Savannah Calls on City Council for Bartender Licenses
An article recently posted on the Savannah Morning News website is urging its city council to pass a law requiring its bartenders to hold city-registered licenses, as other local Georgia communities such as Columbus do, in order to serve beverage alcohol.
The call for the requirement is in an effort to hold individuals responsible for over-serving and serving to underage drinkers, as opposed to holding an entire establishment liable for the mistakes of one employee, which can result in the shutting down of said establishment.
According to the article, posted on savannahhow.com:
“The council’s influence over those who sell alcohol currently lies in the power to revoke an establishment’s privilege to serve drinks. The prospect of losing thousands of dollars on a temporary suspension of drink sales is a powerful impetus for bar and restaurant owners to train bartenders and staff to avoid serving anyone under the legal drinking age of 21. Losing a license altogether could sink a business…
Bartenders are routinely fired when they put a business in jeopardy. But the long-term risk to an individual server is slim when that person can find another job at a bar just down the street…
Through the individual ID, the city government can track the server’s offenses. Two or more instances of selling to an underage drinker, and that person’s ability to work as a bartender may be revoked in Columbus. That means there’s a greater incentive for not only bar owners, but for bartenders to sell alcohol only to those old enough to drink.
Police in Columbus say the number of sales to underage drinkers has dropped since the ordinance went into effect – both in terms of the bars or restaurants that serve alcohol, and in repeat offenses by individual servers.
While Savannah should move ahead on a bartender’s license, local drinking establishments should also make themselves known as bad places to try to pass a fake ID. State law says anytime a server suspects an ersatz ID, that person, “shall immediately thereafter summon a law enforcement officer who shall be authorized to seize the license.””
Click here for the full article “Carding Bartenders” on savannahnow.com
