2008 Woodie Awards
Iowa City takes a shot at minors
Ben Sitzmann and Kyle Goodwin
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: News
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The majority of Iowa City bars currently allow people 19 years of age and over to enter and stay until closing time at 2 a.m. Iowa City's city council is considering a 21 ordinance to be issued for all Iowa City bars in an effort to thwart underage and binge drinking.
The vote of banning patrons under the age of 21 after 10 p.m. is set to take place Nov. 6. Iowa City currently follows the 19 and over ordinance which was set in 2003.
Jon Weih, student life director at the Kirkwood campus in Iowa City, said, "It's a lose-lose situation really. If students who frequent the bars are not permitted after 10 p.m. they will find other places in the community to drink."
University dorms and housing have been substance free since 2002. Kirkwood sophomore and Studio Art major Jesse Ahrendsen, 24, resides in Iowa City and agreed with Weih.
"If students 18 to 20 are not allowed downtown then they are forced into throwing house parties in surrounding areas," she said.
According to Marian Karr, Iowa City city clerk, Dr. Wick Dobyns and Mark Martin solicited signatures on a petition and submitted the petition to the city clerk. To get this petition approved they were required to obtain 3,333 individual signatures. The number of signatures needed was determined by the percentage of citizens who voted in the last city election. Dobyns and Martin exceeded that number, collecting a total of 4,162 signatures.
Karr said once the city council receives a petition they have the choice to either grant it right away or send it to the voters. In this case they sent the petition to be voted on by the citizens of Iowa City.
One downtown Iowa City bartender said, "We're putting a lot of effort into preventing this ban from being passed because it affects business heavily."
The polls for voting on the 21 ordinance will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered Iowa City citizens 18 and over are eligible to vote.
The last day to register to vote in this election is Friday.
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