Mayor Tom Donaldson and City Council’s decision to strictly enforce the no-alcohol ordinance at the West New Castle Plaza is short-sighted and narrow minded.

Alcohol is not the problem in the plaza. Public drunkenness and disorderly conduct are the problem. By eliminating all alcoholic beverages at the plaza, they will drive away patrons and hurt the downtown businesses.

Enforcing a rule of no public drunkenness would take the same enforcement effort as enforcing no alcohol and would eliminate the true problem.

If the ordinance against public drunkenness is strictly enforced, in a short time the drunks will go somewhere else. They don’t want to get arrested, they want to get drunk.

To use an old cliché, you have thrown the baby out with the bath water.

The concerts and events at the plaza have been a huge boon to downtown. Council’s short-sighted decision is going to ruin what has been built there. In so doing, they will deprive the vast majority of responsible citizens from enjoying a beer or glass of wine at an outdoor event because of the inappropriate actions of a few.

Every Sunday evening through the summer there are free concerts at Hartwood Acres in Allegheny County. There are always a couple of police officers present to oversee the crowd. Many of those attending are drinking alcoholic beverages in a responsible manner — and there is no problem with inappropriate behavior.

Why can’t our city police properly control a small crowd?

I encourage the mayor and council to reverse their decision and tell the police to crack down on inappropriate behavior so the responsible majority can continue to enjoy a beer or glass of wine at the plaza with friends.