Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez is pushing an idea to keep intoxicated people from driving when the bars close — in a nutshell, keep the bars open an extra hour serving food, soft drinks and coffee so that people can sober up before leaving.

While his ability to get his message out there in traditional media is well known, with today’s above the fold Albuquerque Journal article about the idea being a good example, he’s also one of the elected officials in New Mexico who’s really gotten on board with new media technology — he twitters, uses Facebook, and occasionally has live internet town halls meetings. On Facebook today, for example, he posted a “status update” about the idea to keep bars open an hour later — in the third person:

Marty Chavez is proposing that the state liquor regulators allow bars to stay open an hour after they close to let their patrons drink coffee and soft drinks or eat food to improve their sobriety and to also allow for a place to hang and wait for a taxi or ride.

One thing that reporters love about Facebook, and Twitter, is the greater access to elected officials — not just for the press but for the general public itself. In the case of Chavez’s Facebook page today, for instance, there’s quite a bit of commentary about the idea of keeping bars open.

A lot of  it is kudos for the idea, but there are also some interesting observations and suggestions.

Here’s a sampling:

“Providing options is a great step in the right direction!”

“this is a great idea. It also helps the cops out because usually there are so many people out in the street when the bars close.”

“Do you really think this is going to work? People are still going to leave after they call out “LAST CALL”…Something more needs to be done. Enough is Enough…..”

“This is something that used to happen in the State of Kansas– really great idea!”

“Good luck with that. From my days as a bartender I recall that the State Liquor Regulators were remarkably strict about patrons having to leave the premises where there were bottles of liquor present. The solution offered was to have the liquor completely locked up or removed entirely, both were usually unacceptable to the business owners.”

“Also what a great way for the bars to make more money!!! Its a win win for everyone!”

“How can you make sure there are Taxis available to take these people home. They shouldn’t be on the road. Taxis generally gone before midnight.”

That comment was followed by…

“good point and so very true…..”

UPDATE: After this blog was posted, the conversation got even better, with the mayor weighing in on taxi’s and transit, and some questioning of whether it would really work. For instance, one person asked, wouldn’t this just result in wide-eyed drunks?

“…don’t you just need TIME… and doesn’t coffee + drunk person = wide awake drunk? How ’bout crackin’ the whip so those folks don’t get behind the wheel at all. Even a little bit tipsy is bad for driving.”

You can follow the conversation yourself here.