, and will specifically exclude residences, unless they become a public place by charging for admission (which won't address the issue of big "private" parties).
• Speaking of which, there will be a checkpoint somewhere in the city on Wednesday, Earth Day, between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. When I find out where, I'll post it, or just look for members of the aforementioned association diverting traffic with their protest signs.
• In the "locking the stable door after the horse has already left" category, you have David Armstrong appealing the determination of adequate parking for the Fox Theater, which opened on Saturday. The Fox management has agreed to place signs to divert concertgoers to remote lots within the downtown, and the City will extend parking time limits on streets within the commercial zone to include evening hours, but apparently that wasn't enough for Mr. Armstrong. Not surprisingly, this appeal was turned down.