Man Behind Alcohol Petition Says Area Will Benefit

GRAND SALINE—Jimmy Pickens has no reservations about letting people know he is the one leading the charge for alcohol sales in Van Zandt County Precinct 1.

The sign outside his bail bond office and cellular phone store on Highway 80 in Grand Saline makes it clear.

"We’ve had more than 100 people come in and sign the petition, and we just got started on Monday," Pickens said Wednesday afternoon.

At that pace, he probably will not need the full 60-day period to acquire the 776 signatures needed to bring the petition before the Van Zandt County Commissioners’ Court to call a local option election in November.

If that happens, it would be the second local option election in the county this year, following the May election in Wills Point.

Pickens also hopes to follow in the success of the election in Wills Point, which became the first city in Van Zandt County history to legalize beer and wine for off-premise consumption.

"I had wanted it (alcohol sales) here in Grand Saline all the time I’ve been here, but I didn’t do anything," said Pickens. "When Wills Point went wet, I knew it was time to try."

This petition drive for a local option election differs from the one in Wills Point in two ways: area included and the types of alcohol sales proposed.

Pickens said he went for a precinct-wide election because, "I felt it would stand a better chance of winning."

If the petition process were successful, the election would include the cities of Grand Saline, Fruitvale and Edgewood, all of the unincorporated area in Precinct 1 and a small section of Canton that includes Old Mill Marketplace and The Mountain.

He is also spearheading not one, but three proposals for alcohol sales in the precinct. Along with trying to match Wills Point with beer and wine for off-premise consumption, there are options proposed for all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption — a measure that would allow for full package stores — and for the sale of mixed beverages in restaurants.

Pickens said his reason for leading the charge is to help bring more businesses and boost sales tax revenue in Grand Saline and throughout the precinct.

"In Grand Saline, our streets are terrible and all we have been getting from alcohol sales in other towns is the empty cans," Pickens said. "We need a way to bring new businesses in and the sales tax dollars to go along with it.

"People who drink are going to no matter where they have to go to get it," he added.

One of the more interesting aspects of a possible precinct-wide wet/dry vote is that it would include a town with a stormy history in that regard.

Edgewood voters defeated two previous attempts to make their town the first to go wet in Van Zandt County. The first election, in 1989, failed by only 26 votes and was extremely heated from beginning to end, according to articles previously published in the Van Zandt News at that time.

A second local option election came up 10 years later but failed by a wider margin.

Wayne Livingston is one of those surprised the issue has gone precinct-wide. The new pastor of First Baptist Church in Edgewood only learned of the petition drive Sunday.

"I was not sure when it would come up but assumed it would at some point," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"The way it was gone about was sort of a surprise, but I was told this (issue) would probably come up," Livingston added.

As a newcomer to the area, Livingston said the church’s transition committee spoke to him about Edgewood’s previous history with local option elections.

He said he expects opinions in the city will be divided once again.

"Anytime the community is divided about an issue, it is a concern, but there are some things that are worth standing against," Livingston said.

He said he does not buy into the proponents’ argument of economic benefits from alcohol sales.

"Even if those arguments were true, you would still have the moral question of what alcohol does to a community and the people in it," Livingston said. "However, we have found that in towns our size that voted it in, you don’t see the incredible growth.

"What you do see is deterioration, increased crime and social problems from alcohol sales. You don’t see the fantastic economic boom, except perhaps for a few choice people, but the community as a whole does not benefit from it," he added.

Livingston also said he expects there will be an opposition coalition of some type formed soon.

Pickens said he is counting on an opposition force forming as well, but has not seen anyone in his store yet speaking against it.

"I had a man approach me at church Sunday and ask if I was the one behind the petition. I said I was and figured I was about to get my butt chewed out," he said.

"But then he said he wanted to know because he and his wife wanted to come in and sign it," Pickens added with a laugh.

A business owner in Grand Saline for the past nine years, Pickens said he firmly believes approving alcohol sales will lead to new businesses in the area and the creation of more jobs.

Although he admitted starting the petition process "has been a pain," he feels it will be worth it in the long run and has no regrets about starting the effort.

"Anything I do, I am not ashamed of it," Pickens said. "I did this for the benefit of the county."