Fewer ABC boards proposed

RALEIGH -- The state's top liquor regulator on Wednesday proposed shrinking the number of local ABC boards in the state through mergers and putting them under the thumb of county governments. Local elected officials would have to answer for how well their liquor stores operate.

Jon Williams, chairman of the state ABC Commission, also recommended allowing private retailers to sell liquor in areas where there is not enough business to support a profitable ABC store.

Williams' proposals add to the momentum this year for some form of overhaul to the more than 70-year-old patchwork system of selling booze in North Carolina. He made his report to Gov. Bev Perdue's Budget Reform and Accountability Commission, which is expected to recommend changes that Perdue can offer to the legislature.

Both Perdue's budget group and a special committee appointed by legislative leaders are exploring the possibility of privatizing the ABC system in their studies, and Perdue has commissioned an outside study of the system's value if it were sold.

"Revenue is important," Williams told the budget group, while emphasizing that the continuing focus of the state commission is "to promote public health and public safety."

The push to reform how liquor is managed in the state follows waves of criticism and resignations from the ABC boards in Mecklenburg and New Hanover County. Mecklenburg's local ABC board chairman and a group of staffers were treated to a lavish dinner by a liquor company in November, though they paid the company back after news media scrutiny.

New Hanover's top administrators, a father-and-son team, drew heat over their plump salaries and bonuses.

Joe Wall, executive director of the N.C. Association of ABC Boards, said forcing boards to merge could force very profitable boards to absorb boards that are barely making money.

"The [local ABC] boards that were well run were saying it was like a shotgun wedding," Wall said, "making us take on a board that's doing badly. They said it's more likely to drag us down."

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