Voters living in the Bronzeville community’s 11th and 33rd precincts will see referendums on their Feb. 22 ballots asking them if they want to ban open liquor sales at two area liquor stores.
@font-face { font-family: “Times New Roman”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }Voters living in the Bronzeville community’s 11th and 33rd precincts will see referendums on their Feb. 22 ballots asking them if they want to ban open liquor sales at two area liquor stores.
A community organization is hoping to shutter Calumet Food & Liquors, 315 E. 43rd St., in the 11th precinct and Rothschild Liquor Marts, 124 E. Pershing Rd., located in the 33rd precinct come Election Day.
Mell Monroe, president of the Bronzeville Area Residents’ & Commerce Council, a non-profit organization that serves condominium owners, renters, homeowners and commerce enterprises, said it collected over 250 signatures from registered voters in the 11th precinct in its effort to close Calumet Food & Liquors, while Apostolic Faith Church, 3823 S. Indiana Ave., collected over 300 signatures from voters in the 33rd precinct to close Rothschild Liquor Marts.
The organization’s goal is to rid the community of unwanted liquor stores, said Monroe, who added that bars, banquet halls and restaurants are acceptable alternatives to liquor stores because at these establishments customers cannot take liquor off the premises.
“Liquor stores attract the wrong crowd. They also interfere with tourism and commerce,” he said. “We are not against liquor being sold in Bronzeville but are against packaged liquor sold.”
He defined packaged liquor as alcohol customers can purchase and carry outside the business.
There are some 20 liquor stores spread throughout Bronzeville’s precincts but Monroe said the organization is fighting one battle at a time and – for now – only liquor stores. He acknowledged that other stores, including grocery stores, carry packaged liquor.
The organization did not have any official statistics to support its claim that liquor stores breed crime and other bad elements to communities but Monroe contends that it is a well-known fact that liquor stores have historically crippled the Black community.
“About 95 percent of liquor stores in the Black community are owned by other cultures and ownership of these liquor stores have not been sensitive to the needs of the Black community,” he said. “A lot of liquors stores are located by CTA train stops like Calumet Food & Liquors, so it becomes a safety issue because when residents (especially women) get off the train going home, they are sometimes harassed by people standing outside liquor stores begging for change and selling illegal items like bootleg DVDs.”
Ald. Pat Dowell said she is not against stand-alone liquor stores in her 3rd Ward but does support the referenda to close these two establishments.
“I have met with Calumet Food & Liquors and asked them to make changes for the betterment of the community, and while they did make some changes more is needed,” she said. “So yes they need to be closed down.”
Rothschild Liquor has also failed to be a “good business tenant,” the alderman said.
She added that she does not support a blanket policy to vote precincts dry and she plans to review any future referenda on a case-by-case basis because “not all liquor store owners are bad business tenants.”
And while Calumet Food & Liquors is the only liquor store located in the 11th precinct, Monroe said if BARCC is successful at closing down Calumet Food & Liquors it may target others.
Calumet Food & Liquors Manager Kamel Fakhouri disputes Monroe’s assertions.
“I have nothing to do with what people do outside my store. When I see people loitering or fighting I call the police. There is not much else I can do,” Fakhouri told the Defender. “We do not want to cause any trouble and we are willing to work with the alderman and community residents to do whatever it takes to stay.”
He explained that his store has been located at its current location for the past 35 years and there was never any big movement to rid the community of liquor stores.
“When there were public housing buildings throughout Bronzeville no one complained about liquor stores being here. But now that is gone and more homes are being built with new residents moving into the area so now liquor stores are bad tenants,” Fakhouri said. “Personally, I think liquor stores are being unfairly targeted.”
Calvin Woods, manager of Rothschild Liquor Mart, declined comment.
According to the Chicago Board of Elections, the boundaries for the 11th precinct are 43rd Street to 45th Street & Indiana to King Drive and Indiana and Prairie between 45th & 46th Street, and the boundaries for the 33rd precinct are 37th Street to 40th Street & Calumet Avenue to Pershing Road and Prairie to King Drive.
By law, signatures from 25 percent of registered voters in each precinct are needed to have a referendum placed on the ballot, Monroe explained.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
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