Three cities reject “wet” initiative
The controversial law has continued to cause problems since its chandestine passage in 2000
From, Kentucky Citizen Digest, March/April, 2001.

Proponents of restaurant alcohol sales in dry communities failed on three consecutive occasions when voters rejected the measures in the western Kentucky cities.  Meanwhile, critics of the law hope for complete retraction in this year’s General Assembly.

On Jan.16, Grand Rivers and Calvert City residents voted against legalized alcohol sales in restaurants that derive at least 70 percent of their profits from food and are able to seat 100 or more patrons.  Glasgow voters defeated the measure on Dec. 19 by more than a two-to-one margin. The margin was nearly as wide in the Grand Rivers vote, which is viewed as important since a close vote was expected to draw another referendum in the future.

Calvert City defeated the measure by a mere 64 votes out of more than a thousand cast.  Since Nov.7, fifteen Kentucky counties and communities have voted on the restaurant alcohol sales referendum.  Nine have voted to stay dry, while six have opted to go wet.  The cities of Somerset and Burnside are scheduled to vote on the issue on Jan.30.

In the 2000 General Assembly, Senate Bill 247 passed through the Senate with no opposition and was even embraced by the Kentucky Temperance League.  While in the House it underwent drastic changes and radically altered the traditional “wet vs. dry” debate to a “wet or dry or moist” decision process. It was then slipped back through the Senate for passge.

In each of the three cities, alcohol proponents cast the argument in terms of economics.  But dry forces refuted that angle when raising safety concerns and prospects of secondary costs associated with alcohol.  “You can’t prove economic growth will occur with the presence of alcohol,” said Mike Donald of Concerned Citizens for Calvert City.  Donald argued that there are hidden costs cloaked in local administrative regulations and increased demands on law enforcement.  But the biggest concern has not been merely financial.  Many have argued that the introduction of alcohol into dry communities will jeopardize road safety, citing figures that indicate that more than one in three traffic fatalities in Kentucky are alcohol related.

Local community groups opposed to the measure were seen as the key in its defeat.  “Educating the public and making voters aware of the issue was critical,” said Marilyn Buchanon of Citizens for a Dry and Wholesome Community in Grand Rivers.  Buchanons’s efforts helped to draw over 70 percent of the voters in Grand Rivers,  defeating the measure by a 150-85 margin.

However, activists point out that the issue will keep coming back unless the legislature restores the traditional local-option election framework.  State Sen. Vernie McGaha (R-Russell Springs) has promised to introduce a bill in early February which would do just that.  Until then, the prospect of more alcohol votes in dry counties looms on the horizon.
 
 
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst