Response to the article, "Two businesses fail complaince checks"

Dear Editor,

In regards to the article, “Two businesses fail compliance checks,” printed in the January 6, 2010 issue of the Mineral Independent, I would like to offer the following correction. I was quoted as saying, “We don’t do these checks to write people tickets and we’re trying to put them out of business,” obviously a very important three letter word was omitted from this quote – NOT. This quote should read; “We don’t do these checks to write people tickets and we’re NOT trying to put them out of business.”

I have been a Deputy Sheriff in Mineral County for five years and Sergeant for three. I have worked diligently to enforce the law while being a fair, understanding and open minded individual. I have worked hard to build relationships in the community and with the businesses that I serve. I would hate for these relationships to suffer and/or become strained because of a small, yet potentially inflammatory mistake by the newspaper.

The Mineral County Sheriff’s Department has never, and will never make it their mission to put people out of business. Quite the contrary is true. We conduct these checks to ensure that every establishment is complying with the law so that they DON’T get their licenses taken away for non-compliance. In short, the Sheriff’s Department is striving to strengthen relationships with businesses, owners and workers. I for one would like all businesses to think of the Sheriff’s Department as a resource, not a ticket writing revenue generating government agency.

I would also like to thank the liquor establishments of Mineral County for their dedication to making this a safer place to live. More than two-thirds of the liquor license holders and their employees in the County have participated in Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service trainings, and the compliance checks conducted on December 30, 2009, were a success. They showed that businesses are taking their responsibility to our youth seriously. Last July, approximately 42 percent of businesses failed and sold alcohol to someone under 21 years of age, in December, that rate had dropped to 8 percent!

Good job Mineral County, the cooperation and dedication of all of us is working and the businesses are doing a tremendous job of ensuring that our youth remain safe and have limited access to the drug of choice among Montana teens.

Sincerely,

Bill Pandis,

Sergeant, Mineral County Sheriff’s Department