RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thomasville goes wet
A heavy turnout resulted in 948 votes cast for allowing the sale of alcohol to 702 votes cast against. The difference of 246 votes made for a 14 percent margin of victory with the yes votes comprising 57 percent to no votes of 43 percent. The results were unofficial Tuesday night, but were certified by the end of the day Wednesday. The vote totals represent a 57 percent voter turnout for Thomasville, slightly less than the 59 percent turnout in Jackson when it voted to go wet. A small group of people gathered at Thomasville city hall Tuesday night to hear the results first hand. "I'm disappointed in the outcome, but the majority voted for it," said Rob Moore, chairman of CAAST, Citizens Against Alcohol Sales in Thomasville as he left the building. "I'm glad it's over, but I'm not happy with the results. It's been a tough battle." Moore said CAAST would likely donate its remaining funds to the Haven, a home for men struggling with alcohol addiction.
Mayor Sheldon Day, looking fatigued but satisfied with the results said he too was glad the issue was now at rest. "I can't say this is a gratifying win, but we've said from the beginning that we were going give the people an opportunity to vote on it and we went about this publicly and did everything as legal as we could," he said. "The people voiced their opinion loud and clear. Now let's let the healing begin." Ballot boxes from the five city districts broke down as follows: District 1: 163 yes to 132 no District 2: 144 yes to 183 no District 3: 153 yes to 174 no District 4: 183 yes to 95 no District 5: 222 yes to 96 no Absentee ballots accounted for 105 votes with 83 voting yes and 22 voting no. The voting brings to an end a debate that has been raging in this town for more than a year since a petition asking for the vote was first brought to the council. Day said it could be October before sales of alcohol could actually begin in Thomasville, citing the need to appoint a committee overseeing certain aspects of the alcohol permitting process. Athens voted too Another city in Alabama was also voting on the sale of alcohol Tuesday, but Athens was a wet city voting on whether to go dry again. In that vote, 68 percent of Athens' voters rejected an ordinance that would ban the sale of alcohol in that city Tuesday. The city narrowly voted to go wet in 2004. Pine Hill to take a hit
One group of observers with a keen interest in Tuesday's vote was the city council of Pine Hill. Already working within a lean budget, council members and Mayor Harry Mason quipped at the town's council meeting Monday night that a wet vote in Thomasville will have a negative impact on tax revenues coming to Pine Hill. The amount of the impact won't be known for some time.
|
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
