T'ville wet-dry vote set Aug. 14
By Arthur McLean Special to The Democrat

"I myself have been criticized, chastised and ostracized for defending people's right to vote on issues, but I am going to continue to defend the people's right to vote." Lewis Herron

The Thomasville City Council has set Aug. 14 as the date for a referendum to determine the sale of alcoholic beverages within the municipality.

Mayor Sheldon Day brought up the issue on Monday night's agenda. "It is appropriate at this time, if the council so desires [to set a date on the election]," Day said. Day then read the entire resolution that would set the date of the vote.

In a 4-1 vote, the council approved the Aug. 14 referendum date. Council members Lewis Herron, Gaines Smith and Grace Megginson, along with Day, voted in favor of the date, and council member Charles Allen voted against it. Alberta Dixon was not present at the meeting.

Just before the vote, council member Herron spoke up with his feelings on the matter. "This is my position," he said. "The last time I checked, this was still a democracy in this country, and if we ever get to a point where we don't get to vote on the issues, we might as well get rid of the Republicans and the Democrats and we can all start driving the same cars.

"[It is time] to stand on our convictions and my conviction is still opposed to the buying and selling of alcohol." Charles Allen

"If you're for this I want you to go out and campaign for it, if you're against it, I want you to go out and campaign against it, without accusing people of flying under the radar or doing things behind the scenes, but I know that's not going to happen.

"I myself have been criticized, chastised and ostracized for defending people's right to vote on issues, but I am going to continue to defend the people's right to vote," Herron said.

Day agreed, "We're mandated by state law to set a date."

Charles Allen joined the conversation saying it was a time "to stand on our convictions and my conviction is still opposed to the buying and selling of alcohol."

The council also approved an ordinance regulating the sale of alcohol within the city limits. That measure was also approved on a 4-1 vote with Day voting with the same three council members for it and Allen voting against. Day said he had promised the community that a control ordinance would be in place before a vote was taken.

"In talking to folks on both sides of the issue, I think it's in the best interest of our community to go ahead and get this over with, whatever the result, so we can go back to being a community and working to grow and better Thomasville," Day said.

The alcohol debate has been going on for over a year. Citizens first requested the right to vote on municipal sales in February 2006. A local option law was passed and in January of this year a petition from proponents formally requested a referendum.

Dry forces threw a stumbling block into the process when they questioned whether petition signatures should be a percentage of the last municipal election or the last general election. The law is clear that the petition numbers are based on municipal election figures and the Attorney General's office finally issued an opinion to that affect.

Jackson, Monroeville and other cities have skirted dry county restrictions by holding municipal referendums and voting to allow alcohol sales.

Proponents hope Thomasville citizens will do the same but dry forces vow to fight the effort.

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