I spoke at my town Board of Commissioners meeting during public comment on the second hearing of the Social District. There will be a third meeting, because it is legally required for towns to have two meetings to confirm the streetmap of a social district. The Commissioners, 4-1, voted for a map that encompasses the entire downtown and nearby businesses and butts up right against residential areas.

This time, I went for a stronger family- and identity-oriented perspective in my petition against a social district:

"I’m pleased to come before you again to speak about the proposed Social District. I still have nothing against responsible drinking or the businesses that sell alcohol.

This town has been my home all my life. I think of the children I will have and the town I want to raise them in. I want to take long walks Downtown, enjoy H L Miller Park, and relax in a Social District filled with comfortable seating. I envision cards over a picnic table, and a casual get-together with friends and neighbors to chat, eat, and people-watch while my children and their friends scribble with chalk or blow bubbles. I see a place filled, year-round, with young couples, families, and members of all generations, and all of this in Downtown.

A Social District should be one that not only welcomes families but beckons them in. Must open containers of alcohol in public come first if we want to build and strengthen our community? Why does the public consumption of alcohol equal vibrancy? Is this town not already a vibrant place, with a bustling Downtown and ever-growing suburbia?

We look to other towns’ policies to replicate, but why should we? People come here because this town is unique. If we model ourselves after our surroundings, we are no different or better than our surroundings, and we will lose our identity and what makes us special.

Therefore, I encourage the Board of Commissioners to vote AGAINST amending Ordinance Chapter 20, Article one, General Section 20-2. Thank you for your time."