By Dorothy O'Donnell
Beach & Bay Press, April 29, 2004

Pacific Beach resident Scott Crosby enjoys drinking a beer or two at the beach. And he's alarmed that doing so might some day be illegal. The 34-year-old co-founder of a downtown software company is among those who believe that sipping an ice cold brew at the beach is not only okay, but that it's a freedom they are entitled to as law-abiding, responsible American citizens.

Crosby views the proposed ban on alcohol at all city beaches on the Fourth of July as the latest in a series of acts initiated by well-organized, vocal and financially-powerful groups, such as the Sail Bay Association, that are gradually eroding the freedoms a majority of the population appreciate.

"These are the sorts of things that are getting slowly taken away without much public debate," Crosby explained. "They're taken as individual items, and nobody really notices, nobody gets upset. Then a few years down the line, you've got a lot of your freedoms taken away. It's a slippery slope. You've got people who think, 'well, this is just one little place, it's just one little day of the year,' and then before you know it, you've lost it all."

To protect their freedoms, Crosby and some other like-minded Pacific Beach residents who previously fought Proposition G - the failed ban that would have made it illegal to drink on San Diego beaches at any time - recently formed a group and Web site called Freepb.org.

"We don't have any association with the liquor industry or any corporations - we're just residents of PB, Crosby said. We've all lived here a while, and all of us enjoy going down to the beach and having a beer, basically."

Freepb.org currently has about 120 members, according to Crosby. A core group of between six and ten members get together before each Pacific Beach Town Council (PBTC) meeting to strategize their next steps.

Right now, the group is focused on preventing the July Fourth alcohol ban from passing and getting the ban on kegs at the beaches on the holiday, which was passed last year, lifted. If and when these goals are realized, Freepb.org will tackle other issues, such as trying to bring back some of the fire rings that have been removed from Pacific and Mission Beach.

The group is also exploring ways to help mitigate the problems some who live in the area have experienced. Examples of the types of ideas it is considering include working with the city, and possibly sponsors, to get more trashcans and portable toilets on the beaches during busy holiday weekends.

"We're really trying to do two main things," Crosby stated. "One is protect and expand freedoms. The other thing is to mitigate the problems that occur as a result of these freedoms. We think application of existing laws in mitigation can make a big difference in managing the problems that occur."

Visitors to the Freepb.org Web site can find out how to join the group and how to get involved in the fight to keep drinking on the beaches in Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach legal. According to the Web site, these communities are among the last in California where drinking alcohol on the beach is still permitted.

Also posted on the Web site are updates on the latest happenings at community meetings regarding drinking at the beach, as well as membership forms for the PBTC that can be downloaded. Only PBTC members can vote on issues that go before the council for approval.

"The beaches are for everybody, not just for wealthy landowners who live right on the water and get to enjoy pristine conditions 364 days of the year," Crosby said. It's not really their land to say what happens there. People from El Cajon have just as much right to come out there and use it as they do. Nobody likes a drunk person passed out on their lawn, but we just don't think more regulation is the answer. We're not trying to be adversarial - we just want to see solutions that take a little more creativity, a little more thought, but ultimately preserve our freedoms and help out with the issues that are bothering people like the Sail Bay Association."