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Smith said he believed the council had to start somewhere to reduce the growing levels of booze-induced violence he was reading about in reports from Safe City Hosts. He wanted the policy to be a local response to local issues, rather than allowing national players to dictate the ground rules for the sale and supply of alcohol. Rachel Bowen was left as the only councillor who did not support adoption of the policy, a decision she said she had found difficult. “On one hand, I strongly disagree with this one element. “On the other, I wish we could have gone further.
An earlier version of the latest draft proposed 3am closing, with a one-way door policy from 2am. At the most recent council meeting, councillors voted 10-4 in favour of 2am closing for bars, negating the need for the one-way door process. Those who remained opposed were Rachel Bowen, Renee Dingwall, Billy Meehan and Orphée Mickalad. Mayor Grant Smith, who had opposed the early closing because he thought it would destroy nightlife and turn the city into a ghost town, changed his vote at the last meeting because he was worried about the levels of violence that seemed to stem from late night boozing.