SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers need to give the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control more money to run state liquor stores that cutbacks have stretched thin, the outgoing alcohol commission chairman said Tuesday.
"If they want these stores to be operated properly, and again they're safeguarded with a product that is highly regulated, then we need some additional funding in order to manage the affairs of the department," Chairman David Gladwell said.
Legislative cuts totaling $500,000 make it difficult to run the state's 44 liquor stores, he said.
Gladwell, whose four-year term on the seven-member panel ends June 30, said he favors a proposal to plow profits from alcohol sales back into the agency. The money currently goes to the state's general fund, school lunch program and public safety.
"In all due respect to the budgeting process, this department really needs more money," the former state senator said. "We bring in a large amount of money, millions of dollars."
DABC's net profits in 2014 totaled $87.8 million, a $6 million increase over the previous year.
Gladwell's comments came after Tuesday's commission meeting in which a retired DABC human resources worker said morale is low and turnover high in the state's liquor stores.
Managers are having to oversee two or three stores, taking them away from assistant managers and clerks, who are often new, for long periods of time, Kerri Adams said. Meantime, she said employees are being "bombarded" with new policies, including how to staple documents.
"If you want to see constant turnover and the stores go down, keep doing what you're doing," Adams told the commission.
Tracey Creno, who described herself as an 18-year law enforcement veteran, complained to the commission that DABC recently terminated contracts via email with police officers who moonlight as store security at $25 an hour. The department later offered them their jobs back at $19 per hour.
Creno said she was offended DABC didn't address the issue in person. She said "they manage people like they manage booze on the wall."
Police from several agencies have decided to take second jobs elsewhere, she said. DABC could hire private security, but they would just have call police if anything happens because they don't have the power issue citations or make arrests, Creno said.
Gladwell said the department likes having police officers work security, but called the reduced pay a budgetary issue.
He attributed morale problems to changes in management style and a few disgruntled current and former employees, though he said morale is something the DABC administration always needs to address.
"I think this management team has been so inundated and seized by legislative audits and recommendations that they're dealing with the technical aspect of operation and the management, and sometimes the employee feature, the morale, can be lost a little bit," he said. "I think the efforts are there. It's just going to take some time."
Scathing audits found DABC rife with mismanagement three years ago and led state lawmakers to restructure the agency. Gladwell said managers are still trying to carry out the recommendations.
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