Thoughts and concerns from both sides of the aisle
By Kendall Patterson
Editor
In the 2022 November State General Election, the major item on the ballot is “Liquor by the Drink” in the City of Henderson.
The item will be worded as “City of Henderson - Alcohol Consumption on the Premises Referendum” on the ballot.
Last time it was on the ballot in 2018, it was so close that the vote results changed from passing to failing after the voting audit process. The final tally in 2018 was 805 against it and 764 for it.
This time around, the push from both sides seems stronger with people deciding to put signs in the city encouraging people to support their view.
“Liquor by the drink” is not handled the same as packaged beer. Unlike how “packaged beer” can only be sold from at least 1,000 feet from a school or church, “liquor by the drink” does not have a distance limit but the establishment must be in a commercial zone. Furthermore, if it passes, the establishment must have a license from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, also serve food and at least seat 50 people.
Mitchell Hunt, owner of Hunt’s Tennessee BBQ, is the organizer of the signs that are for liquor by the drink. He wants people to understand there is no distance requirement, but a zoning one.
“That’s a big confusion with people. They think, ‘Well, even if liquor by the drink passes you still got to get the footage law changed.’ That’s not true. Liquor by the drink is a zero footage law because it is a state law and state law says that it’s zero feet,” he said.
He continued to express all of the reasons why he wants the vote to pass.
“The biggest thing is the tax revenue, the jobs and opportunities that it brings in for a town,” he said. A good example is Lexington, Tennessee. If liquor by the drink never got passed; they wouldn’t have half of what they have now… The people that work in Jackson, Selmer, Lexington and that don’t work here it’s crazy. Keep your jobs here. Keep your money here and you will see it with the schools. You will see it with the ball parks. You’ll see it with the roads… The little town will change in an instant. Then you will have people say, ‘we don’t want our little town to be a big city.’ You can’t make a little town a big city but you can make more opportunities for people.”
Hunt even told the Chester County Independent that his business will move if it does not pass.
“I can honestly say to you, I have worked my butt off for this and a lot of people have helped me and are pushing for it and are going to vote for it, but I can tell you if it does not pass we’ll move. I cannot go out here and buy a lot for three or four thousand dollars then spend a half a million building a big nice building… I don’t want to build some shack. I want to build a nice restaurant that sells alcohol with your food. You can sit down. Watch a game. Sit down with your family, because it’s going to be a family environment it ain’t just some bar. I can’t do that without liquor by the drink. It’s sad that I can’t but as a restaurant I’m only making about 5-7 percent of profit of a hundred percent of sales. When you look at food costs, and rent and utilities it’s through the roof.”
Someone who is on the other side of the spectrum is Chester County District 1 Commissioner Jerry Lowe, and he shared why he is against “Liquor by the Drink.”
“As a Christian, I do not drink and do not approve of liquor by the drink in our community. Also as a father who lost a daughter to a drunk driver I could not approve of it in our community. I do not think local restaurants would serve liquor if it was legalized, and we would probably end up with a bunch of bars instead of bringing in big restaurants, because we are too close to Jackson for the big restaurants to come here,” Lowe said.
Doug Burleson also expressed his thoughts of being against liquor by the drink.
“There’s not some grand conspiracy to keep alcohol out of Henderson. I’m just a father of four. I care about who’s on the roads in the community and how sober they are. I believe that convenience promotes consumption,” he said.
Burleson also argued from the topic of revenue alcohol could make for the city.
“I just would like voters to consider that there are other things more important than revenue,” he said. “I think that there are better ways of building a community than making alcohol more accessible.
Even if it passes, Burleson said he will still believe Henderson is great.
“I’m so glad this is something we can vote on. If this passes, we still believe Henderson is a great place to live and we will continue to be model citizens.”
Early voting began Wednesday, October 19, and will go through November 3 with the hours of Monday –Wednesday and Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Election day is November 8.
