MTA board has full plate
The Montana Tavern Association Board of Directors had a lot on its plate when it met at Jorgenson's in Helena March 2: The effects of the smoking ban and the economy on the hospitality business and organization membership, what can be done to reverse those effects, server training programs, coming legislation and more.
The report from the Legislative and Gambling Committee stirred the most discussion, as usual. Committee chairman Ralph Ferraro asked MTA Government Affairs Counsel Mark Staples to give the report. That committee had met earlier in the day.
He opened with a discussion of server training programs and policies, noting proposed rules from the Department of Revenue that were meant to provide incentives for increased rates and frequency of training had a hearing late last year that drew proponents and opponents.
Staples said in addition to spurring more universal training, the rules were meant to fairly mitigate penalties against an alcohol sales license when the business owner had been demonstrably diligent in taking measures to prevent sales to minors and over serving.
An industry coalition-sponsored responsible server training campaign is showing signs of success, Staples said. He said a handful had voiced some criticisms regarding the coalition's nationally recognized "ServSafe" program content, but that trainers were seeking and considerate of feedback.
He said that in his 25 years observing the tavern business, he was aware of only three administrative license revocation actions, which would indicate the status quo administrative penalty structure is not Draconian, but said he, like other business associations and representatives, hoped the public would recognize that "good faith efforts should matter and count."
"The public is very justifiably emotional right now," he said, and these public policy matters are always best considered with calm and rational deliberation. "We're not sympathetic to multiple offenders or high-BAC (blood alcohol content) DUI offenders, but we want to make sure the responsible social adult isn't swept away.
"Eighty percent of first offenders never re-offend," he said, "so we can't accurately say nothing is working." He also noted that he believed "some 90 to 95 percent of prosecutions end in convictions or pleas, so we can't say that prosecutions aren't working either.
"The glaring problem is the re-offender, the multiple offender. It's not a failure of prosecutions; they get convicted. It's a failure, for some, of deterrence.
"The fifth, sixth and seventh offender has been prosecuted and convicted over and over again. What he or she hasn't been is stopped! So in my mind, it's not about tools for prosecutors; they overwhelmingly convict those charged. It's about it not happening again and again. For over 80 percent of those convicted it never happens again.
"The problem, clearly is those for whom one or more convictions is not enough."
He said advocacy groups are discussing the merits of treatment versus punishment and incarceration for DUI and are weighing the costs of both approaches. Ignition interlocks, alcohol monitoring devices and tests, and alcohol evaluations and treatment may all wind up in a mix, he said, but "most authorities, I hope, seem to recognize the multiple and high-BAC offender is the real menace" and therefore warrants the expenditure of the bulk of the resources.
Staples reiterated a recurring theme, that when it comes to under-aged drinking enforcement, it must be applied evenly and that includes some segments of the business that currently are not seeing much scrutiny such as restaurants with "cabaret" licenses, special events and other types of licenses.
Staples said the committee had discussed depressed business revenues, with most reporting some declines, especially in gaming departments. Reasons varied but most agreed the tough environment had to do with the economy, the smoking ban, winter weather or a combination.
He said some innovations within existing statute are being considered by MTA and its business association counterparts, along with the Gaming Advisory Council. He said that, politically, it seems clear that any expansion of gambling is off the table, but noted that maybe some popular variations of poker that exist widely in other jurisdictions could be allowed, such as games that feature second draws or seven-card hands.
He said player reward systems are being enhanced and made more efficient through technology, but that the business needed to be careful to not skew the playing field toward bigger establishments at the expense of the smaller independents.
Tim Carson, who serves on the Gaming Advisory Council and is a route vendor and machine manufacturer, said, "We can sit back and hope for a recovery or we can try to move forward. We need to update our poker rules that are now 30 years old; remove the roadblocks that allow poker to be more entertaining."
As far as player rewards systems go, Carson said current systems are labor-intensive and of questionable accuracy, so some promotional expenditures are wasted. Innovations are coming that could improve their function and efficiency, he said, but the prohibition against player reward points being shared by different locations must remain in place in order to allow the independents to fairly compete.
Darrell Keck said any such systems, including game-set upgrades, need to be affordable for all to benefit. "More exciting games would help us all ... if we can keep costs down and machine revenues up."
Staples said, "So it appears the consensus is, we will support innovations as long as they don't benefit the few and harm the many ... or for that matter, benefit the many and harm a few?"
Carson said enhanced player reward systems under development should lend themselves to improved promotional efficiency which would benefit all operators. Dennis White said that kind of improvement is needed.
R.J. Haffner countered that the current inefficiencies serve as a barrier for all to increase promotional spending which, in the long run, will keep costs down. He said, "That inaccuracy prevents us from all getting carried away with promotions." Kent Frampton expressed similar reservations, but also for the potential for locations to share player data, to which Carson countered such sharing would be statutorily prohibited.
Kris Jupka said she had concerns about the security of player data. Carson said such data is already being collected manually and seems reasonably secure. Jim Walker said most small establishments already know who their best customers are and reward them accordingly, though he wouldn't be opposed to doing it systematically if a system was affordable and didn't erode machine profitability.
Haffner rejoined, "Player rewards systems will just raise our promotional costs."
Staples said, "It sounds like there's no consensus on this one. Should it be set aside for now?" The board agreed, then voted to accept the committee report.
Earlier, Budget and Finance Committee Chairman Mary Jane Heisler has reported the committee decided non-members attending the MTA fall convention should have a membership fee included in the cost of convention registration. She said currently vendors have a membership included in trade show booth fees.
She said the committee wanted to extend an invitation to members of the Alberta tavern owners association to attend the Sept. 13-16 MTA Con- vention and Trade Show in Havre. She said our northern neighbors could attend just the trade show at $50 each or the entire convention for $150. She asked that all in favor signify by saying "eh." Motion passed.
Bobby Lincoln, public relations committee chairman, said that committee spent the bulk of its meeting hour in massaging the "No Dinner/Dinner" raffle, which is MTA's most important fundraiser, then handed out tickets and advertising flyers to members of the board.
He said in light of tight business revenues, the PR committee decided on no recommendation regarding a funding request for Grateful Nation, a group that raises money to pay for educations of servicemen and women killed in action, instead simply referring the request to the budget committee.
He said membership brochures for MTA would be updated and distributed.
Lincoln said the committee spent some time on a discussion of server training programs. He said he thought personally the training was pretty elementary for seasoned servers, though about right for the novice. He said his committee was urging more member feedback to trainers, more specifically for the program in use by a business coalition.
Staples seconded Lincoln's request, stating, "We have input on this industry sponsored (ServSafe) training program, but not the others."
Steve Morris, the MTA representative on the Gaming Advisory Council, told the board the GAC had been successful, with the help and cooperation of the Gambling Control Division and Liquor Division, in developing a streamlined process for simple license amendments that used to trigger expensive, time consuming, full-blown re-licensing scenarios.
That process will continue with a subcommittee further studying ways to make the licensing amendments process more efficient, he reported.
Morris also told directors GAC was close to having draft language ready for a bill to allow Gambling Control to set in rule "stale-dates" for win-ticket expirations, probably 24 or 48 hours. He noted another subcommittee is looking at ways to enhance gaming within current statutes, especially machine poker which now only accounts for 20 percent of machine play.
Finally, Morris said GAC work continues on rules language meant to implement a law passed by the 2009 Legislature to clarify the status of liquor business loan guarantors regarding whether they are non-institutional lenders or when they may have a bona fide ownership interest.
MTA Executive Director Bob Anderson reported the MTA's website has been upgraded but is not yet complete. In the future, Anderson said he expects the site to host a legislative module.
Anderson also noted MTA membership saw a nice uptick of 28 new members from October, but that total membership was down 68 from May of 2009. He said all members need to assist the executive office in continuous recruitment efforts.
At the conclusion, Jason Grubbs pocketed $315 from the usual 50/50 drawing. The next meeting date was set for June 8 and may be conducted in conjunction with a golf and lake outing the evening before, pending potential sponsor arrangements and other details.