Some issues are simply no-win issues for public officials.

In Logansport, allowing alcohol in city parks may qualify as the top no-win issue of 2008, and maybe the decade.

For those who saw the half-page ad in the Pharos-Tribune from a group opposing alcohol in parks, it’s clear there is going to be opposition when the city council votes on the issue Monday night. For those who have been to Logansport Parks and Recreation Board meetings and heard complaints about an alcohol ban at Dykeman Park Municipal Golf Course, it’s clear the issue is not going away.

Allowing alcohol in city parks — particularly in places other than Dykeman — is an issue if for no other reason than the public examples that are allowed to be made for children who probably spend as much or more time in city parks than adults.

Allowing a golfer to sip a beer out of a golf bag or a cooler in a golf cart is one thing. Allowing adults to imbibe to the point of being poor role models in front of children who play in plain view of them repeatedly during the year is another.

Maybe there is a comfortable middle ground here, or at least a compromise that can be reached for now. Allowing consumption at receptions and other events where it is dispensed by a licensed bartender and/or staffed with off-duty police officer might make the issue more palatable for opponents.

But it’s also clear that allowing alcohol to be consumed in a city park is about more than personal responsibility. It’s about allowing an atmosphere where alcohol can be consumed as much and as often as in any bar, restaurant or club. Adults already have plenty of places to consume alcohol. Young people, who for the purpose of this issue we have to refer to as minors, don’t have many options other than schools, churches, the library and maybe their home and the Cass County Family Y.

Council members may not find fault with allowing alcohol at McHale Community Complex if there is a wedding reception being held there. In fact, many wedding receptions do offer alcohol. But if someone who drinks at the reception in a city park drives away and is arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, or is involved in a drunken driving accident that causes a fatality, there will no doubt be calls to ban alcohol again.

If every adult who ever consumed alcohol never went over the legal limit, this wouldn’t be an issue at all, but as we all know, that’s not the case. In fact, alcohol is described as a gateway drug by some.

Drinking tends to be something that people think about as it pertains to how much they can drink, rather than the worst case scenarios in which people can’t hold their liquor.

As for Dykeman, as Logansport native and golf pro Ted Bishop said in an interview about the topic a few years ago, offering alcohol at the park would no doubt increase the use of the course. It also would place it on a more even competitive playing field with other private golf courses where alcohol is already allowed.

The future of the course’s viability financially is a part of this issue, but realistically, Dykeman was never intended to be a for-profit venture and likely never will be. The realistic expectation is that there will be golfers in the future to fill every course, but that can only happen with a concerted effort.

The junior golf rates and competitions are part of what has to happen, but getting more young people to simply play golf with their families and friends is another. Given the number of courses we have in Cass and surrounding counties, the opportunities to play are there.

If the next generation of golfers is not as large as the current local population, allowing alcohol at Dykeman won’t be enough to ensure a financial concern for the city won’t be much worse 20 years from now.

That’s the sobering part of the issue that is a minor concern, when, after all is said and done, minors should be the concern.

Dave Kitchell is a columnist for the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com