Buried in my story Wednesday, and at the meeting it described,
was the Kitsap Transit board’s approval of liquor ads on buses. The
idea has been floating around since spring,
and got more ink then.
The board ran out of time and held the resolution over at both
its May and June meetings, then gave it limited discussion at the
end of a packed agenda Tuesday.
Service and capital development director Steffani Lillie said
Transit only received two public comments. Both were against. The
tease to my earlier story on Facebook might’ve been a better
indicator of interest. There were at least a few dozen,
comments, pretty much split for and against. I wish I could review
them, but that was two months ago. Talk about being buried.
I remember it was your typical Facebook stuff — crackpots on
both sides with a few good points sprinkled in. Most commenters
hadn’t read the story, otherwise I doubt there’d be much
opposition.
The ads can’t be provocative. No girls in bikinis or anything
like that. They can’t show people actually drinking booze. They
have to be accompanied by disclaimers stating the legal drinking
age and to drink responsibly. Lillie or executor director John
Clauson must approve them. It’d be a stretch to believe they’ll
encourage kids to drink.
Some board members supported the idea as being good for the
burgeoning local brewing and distilling industries, which Poulsbo
mayor Becky Erickson said was the “whole reason” she voted for
it.
County commissioner Rob Gelder was OK with the change, as long
as Transit asserts control. “It’s important that we don’t
compromise the brand of Kitsap Transit,” he said.
Bainbridge mayor Ann Blair abstained from the vote because her
city council hadn’t discussed the issue. County commissioner
Charlotte Garrido was the lone no vote.
