Local Voices: Sunday Alcohol Sales in Austell

In May of 2011 I went before the Mayor and City Council of Austell and made a simple request: Please put a Sunday Alcohol Sales referendum on the ballot during the November municipal election. I reasoned that this would be an efficient use of resources because it would not require a special, and costly election, since one was already being held. I also argued that citizens should exercise local control and choice on this issue, that it would bring additional tax revenue for the City; and that if we didn't put it on the ballot, it would result in a net loss in revenue because citizens would go to other jurisdictions to purchase liquor on Sunday, and in the process would make non-alcohol purchases elsewhere that they otherwise would have made in Austell.

My request was met with no response, either from the Mayor or council members, so I naturally assumed, quite correctly as it turned out, that my request would not be honored. Fast forward to July 2, 2011 in an article in the AJC where Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins was quoted as saying: “I don't have any problem with people voting, but I don't support it. It will mean very little tax money to us anyway because we don't have but a couple of liquor stores.”

This quote from the Mayor not only makes no sense, but is factually inaccurate. How can he say he doesn't “have any problem with people voting” when at the same time he stood in the way of people voting by not putting it on the November ballot? And as for Austell only having “a couple of liquor stores” is he not aware that beyond the two liquor stores (one a very high volume enterprise that he once owned) there are also a number of convenience stores in Austell that sell beer?

Then, at the December 2011 regularly scheduled Council meeting, the Council voted unanimously to put the referendum on the March presidential primary ballot. What changed from May to December to cause such a dramatic change of heart? The Mayor pointed out what I have pointed out all along is that we need to do it because everyone else around Austell is doing it, or soon will be. However, that was just as true in May as it was in December. In the meantime, the city's inaction has led to a senseless delay of five months.

This sequence of events belies a systemic problem that exists within the operation of Austell's city government; i.e. a lack of forward-thinking leadership that is in a reactive rather than pro-active mode. We deserve better.

Lance Lamberton is an 11 year resident of Austell, and is the president and founder of the Cobb Taxpayers Association (CTA). For more information on CTA, log onto www.cobbtaxpayer.com