Wednesday, January 14, 2004
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Wednesday, January 14, 2004 |
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Liquor proponents are going to need signatures By JOHN THOMPSON Residents who want liquor by the drink in the unincorporated county need to keep their signing pens handy. Last Thursday, the Fayette County Commission declined to put the issue on the ballot in this year’s July primary race. Instead, supporters will have to circulate petitions and gather signatures if they want the issue voted on this year. “There’s no way in good conscience that I could do this,” said Commissioner A.G. VanLandingham. Commissioners Herb Frady and Peter Pfeifer agreed with VanLandingham. Frady added that he had pledged not to put this issue on the ballot during his years of public service and there was a process in place to get it to the voters. But newly elected Vice-Chairman Linda Wells and Chairman Greg Dunn had different thoughts about the issue. “We’re here to represent the people. I don’t have a problem putting it on the ballot,” said Wells. Wells, who doesn’t drink liquor, said she had researched the issue by looking at the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web page. She discovered that an alcoholic drink is defined as a 12-ounce beer, a four-ounce glass of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. “They all have the same amount of alcohol, and we already allow beer and wine in the county,” she said. Dunn was looking at the economic impact of having a petition drive. “It would take our staff a long time to verify the signatures. If we just put it on the ballot, there is no cost to the taxpayers,” he said. But the other commissioners were not swayed. John Boykin, who owns the Palmer Course at Starr’s Mill, had asked the board to put it on the ballot to help him increase revenues at his course and also to increase charitable contributions. Boykin operates the course as a nonprofit entity and donates proceeds from his course to several county charities. Late last year in neighboring Coweta County, the county commission and the Sharpsburg City Council voted to put the issue on the ballot, without calling for a petition drive. Voters in Tyrone last fall approved a liquor-by-the-drink referendum after the town council put the measure on the November ballot without a signature campaign.
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