Groups start to take stands on alcohol vote
By Arthur McLean Editor

As the Aug. 14 vote on legalizing alcohol sales in Thomasville approaches, more groups appear to be making a decision on where they stand.

This week, the city's industrial development board, made an official statement that it is in favor of "the controlled sale of alcoholic beverages in Thomasville."

A note from the board cited information from the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office that Jackson collected more than $200,000 in revenues from alcohol sales in 2006.

"It is not promoting alcohol, but rather the recovery of thousands of dollars of revenues being lost," said Carroll Scarbrough, board chairman. "Moving to the next tier of development whether industrial, commercial, retail or residential, demands a progressive community. Investors are looking at cultural and lifestyle aspects.

"I agree with Mayor Day when he says that with the explosive growth in Thomasville, our infrastructure needs are increasing greatly. The revenue generated by alcohol sales would be a tremendous boost to funding these needs."

Chamber seeks input

The Southwest Alabama Chamber of Commerce is currently polling its members to determine whether it will make a stand one way or another on the alcohol issue.

"We're here to be the voice of our members, so we've decided to poll them and find out where they want the chamber to stand on the issue, either for or against or no position," said Danny D'Andrea, the chamber board president.

D'Andrea said the chamber should have its phone polling completed by next week and will issue an appropriate statement at that time.

Some members have reported being contacted by an individual claiming to be calling for the chamber and asking them to vote in favor of alcohol sales. D'Andrea said this person is not working on behalf of the chamber. "We've been investigating this, and we're 99 percent sure it's not any member of the chamber or board at this time, and we feel like we may be able to identify who's been making the calls very shortly."

A pro wet group has formed up in Thomasville, calling itself Pro-Act and produced an advertisement that ran in The Thomasville Times two weeks ago.

The Citizens Against Alcohol Sales in Thomasville has not been sitting on its hands either. The group has diligently held organizational and informational meetings since shortly after the issue of an alcohol vote came up more than a year ago.

CAAST has produced a number of yard signs that have been popping all over town urging citizens to vote no on Aug. 14. It also ran an advertisement in response to the Pro-Act ad in last week's issue of the Times citing U.S. Attorney General's statistics regarding the dangers of teen alcohol consumption, including: 5,000 people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking in the U.S.

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