Mark Terry, Carbondale Liquor Advisory Board member, and Pat Kelly, SIUC student trustee, were wrong. They were at fault for remaining at Paff’s Sports Bar and Grill, 622 E. Main St., in September after it closed. They made a mistake, and they admitted doing so. They also accepted responsibility for their actions and apologized. But the way the city handled the situation also is questionable.

The problem lies with the city’s policy involving reports on hours-of-operation violations. Carbondale City Manager Jeff Doherty said it is standard procedure to disclose the names of those who are involved with the violation, in order to prove non-employees of the establishment are on the premises after 2:14 a.m.

Including the names of such participants is acceptable in the reports. The problem revolves around the public reading of the names associated with the violation. Why was it necessary to read the names of Terry and Kelly to the public at the Liquor Control Commission meeting? It does not seem that it was because neither Terry nor Kelly were issued tickets or arrested.

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Doherty said the names are necessary to prove the charges filed against a particular establishment. Because the names are contained in the report, that would appear to be proof enough to support the charges.

Some may argue that the public has a right to know of such events when it involves representatives or officials. The names in the reports are a matter of public record. If people really needed to know who was involved, they can travel to the Carbondale Civic Center and view the reports themselves.