From Deseret News archives:
Liquor laws not high on agenda
Despite report, Huntsman won't consider changes anytime soon
Huntsman spent the day hearing from half of his 18 transition teams, including the group assigned to look at the state's alcoholic beverage control system.
That group delivered a report that members said included a list of recommendations made by Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson to liberalize the state's liquor laws, such as doing away with private clubs — Utah's version of bars — and allowing wine to be sold in supermarkets.
Huntsman's chief of staff, Jason Chaffetz, said the mayor's recommendations did not come up during Tuesday's meeting. He also said altering the state's liquor laws is not a priority of the new administration.
"The policy issues were not part of the discussions today," Chaffetz said. "I guess at some point, we're going to look at the policy side of this. But first things first."
For Huntsman, who will be inaugurated on Jan. 3, that's economic development.
Although the mayor and other critics of the state's strict control of alcohol have said it hurts tourism, Chaffetz said looking at changing the liquor laws is "not a top-tier priority for us."
Chaffetz said the transition effort is intended to identify ways to streamline state agencies rather than to propose new policies.
Members of the transition team groups have been asked not to talk about their findings. But radio personality Tom Barberi, a member of the group looking at the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said the mayor's recommendations were given to Huntsman.
"We delivered our findings from all the people we had interviewed," Barberi said, including an organization that supports strict laws governing access to alcohol as well as the mayor and others.
Barberi, who has said he agrees with the mayor's recommendations, is a longtime critic of the state's liquor laws. He declined Tuesday to say more about the report.
"Nobody wants to get in front of the governor," he said.
Another member of the transition group, restaurant owner Tom Guinney, said he did not share the same views as Barberi. Guinney, a partner in the Gastronomy restaurant group, said his views stem from the 22 years he has dealt with the state's liquor laws.
He, too, declined to say more about the report. But Guinney said he believes the governor-elect is going to look at all the proposals he was given.
"That does not indicate any particular changes. It does indicate he may initiate some type of process to do that at some point in time," Guinney said.
Just when that will happen did not come up, he said: "And rightfully so. You certainly don't want some of these more controversial topics to help define, straight out of the chute, what his term is going to be."
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