The White Center Chamber of Commerce, partnering with the White Center Community Development Association (CDA), will host a forum for White Center restaurant, tavern and store business owners to consider how to restrict the sale of alcohol to the chronic alcoholic population residing in White Center.

The forum will be held at the Triangle Tavern, 9454 16th Ave., SW, on Wednesday, March 31, at 6:30 pm.

The forum, entitled “Options for Managing Homeless, Chronic Alcoholics in White Center”, will include information from the King County Sheriffs, the Seattle Police Department, and the Washington State Liquor Control Board. It will address options for White Center, including; 1.) an Alcohol Impact Area designation where sales of specific brands most often used by chronic alcoholics are restricted by law; 2.) an alternative Good Neighbor Policy, where businesses collectively sign, and agree to follow a voluntary restriction on the sale of these same products to the chronic alcoholic population, 3.) other options identified by participants. The forum is open to the public.

“As business owners and residents know, the chronic alcoholic population is expanding here in White Center. Our Chamber, working with our CDA, is the appropriate vehicle to consider the policy options that are available to us” stated Mark Ufkes, newly elected White Center Chamber President. Ufkes will be the moderator of the forum. In a recent late night inventory of alcohol related trash in White Center, volunteer boy scouts confirmed that 90% of the empty alcohol containers in the alleys of the White Center business district were products made specifically for the chronic alcoholic population. One scout pointed out, “one 24- ounce can has the alcohol equivalent of five cans of beer and its sells for 99 cents in several White Center stores.”

This forum, the first in a series, is hosted by Geoffrey “Mac” McElroy, owner of the Mac’s Triangle Pub. “As a tavern owner, Mac knows the challenges we face with this issue first hand, and sees how it is impacting the business environment in White Center” Ufkes went on; “Mac immediately opened his business to host the meeting because he saw the importance of all business owners working together to get a handle on it”

Development of an alcohol monitoring strategy, to reduce the number of chronic alcoholics living on White Center streets is one of the newly identified priorities for the White Center Chamber of Commerce. Ufkes, working closely with newly elected Chamber Vice President Frank Cantwell, and a group of new Chamber Board members, are all committed to ensuring that a formal policy to address chronic alcoholism is developed through community involvement, and then effectively implemented.

Questions; Mark Ufkes, White Center Chamber of Commerce (206) 595-7124