A political action committee was formed Wednesday to counter a petition effort to expand the sale of alcohol in Lubbock.
The Let Lubbock Vote political action committee is drafting a petition to legalize the sale of alcohol in Lubbock city limits.
Norma Johnson, the vice-president of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce said in a previous article in The Daily Toreador, that the petition is expected to be released in late September or early October. Approximately 16,000 signatures are needed for the petition to become a proposition on the May 9, 2009 ballot.
Larry Jones, a Baptist minister and director of missions for the Lubbock Area Baptist Association, and a group of citizens against the potential petition met Wednesday at the Mahon Public Library downtown to discuss the alcohol sales petition and what should be done to minimize the chance of the petition becoming a proposition on the May ballot.
"It was a meeting open to the public," Jones said. "We had an agenda and the meeting was called to get us organized. We called on community leaders to come together to help us and we adopted our purpose, which is to combat every effort for the sale of packaged alcohol in Lubbock."
Jones said anyone who is against the sale of alcohol in Lubbock is invited to join the political action committee.
"This is not a religious issue," he said. "This is an economic issue. You have to ask yourself: 'Who is going to profit?' It's only a small amount of people who will make a lot of money off the sale of alcohol. The tax payers of Lubbock will be the losers. We'll pay out the nose for the increased police force, traffic accidents and an increase in domestic abuse. We realize that alcohol abusers are small in number but the cost they have on our community is huge."
Jones said members are currently working to name the political action committee and the budget for the political action committee has not been determined.
"Plainview managed to raise $35,000 in their effort against the sale of alcohol on their town," he said. "I imagine we'll need more than three times that amount here. Money to support this effort will come from concerned citizens."
Plainview residents ultimately voted to legalize alcohol sales by a margin of 36 votes, he said.
Jones said the money will be spent to educate voters on the negative consequences of expanding alcohol sales in Lubbock and will include public address announcements.
"We will do everything we need to do," he said. "Whatever it takes to defeat this."
Jones said the political action committee will not take money from stores interested in limiting the sale of alcohol that are on The Strip if it is offered to the committee.
"Personally, I don't want or need their money," Jones said. "There are enough concerned citizens around Lubbock to fund this effort."
Jones said he has been disappointed with how local media have portrayed him and others against the alcohol sales petition.
"The issues are not being addressed," Jones said. "The media has portrayed it, even when I have asked them not to, that it's Baptists versus the Chamber. That is not the case. This is an economic issue."
Let Lubbock Vote issued a statement via Shelby Shaw regarding the formation of an anti-alcohol sales PAC via Shelby Shaw, communications director at the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce.
"Our stance and focus is to bring this issue to citizens and to let Lubbock vote," Shaw said in the statement.
David Wilson, a member of the anti-alcohol sales PAC and a Baptist minister at Southcrest Baptist Church in Lubbock, said the committee has been perceived as wanting to deny citizens their right to vote.
"That's not the case at all," Wilson said. "People come up to me and say 'why don't you want people to vote? You're just trying to keep people from voting.' We're not trying to deny anyone the right to do anything. We are just trying to give everybody information so they will make an educated decision when considering their options regarding alcohol sales in Lubbock."
Be the first to comment on this article!