Decatur To Give Residents Choice on Sunday Liquor Sales
Decatur Metro | May 3, 2011This is less “breaking news” than just “confirmation of what was already expected”.
From The Champion Newspaper, the clearest statement yet from City of Decatur staff that the City Commission will put Sunday liquor sales on the November ballot.
“The [Decatur] city commission has asked staff to review the enabling legislation and to make a recommendation to have it come up [in a board meeting] and put a referendum on the November ballot,” said Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss.
Merriss said although she can’t speculate on whether she thinks it would pass if put on the ballot, the city commissioners think that voters have a right to make the choice.
So limber up your voting fingers Decatur voting public! Sunday liquor AND three commissioner spots up for reelection! Wooo doggie! It’s gonna be one humdinger Election Day in the ol’ DEC!
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Maybe that will motivate more than 20% of the voters to actually come out and vote.
Can also vote on Sunday sales of Chick-Fil-A?! Please?!!!
I’m going to vote “yes” as often as I can.
Vote early, vote often – that’s my plan too.
where is a liquor store inside the city limits?
There isn’t one, but the law applies to beer and wine also and there are several places to buy that.
Cook’s Warehouse would be able to sell on Sundays.
felch asked about liquor stores. Sherlock’s/Cooks Warehouse only has wine and some high-gravity beer.
The lack of liquor stores in the city limits minimizes the opposition. No doubt the mini-Kroger and Ale Yeah will benefit.
Have never understood what all the fuss is about. If you want to drink liquor on Sunday, you can always buy it on one of the other six days of the week.
Kind of sick of hearing this silly statement. Do you know how many times I have been to the farmer’s market on Sunday and thought about buying a bottle of wine for dinner and then realize I can’t? Or I have wanted to used wine/beer in cooking (which I do a lot), and then realized I can’t. Sometimes we have unexpected dinner guests and want to get wine, and realize I can’t. Not all of us plan days ahead for alcohol consumption.
Agreed.
I think we should allow Sunday sales. That said, I have for years successfully applied my stellar pre-planning and project management skills to avoiding a potential alcohol shortage, and have never suffered a depletion issue.
Well, you are my hero.
I should be free to live in a state of denial regarding my alcohol consumption. I know I’m going to drink beer on Sunday…I just prefer to pretend I won’t.
And I’ve never understood what the fuss is about with allowing Sunday sales! Why do some people find it so important to control what other people do? Why is it okay Mon-Sat but a big no-no on Sunday? Anybody who thinks it’s wrong to buy it on Sunday is free not to do so. Personally, I think it’s wrong to knock on strangers’ doors and try to initiate conversations about their private spiritual matters, so I never do it. Doesn’t mean I think it should be against the law.
The booze just will not taste as good if you can buy on Sunday.
Oh, goodness, sweetie– if it’s the forbidden thing that titillates your fancy, I’m sure you can meander up to Hall County & find you a good ol’ boy with a still who’ll be all too happy to sell you some corn squeezins…them’s illegal no matter what!
I think we should implement a one day a week ban on other beverages. Say, no soft drinks on Saturdays, no fruit juices on Fridays, no milk on Mondays, etc…
Sound ridiculous Bulldog?
If Dekalb County also has a referendum, we’ll get to vote on that, too, right?
I don’t think so. I think the County’s would only apply to unincorporated DeKalb and only those people would vote.
What do you mean by THOSE people? ;P
I meant the voters in unincorporated DeKalb. City residents would not have a vote on what DeKalb does. Conversely, DeKalb voters would have no say on what happens in the City.
I’m pretty sure city resident WOULD get to vote on DeKalb County’s referendum. We’re still part of DeKalb County – we pay county taxes and elect county commissioners – so we would have a voice in an alcohol referendum. The unincorportated residents don’t pay city taxes or elect our leaders, so no, they don’t get a voice in our issues.
I’m pretty sure we don’t. For instance, Decatur doesn’t vote for DeKalb School Board members because they have nothing to do with CSD schools. Likewise DeKalb voters don’t vote for Decatur School Board members or City Commissioners because they have nothing to do with the County. We all vote for DeKalb Commissioners because there are some things that County Government provides to Decatur, like water/sewer, judicial system, etc. There are numerous examples in Georgia for things like liquor-by-the-drink where city/county boundaries control who votes for what.
It sounds like a logical case could be made either way (which is why I asked the question in the first place). So Steve, are you saying what you know to be a fact, or what you assume to be the case, based on what else you know about how the City of Decatur and Dekalb County fit together?
It’s my assumption based on the items that I cite.
I don’t know if you’re right or wrong, but it seems like it’d be a logistical cluster-f to dis-allow CoD-ers from voting on this since the referendum will most likely be held as part of a county-wide (including CoD) election.
So, it’d be on the ballot, but somehow CoD folks wouldn’t be allowed to make a selection? Or would there be a different ballot for CoD?
Decatur’s referendum would likely be part of the scheduled City election this November referenced in the original post. To my knowledge, absent a special election, there is no County election scheduled at that time. Unless there is another reason to have a County election or unless the County wants to go to the expense of having an election just for the referendum, the County would wait until at least the June 2012 primary election. Note that in most of Georgia, municipal elections are in odd years and county and state elections are in even years.