By Sonny Turner
Athens voters turned out in big numbers Tuesday to overwhelmingly support the continued sales of alcoholic beverages.
By a margin of more than 2-to-1, 6,318 city voters went to the polls to cast ballots. Complete, but unofficial returns showed 4,288 (67.87 percent) voted “yes” for alcohol sales and 2,030 (32.13 percent) said “no.”
Meanwhile, Limestone County voters defeated a proposal to raise the sales tax a penny for county and city schools.
Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely summed up the special election best.
“The beer is still flowing and the taxes ain’t growing,” he said.
Those who lobbied against legal alcohol sales will carry on.
“We felt this was our best opportunity to get it repealed,” said the Rev. Eddie Gooch who led the drive to get the wet-dry vote on the election ballot. “The people I’ve talked to realize this was probably our last opportunity. We don’t expect it to come back up.”
The absentee box was the first to come in Tuesday night and when it showed a 219-43 vote for legal sales, many of the local political experts at the courthouse annex said usually the absentee box is a good indicator of how the rest of the vote will go.
“I would like to invite the people on the other side of this issue to come and join us and let’s make Athens an even greater place to raise our children and grandchildren,” said Athens City Council President Harold Wales, who publicly supported continued alcohol sales.
“For the people who are worried about honky tonks and strip joints coming to Athens, that will never happen with this mayor and City Council in charge,” Wales said. “I will always uphold the integrity Athens has always had.”
Approximately 53 percent of Athens’ 11,881 registered voters went to the polls to cast ballots. Local political experts said this is one of the largest voter turnouts in the city’s history. In 2003, when Athens went wet, 59 percent of the city’s registered voters went to the polls.
Athens went wet Sept. 9, 2003, by a margin of 226 votes. In that election, 51.6 percent (3,722 voters) said “yes” to legal sales while 48.4 percent (3,496 voters) said “no.”
Prior to that vote, Athens voters had once before rejected legal sales after the state Legislature adopted the local municipal-option bill.
The Athens City Council will certify the special-election results at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21 in Limestone County Probate Judge Mike Davis’ office. Only the provisional or challenge box was not counted Tuesday night.
“For more than two months, each side has been able to debate the issues,” Wales said. “Today, the people decided it. They have spoken loudly and clearly that they are in favor of legal sales.”
“I think God is still good and the people put him out of the picture,” said Joel Glaze, who thought Athens was better dry. “It’s hard to do this when you take the No. 1 abusive drug and call it progress. But I will personally make a prediction now, in two years the Athens City Council will impose a 1-cent sales tax to take care of all alcohol money we are getting.”
Gooch believes his followers did what they could.
“The people worked hard on this issue and I am thankful for the numbers we got,” said the pastor at Isom’s Chapel United Methodist Church. “We feel like we did what the Lord asked us to do. We realize the people had a free choice. We just praise God we had the opportunity to vote like this.”
Blakely reported that while the votes were being counted, Athens’ newest downtown restaurant that serves alcohol, Giovanni’s, was packed.
