CITY HALL — The head of the City Council Committee on Public Safety said he's willing to consider an ordinance regulating pub crawls, but another maverick alderman laughed it off as unnecessary.
"It's the first I've heard of it," said Ald. James Balcer (11th), chairman of the Public Safety Committee. "I'd have to leave that to Ald. Tunney. I'll talk to him about it. I'm open to listening to people and hear what they have to say."
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) took issue with pub crawls and suggested that they might need to be regulated after the Twelve Bars of Christmas event Saturday overflowed taverns in Wrigleyville, shut down Clark Street in the blocks south of Wrigley Field and eventually led to a man being stabbed with a shattered beer bottle at Red Ivy, 3525 N. Clark St.
"Community members have concern about the size of these pub crawls, and Ald. Tunney is in the process of setting up meetings with city departments to explore pub-crawl legislation," said Tunney spokeswoman Erin Duffy.
Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd), however, joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel in dismissing the need for additional regulation.
"Are we going to start regulating everything in this city?" Fioretti said. "We're going to put another fee on, a fine on? Don't we have enough ways to regulate all these items? And don't the bars know when someone is overserved?
"Things need to be personal responsibility and business responsibility," he added. "How many more regulations do we need? I'd be careful about walking out your door, because we might want to regulate that too."
Tunney has said he expects to have legislation ready in the new year.
