Officials Think Alcohol Sales Issue Is Not Dead

Three proposals for alcohol sales in Van Zandt County Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 were turned down by precinct voters last week, but opponents to alcohol sales know the battle to keep the area dry is far from over.

Danny Eason, president of the anti-alcohol group Concerned Citizens of Van Zandt County, said last week’s vote tally is something he hopes might discourage pro-alcohol sales forces from seeking more local option elections in the near future.

"I think it sent a message that people in Van Zandt County want the quality of life we have here to stay at a premium…But as for what happens next, I really don’t know," he added. "I don’t know what is going to happen in another precinct or independently in one of the cities."

It is the latter possibility — elections in individual cities — that could be looming for the election calendar in 2010.

Voters in Precinct 1 last week made it rather clear that area is not ready to accept beer, wine or liquor sales or alcoholic beverages in restaurants.

The option for beer and wine sales for off-premise consumption failed by a 59 percent majority, 1,442 to 1,001. The option for all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption (full package stores) was soundly defeated by more than 500 votes, 1,476 to 943.

Only the option for mixed beverage sales in restaurants found a favorable vote anywhere in the precinct. The proposition failed by a 55 percent margin — 1,335 to 1,097, the closest of the three — but in the city of Grand Saline, voters favored it by a narrow 525-515 margin.

While that might point to support for a restaurant option election next year in Grand Saline only, Precinct 1 Commissioner Ricky LaPrade does not see it as a given. Grand Saline does have two establishments in town serving alcoholic beverages on a private club license basis, Papadale’s Grill and Cantina and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6635.

"I don’t think the (other) restaurants in town now would want to serve liquor, so I really don’t see it as coming back up next year," LaPrade said.

However, the commissioner said he is less certain about the possibility of local option elections for other types of alcoholic beverage sales.

"It wouldn’t surprise me to see one in Grand Saline and Fruitvale next year…someone wanting to open some liquor stores might try to bring it back up again," he said.

The election turnout of more than 2,400 voters in Precinct 1 was excellent, although it was about the number Van Zandt County Clerk Charlotte Bledsoe had planned to see.

"That’s probably in the neighborhood of what we planned for, and we do our best to always make sure we have enough ballots," she said. "We had some ballots left, but not a huge number."

Bledsoe said that despite this latest defeat for alcohol sales in a quarter of the county, she expects more local option elections next year and beyond.

However, she said any would-be local option election petitioners might consider last week’s results in their planning.

"Yes, I think there will be more elections in 2010. I’m going to be surprised if they don’t. I would think that anyone interested in starting a local option petition would look at those results and just see the things that had the votes, the restaurant option and then after that the beer and wine for off-premise (consumption).

"It’s just my guess, but I would think if someone wanted to try it again, they might not try for all three options," she said.

Bledsoe noted that citywide elections with one or two options could be most likely to appear next year.

"If you look at the elections we have had in the last year, the Wills Point election for beer and wine off-premise which passed almost 2-to-1, then the three options in JP1, it would seem to say that if you go for a smaller jurisdiction and a smaller number of options, it might be a little more likely to pass," she said..

LaPrade said he was surprised at the margin of defeat for all three options last week, though he was "glad it didn’t pass."

He added, "I wouldn’t have lost any sleep however it went. What I was glad to see is that the election was done on the up-and-up and they didn’t try to slip anything in."

The local options defeated on last week’s ballot cannot be brought back for a Precinct 1 election for at least one year, according to the Texas Election Code.

However, there are seven other alcohol sales options that could go through a petition process before that time expires. In addition, any of the state’s alcohol sales options — including the three that were turned down in Precinct 1 — are eligible to be brought before voters within any of the cities in Precinct 1.