Western Wisconsin Community Declines Grant To Fight Drunken Driving

A city in western Wisconsin has decided to turn down grant money to combat drunken driving following public backlash.

The “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign offers grant money to cities and local law enforcement for stepped up DUI patrols.

However, the city of Mondovi recently opted out after bar owners complained that the program hurt business, and some citizens expressed worry that police were pulling cars over without justification.

Mayor Treig Pronschinske said his problem with declining the grant is that it could hurt Mondovi’s chances for securing other state aide.

“If we don’t follow through on this grant, it might be very very difficult to get another grant awarded to us, because we didn’t follow through on what we were going to do,” he said.

Despite his concerns, Pronschinske said he doesn’t expect the Mondovi City Council to reconsider dropping the grant.