In a meeting on Tuesday, the Starkville Board of Aldermen set a town hall meeting to allow citizens to voice opinions on a proposal to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays.
Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey proposed the meeting, which will take place May 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Greensboro Center.Corey announced at the April 4 meeting that he intended to propose the change.
Corey decided to propose the town hall meeting to give citizens a chance to speak on the issue and because only four of Starkville’s seven aldermen were present at Tuesday’s meeting.
Ward 1 Alderman Sumner Davis, Ward 6 Alderman Roy Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Jeanette Self were not present at the meeting.
Ward 5 Alderman Matt Cox said he supports the decision to hold a town hall meeting so that people can express their concerns.
“The biggest concern that people have raised is that they don’t want any kind of rushed decision,” Cox said.
One board member, Ward 3 Alderman P.C. McLaurin, voted against holding the town hall meeting, although he said he would attend the meeting and does not object to holding a public hearing.
“My vote simply was a protest vote against this being considered without a full board in attendance,” he said. “We had just barely a quorum, and something of this import in the community really needed to have the full board present.”
Several citizens spoke out against the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.
Carolyn Reed said it would be incongruous for the board to allow alcohol sales on Sunday after banning smoking in restaurants and bars. She also cited safety statistics and religion as reasons not to sell alcohol on Sundays.
A progressive town is one that uses its creative powers to promote health in the community, Reed said. “Partying and progress are not synonyms.”
Dorothy Isaac said she opposes the sale of liquor on Sundays. “It’s just not morally right for our youth, it’s not morally right for those who want to attend church.”
But Kurt Crissy, who owns Rosie Baby’s, Bulldog Package Store and other Starkville establishments, said he saw no reason why businesses should not sell a commodity on any day of the week.
Outcries that mayhem would ensue if alcohol were sold on Sunday are unwarranted, Crissy said. “They said that when we were going to extend the hours [that alcohol could be sold], and none of that happened.”
Crissy added that the sale of alcohol on Sunday is not a moral, religious or safety issue but an economic one because people who want alcohol on Sundays will go to West Point or Columbus to buy it. “I know the sales over there, and Starkville is missing those sales. I am missing those sales.”
“This is a situation where there is not a religious issue, there is not a moral issue, it’s an economic issue, and it’s a good economic issue,” he added.
Corey said the issue is an economic one because businesses look at whether alcohol sales are allowed on Sunday when deciding where to locate, and safety issues are alleviated by alternatives to driving such as the Night Route and taxi services.
Some religious groups do not celebrate on Sunday, he added. “I think those are things you have to take into consideration if you are going to pick simply one day not to allow alcohol sales.”