By Mary O’KEEFE

A motion was put forth and approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday instructing County staff to look into the feasibility of issuing an ordinance against social hosting in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, Palos Verdes.

Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn said she was responding to requests made by residents in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area, part of the district she serves. Within this area are four separate cities, each having its own mayors and elected officials.

“Each of these cities have been encountering parties held at private homes where underage drinking has occurred,” she said.

Each city – Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates – has passed city social hosting ordinances. Hahn proposed that staff evaluate the possibility of extending an ordinance to the unincorporated areas known as Academy Hills and Westfield that mirrors that of the surrounding cities.

Social hosting is when adults allow underage drinking in their home. They often host a party with alcohol served to minors. Ordinances have been passed in several California cities with the first ordinance approved in Manhattan Beach 10 years ago.

Hahn said she supported this effort to include the unincorporated areas of the peninsula for consistency with other areas.

“And I think the days are gone when parents use this excuse of, ‘Well if the kids are going to drink I just as soon they drink in my house,’” she said. “We know that was the conventional wisdom before but I think many people realize now that is not a good idea and it is dangerous. We need to do everything we can to be responsible adults.”

Several people from the community spoke including former Manhattan Beach Chief of Police Rod Uyeda. He shared that he had seen too many tragedies due to drinking by minors, many of whom consumed alcohol with adult or parent support. In his career he served on the Pasadena Police Dept. and recalled a fatal shooting involving three girls, all seniors in high school, who were gunned down after attending an underage drinking party.

“That image was burned into my memory and will never be erased,” Uyeda said.

Prior to their murders, the girls had attended a party at a home in Pasadena above the Rose Bowl. The parents were not home at the time of the party, which was thrown by their daughter.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, representing the third district, asked what the liability would be toward the parents if an ordinance similar to those in Palos Verdes had been in place in Pasadena.

Uyeda said there is limited liability and the parents would have to prove they had been responsible about not providing alcohol before they left their home.

“Too many adults and parents want to be cool, [rather than being a] parent or a responsible adult,” Uyeda gave as a reason some adults social host. “They do not realize the danger they are putting children in, or lack the courage to stop these kids from drinking, setting them up for [possible] life-long problems, some with very tragic results.”

His concern was if this ordinance were not extended into the unincorporated areas within the Peninsula the parties would be pushed to the homes within that area.

“Today we are here to talk about just that area,” he said. “I would like for you to consider the social hosting ordinance for all unincorporated areas.”

Manhattan Beach Mayor David Lesser echoed Uyeda’s concern.

“State law prohibits possession or consumption of alcohol by minors in public and commercial settings but it does not prohibit youth consumption on private property,” he said.

He added the ordinance is a supplemental civil tool that helps law enforcement.

“From 2009 to 2016, there have been 31 social hosting notices, which is the penalty, issued to residents. Of those 22 were fined $1,000,” he said.

The $1,000 penalty, to some, is not a large amount though some other areas have smaller first time fines with the second offense increasing the amount substantially.

“Nonetheless the ordinance has resulted in a change,” he said.

He added the key element is the hearing officer who sits down with those who have received a notice, both the adults and the child or teen.

Ann Lampe also spoke in favor of the ordinance. Lampe is a substance abuse counselor and president of an Intermediate School PTSA.

“The [Centers for Disease Control] just released a study that shows that 12 to 20 year olds consume 11% of the alcohol that is consumed in this country,” she said. “That is a staggering number.”

Most of that is binge drinking, she said of the study.

“Two out of three teens say that alcohol is easy to get. One out of three say it is easy to get from consenting parents, two out of five say it is easy to get from friend’s parents. One in four say they have attended a party recently where youth were drinking in front of parents,” she said. “Recently [National Institute on Drug Abuse] stated that youth were 30%, again 30%, more likely to drink if they know the adult or were comfortable in that environment. … And brain damage [studies have shown] that girls’ alcohol use impairs their spatial reasoning, which is used for STEM [Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics], and for boys it affects short-term memory.”

Heather Matson, PTSA for Palos Verdes High School, said the school had performed a play on social hosting to overflow crowds at a recent event.

The board approved the motion and the County staff was instructed to research the feasibility of the ordinance in the area of the unincorporated area within the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Social hosting has been a subject of comment and seminars in the Crescenta Valley area.

The results of the evaluation will be reported back to the Supervisors in 30 days.

  Mary Okeefe