Panel Members
Beth Sise, RN, MSN, JD, CPNP
Director, Trauma Prevention & Physician
Education & Research, Trauma Department,
Scripps Mercy Hospital
Chief of Police Larry Barnett
Assistant Vice President of
Finance & Administration for Public Safety
University of San Diego
Susan Bower, Deputy Director
Alcohol and Drug Services
Health and Human Services Agency
San Diego County
John de Miranda, EdM, CEO
Stepping Stone of San Diego, Inc.
Leslie E. Devaney, Esq., Partner
Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz
Willam G. Fiss, President (In Memoriam)
Willam G Fiss and Associates
Augustine Gallego Ed.D.
Chancellor Emeritus,
San Diego Community College District
Reverend John Hughes, Executive Director,
Metro United Methodist Urban Ministry
Shelia L. Jackson, Board of Education Member
San Diego Unified School District
Chief Mack Jenkins,
San Diego County Probation Department
Sheriff Bill Kolender
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Commander Mike McNally
San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
Nick Macchione Director,
Health and Human Services Agency
San Diego County
Dr. Joseph M. Marron
Vice President Student Development & Services
Cuyamaca College
Assistant Chief Cesar Solis
San Diego Police Department
Chief Tom Zoll,
Carlsbad Police Department
Staff
Jim Gogek
Associate Director
June Claypool
Communications Director
About The Policy Panel
Mission Statement
The San Diego County Alcohol Policy Panel is a coalition of community and youth leaders whose purpose is to prevent underage drinking by changing the social, legal and commercial environments in which alcohol is made available and/or desirable to young people.
Our Vision
Communities are free from the negative social, legal, economic and health consequences of alcohol use by minors and alcohol abuse by adults.
Our Broad-Based Coalition
The Policy Panel is a bi-partisan coalition of leaders from every sector of the community committed to reducing underage and binge drinking and the numerous problems they create in our neighborhoods. Our membership includes representation from public health, media, law enforcement, education, judiciary, military, clergy, concerned parents, community-based organizations, elected officials, and business.
With assistance from Associate Director, Jim Gogek and staff, the Policy Panel provides leadership for the San Diego County Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative. The Policy Panel provides strategic direction and broad-based community support for the countywide implementation of evidence-based, environmental prevention efforts in San Diego.
The Policy Panel has endured for nearly fifteen years, making it the longest standing coalition of its kind. Its groundbreaking work has received national awards from the OJJDP and has been featured as a model program in several state and national publications.
The Policy Panel is currently chaired by the dynamic leadership of Beth Sise, RN, MSN, JD, CPNP, Director of Trauma Prevention and Physician Education/Research at Scripps Mercy Hospital, Trauma Department.
Key Accomplishments
Alcohol Availability
- All 90 San Diego County parks now restrict hard alcohol.
- City parks and beaches have adopted several policies regarding safe alcohol consumption.
- All but one San Diego County beach is now alcohol-free.
- Successfully advocated to block legislation that would have lowered alcohol taxes to a 1951 level.
- Partnered with the San Diego Unified School District and others to advocate for a California State Board of Equalization vote to reclassify alcopops as distilled spirits and change the taxation from 20 cents per gallon to $3.30 per gallon.
- Created a draft model RBSS ordinance which has been adopted in Poway, National City, San Marcos, and Solana Beach, all yielding decreases in Place of Last Drink Survey data.
- The Social Access Workgroup developed and passed 17 Social Host Ordinances in cities throughout San Diego County, as well as Social Host Ordinance in all unincorporated areas of the county.
- Empowered local communities to utilize local zoning and land use ordinances to restrict problem alcohol outlets in their communities.
- In 2006 the AOP Workgroup protested 4 alcohol license applications that led to denial or withdrawal of the license requests.
Enforcement
- The San Diego County Law Enforcement Task Force on Alcohol and DUI was established in 1999 to engage all San Diego County law enforcement agencies in conducting high-visibility, multi-jurisdictional operations to reduce underage and binge drinking.
- The LETF has conducted hundreds of DUI patrols and checkpoints, party dispersals, and shoulder tap and minor decoy operations resulting in thousands of citations. These efforts have been highly publicized through the strategic use of news media to increase the deterrent effects of enforcement efforts.
- Advocated for the reinstatement of ABC departmental funding to ensure effective enforcement of alcohol laws and regulations.
Marketing
- Led a successful effort to enact a billboard ordinance in the City of San Diego that restricts the outdoor promotion of alcohol products near youth-frequented areas. Several similar ordinances were adopted in cities across the County.
- Engaged youth as leaders in creating and implementing six counter-advertising campaigns, raising the awareness of millions of people about predatory alcohol marketing practices and the risks associated with underage drinking.
- Supported dozens of “hands off holidays� events and campaigns, including Cinco de Mayo con Orgullo, to stop the alcohol industry from exploiting children’s holidays and cultural groups.
- Successfully advocated for the CSUSM and USD newspapers to refuse alcohol advertising in their campus newspapers.
History
The early 1990‘s found binge drinking among adolescents rapidly rising and the age of first use steadily declining. San Diego County, taking its lead from the Join Together national project, convened a panel of policy experts from each key sector of the community including public health and safety, education, judiciary, faith communities and business.
The Panel was charged with developing a policy agenda to guide youth leaders, prevention specialists and the community-at-large in a coordinated initiative to change the environment in which young people were making choices about drinking. The Panel created “Alcohol and Youth, a landmark report with recommendations, which raised awareness, increased motivation and provided strategic direction to begin addressing the root causes of what was quickly becoming a public health epidemic.
Dr. Robert Ross, then the Director of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and a key member of the original Policy Panel, recognized the value of the recommendations and the Panel’s unique synergy, collective power, and potential for broad-based, systems-level change. The County Board of Supervisors’ endorsement and response letter to the original report and recommendations served as a springboard for the San Diego County Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative.
The continuing leadership of the Panel generated further interest and support from the Board, which ultimately resulted in the formation of several key coordinating bodies and structures for the initiative. The enthusiasm, awareness and support generated by the early work of the Panel allowed the County’s Department of Alcohol and Drug Services to formally fund the initiative’s environmental strategies, which resulted in many groundbreaking accomplishments spanning over a decade.