By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Opposition to a proposed liquor referendum in Fayetteville is getting organized.

“Being parents, we have concerns with drinking and driving, and with the town changing,” said Sharon Shank, who is organizing the opposition along with her husband, Gary.

The couple has formed a group called Fayetteville Citizens Who Love Fayetteville Without Alcohol.

Local real estate broker Lane Brown has been working for years to get enough signatures on a petition to force a referendum on liquor by the drink, and has been in a last-minute scramble to finish the petition in time to get the question on the ballot for the city's municipal election Nov. 2.

Time is running out. Even with a promise from the U.S. Justice Department to move quickly in approving the referendum, state law requires 29 days between the call of a special election and the actual vote, so Oct. 4 is the latest that the referendum could be called.

And if the election is called before the signatures are verified, the city's absentee ballots could be held up while city workers verify the petition, argues Shank.

City clerk Judy Stephens said she can't predict whether there is time at this point to put the question on the ballot. “I can't make any decisions until he turns in the petition,” she said.

Brown said recently that if he doesn't get the required signatures in time for the Nov. 2 election, he will hold onto the petition until the city's presidential preference primary in March. With only one question on the ballot, turnout is always low, and it's easy for those opposed to gather sufficient numbers to defeat a referendum, he said.

Shank said her group will be ready to get the word out regardless of when the referendum reaches the ballot.

“There are many people who drink alcohol who are opposed to having it in their own towns,” said Gary Shank. “We don't believe this will pass.”

The couple are members of New Hope Baptist Church, the largest protestant church in Fayette County, and said church members and leadership will be backing their fight.