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December 21, 2013· santaclarita.com · SantaClarita.com (SCVTalk 5.0) · Wayback capture

Newhall Bar Announced the Exact Site of Last Night's DUI Checkpoint (Updated)

By Mike Devlin

(This post has been updated to include a statement from the owners of Newhall Refinery)
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This was posted last night around 8:30pm to Facebook by Newhall Refinery, the new gastropub on Main Street (1,800+ likes). It went up while they were open and while the LASD DUI checkpoint was in progress, just down the road:

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These DUI checkpoints have been something of a nuisance to many and have become notorious for nabbing many on small infractions, but very few on DUIs. Last night was different – held on a Friday night during a party season, it resulted in two DUI arrests.

You can make the case that there's a general benefit to giving people an extra incentive to drive carefully by announcing, as our own LASD station does, that a checkpoint will be happening somewhere in the city. Announce it big, announce it in advance, and if we're lucky, a few people will change their plans for the night (and yes, I know they need to announce it once, by law).

It comes down to who information is for, at what time and for what purpose. Wide announcements might make people change their plans: not drink, not drive, etc.. A friendly tip to a sober friend might save them 30 minutes on their drive home from holiday shopping. 

But it's quite another thing for an alcohol-centric place that's serving alcohol that very moment to let its loyal drinkers know just where to avoid. Especially when they're one of the nearest bars from the checkpoint.
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I caught their post on Facebook soon after they posted and made a quick comment. It wasn't impolite, just a one-sentence puzzled response pointing out that maybe a bar shouldn't post such a thing. Not long after that, this news of a drunk driver in Valencia went up on Facebook.

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Thinking of the unfortunate irony, I circled back and checked Newhall Refinery's page again. To my surprise, they had deleted my comment (which I know had posted just fine, because someone sent me a message about it) but they left up an earlier, supportive comment.

Deleting comments is an odd PR move, because it says, "We've heard the criticism. We reject it, and we don't want anyone to hear it." It also makes any subsequent apology look insincere.

So the post remained, defiantly, for a little while, scooping up at least 26 likes and 2 shares. Then it was gone. Right around 9:45pm. No explanation, no apology.

On Twitter, I asked the LASD for comment last night and they declined, but noted that they were aware of the post. No response from Newhall Refinery.

Update (12/22/13 4:11pm):
On Dec. 22 at 1:30pm, the owners of Newhall Refinery posted a comment to this post with a statement. Judge for yourself, but I think it's a classy response that shows the lesson was learned. 

Last night, we posted on Facebook that a DUI checkpoint was being held in the city, along with the checkpoint location.  This information was already being circulated by others on social media.  Included in our message was a reminder to drink responsibly this holiday season.  After receiving a post criticizing us for posting this information, we decided to delete the post entirely. 
  
Our Facebook post was put up with only the best intentions.  We want to remind everyone that our local Sheriff’s department takes drunk driving seriously and deputies are out in force looking for drivers that are impaired.  My wife and I are longtime residents of this community and care deeply not only about our customers, but about everyone in our great city.  

As an owner of a restaurant that serves alcohol, our employees will not serve patrons that appear intoxicated.  We happily assist patrons in obtaining a taxi or ride home if they are unable to drive.  We do not wish to be part of a problem that can have a devastating impact on the lives of others. 

We certainly understand why some people might have misinterpreted our intentions with this post and we apologize to anyone that was upset or offended by this.  We have no intentions to post this information in the future. 
We wish everyone a wonderful and safe holiday season! 

Simon and Shannon Mee 
Owners 
Newhall Refinery 


Comments (22)

  1. WalkerSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 12:27 pm
    I don't think I have a problem with them posting the location of the DUI checkpoint, but I do have a problem with their selectively deleting comments on their FB page. I find that approach to social media networking to be obnoxious. Like you said, it says 'we hear you, we reject you, we cant be bothered to respond to you'.
  2. KKSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 3:10 pm
    PR 101 dictates that you cannot delete your mistakes.
  3. JulieOSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 4:19 pm
    My best friend in high school was killed by a drunk driver. What Newhall Refinery did was irresponsible and wrong and they know it which is why they deleted Mike's comment to avoid others seeing it and joining in to say so and then they took it down, probably at the request of authorities. No apology, no admission it was wrong. I'll never go there again to dine or drink since they 1) protect those who drink and drive, and 2) haven't apologized and admitted that what they did was wrong.
  4. Sandy1Saturday, December 21st, 2013 at 4:45 pm
    I think that perhaps people are taking this all a little far...I just don't think this business was trying to warn drunks, merely trying to avoid traffic for their patrons! Maybe if they had the luxury of a PR person they would have worded their post differently...but they are a small business-no PR or HR for that matter. This post seems unfair to a new business that is still figuring out their place in the SCV. C'mon people, its not a big deal.
  5. WalkerSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 6:27 pm
    Yup. That's where I'm at. Perhaps because I'm not the drinking and driving type, that's not where my mind went at all. Alerting me of a DUI checkpoint is alerting me of a possible traffic nightmare. It's not like (in my experience) Newhall Refinery is this hoping bar releasing drunk drivers en mass. Sure there is drinking, but I see it much more as a family style restaurant and much less as a bar, and see alerting patrons (or friends on a personal FB page) as a friendly PSA about traffic...not having anything to do with encouraging drinking and driving. I see where one might assume such, and I agree it's in bad form for a bar (or, really, any kind of business) to send that kind of PSA as it could easily be construed as condoning drinking and driving, but I don't really think it's the end of the world (aside from bad-form) that they posted the location.
  6. JulieOSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 11:40 am
    Since you know them so well (since you know you, or they, have no HR or PR), maybe you could pass along my suggested future "PSA" posts to avoid being viewed as supporters of drunk drivers: "Happy holidays! Please drink responsibly and don't drive under the influence. If you're here and find yourself unable to drive, please speak with a staff member and we'll ensure you get a safe ride home." or "Come on in to try {insert name of featured beer}. Please drink responsibly. Don't drink and drive." or, if you are compelled to talk about checkpoints: "Please don't drink and drive. We care about you and others out on the road. If we didn't have drunk drivers we wouldn't need DUI checkpoints." I'd appreciate an acknowledgement by NR management that it was wrong for a PUB to announce the DUI checkpoint location, and a sincere apology to all who have been negatively impacted by drunk driving? Being a small business doesn't excuse them from owning up to missteps, but handling something like this correctly would/could certainly go a long way. I'll never see my friend again till I join her in heaven and I don't appreciate it when anyone (even unintentionally) aids drunk drivers with avoiding being caught and taken off the roads. Call me picky.
  7. LisaSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 6:34 pm
    All you people saying that it was a PSA about possible traffic/congestion are missing the part where they wrote "PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY" but of course you've just given them a way to excuse their post. A traffic PSA. Sure.
  8. WalkerSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 6:43 pm
    I don't know about that. It's not very skillfully written. I think it's just a modge podge of random thoughts. It doesn't say 'so avoid this area' - it says 'drink responsibly'. Perhaps they're big ol' advocates of drinking and driving. I have no idea about that. I'm saying, from this 3 sentence post, I vote we cut them some slack. It was in bad form (and is poorly written). They could use some professional PR help (or even an intern, lol). I don't think it's much more than that.
  9. Sandy1Saturday, December 21st, 2013 at 8:58 pm
    I just think the writer of these posts has it out for the refinery or something. Always making mountains out of mole hills. The refinery is a great family business who would never encourage drunk driving. The people who own it are a young family in the community, give it a rest.
  10. Grizzly MamaSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 11:22 pm
    You tell 'em Shannon!
  11. MikeSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 2:12 pm
    Quite the contrary. The French Onion soup aside, I quite like the Refinery. If anything, I've been put off by the overzealous reactions to gentle criticism. Apart from it being rude, it says "we're not going to change." When, ahem, someone got all over Lady Ducayne, about not liking the pretzel and the chicken sandwich (two items that actually needed some work) the reaction was so defensive, it made me, as a reader/diner, lose a lot if faith in the place because it said to me that they weren't interesting in improving. Always a bad sign. Likewise, when I posted a comment in Facebook, it was to point out that in context, it's not the best way to share that information. Instead of addressing it, they deleted my comment. To me, that said to hell with your concern, this stays up. Only at that point did I become especially concerned about this. (And by the way, this is my first post on Newhall Refinery). As for mountains out of molehills, just what molehills are you referring to? Curious.
  12. BrookSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 6:52 pm
    Making something out of nothing is exactly right. This garners a whole post on here. Slow news day apparantly.
  13. larmccSaturday, December 21st, 2013 at 8:02 pm
    We have to keep in mind that the goal of the checkpoint is not to catch DUI's. The goal is to educate the public that drunk driving is wrong. I don't think this works, but that is the logic behind it. That being said, I have zero problem with Newhall Refinery posting about the checkpoint and its location. In fact, Refinery is doing a community service in putting this out there are it is making the public aware of checkpoints, therefore helping law enforcement with their goal. That being said, deleting FB posts is a no-no and bad form. There are exceptions, if a post makes a criminal accusation, is abusive, libelous or offensive, then it is OK. But this post was not and should not have been deleted. Being on FB, yelp or anything requires business owners to take criticisms in stride and respond to them with tact and grace. Deleting a critical post can make something a lot worse.
  14. SmeezSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 1:30 pm
    Last night, we posted on Facebook that a DUI checkpoint was being held in the city, along with the checkpoint location. This information was already being circulated by others on social media. Included in our message was a reminder to drink responsibly this holiday season. After receiving a post criticizing us for posting this information, we decided to delete the post entirely. Our Facebook post was put up with only the best intentions. We want to remind everyone that our local Sheriff’s department takes drunk driving seriously and deputies are out in force looking for drivers that are impaired. My wife and I are longtime residents of this community and care deeply not only about our customers, but about everyone in our great city. As an owner of a restaurant that serves alcohol, our employees will not serve patrons that appear intoxicated. We happily assist patrons in obtaining a taxi or ride home if they are unable to drive. We do not wish to be part of a problem that can have a devastating impact on the lives of others. We certainly understand why some people might have misinterpreted our intentions with this post and we apologize to anyone that was upset or offended by this. We have no intentions to post this information in the future. We wish everyone a wonderful and safe holiday season! Simon and Shannon Mee Owners Newhall Refinery
  15. MikeSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 1:57 pm
    That's how it's done. Thank you for you response.
  16. JulieOSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 2:40 pm
    Thank you for acknowledging, apologizing, and committing to not repeating it. Now I can go back for some cider over the holiday break!
  17. TomSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 6:57 pm
    They are only acknowledging, apologizing, etc etc because they got caught. They didn't expect there to be any negative reaction to their post. And if it was OK, they should have just left it up there.
  18. larmccSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 7:09 pm
    I guess you have never posted anything and later thought, "I guess that could be taken the wrong way." I know I have had to go back and correct or clarify things that I have written.
  19. MikeSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 8:51 pm
    In fairness, I'm not sure they fully understood why some people (myself included) would have a problem with that and how it might not be a responsible thing to do of you're an alcohol-centric establishment. (Despite differing opinions on whether this is worth talking about, I don't thing one can argue that it's a net positive in terms of public safety.) So it had to be pointed out. Or rather, it had to be pointed out twice. But they got the message. They won't do it again. I really don't think the meant it in the way it was receivers. They *should* have known better, but now they do.
  20. larmccSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 5:38 pm
    This is one of my favorite spots in town. The Refinery is not a seedy establishment and I still think their original message had only the best of intentions. If their post had been sent as a warning I would have felt differently but it was tied to the reminder to drink responsibly. I know the Refinery takes care with how they serve their fine craft beers. Recommend to anyone wanting to try a great beer to try some Hoppageddon when they have it on tap. It has an ABV of 9.2%. They refused to serve it to me though in a larger 16oz glass. I asked why and they explained that it's due to the higher alcohol content. So I know they go above and beyond in serving in a responsible manner. I'm glad this appears all cleared up. Remember folks, friends don't friends drink crappy beer. Long live Newhall Refinery!
  21. SCVMJBSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 1:50 pm
    Newhall Refinery is NOT very refined!
  22. scvmjbSunday, December 22nd, 2013 at 3:47 pm
    I happily retract my earlier post and respectfully commend the Mees for theirs. "God bless us everyone!"

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