Residents urge Sunday alcohol sales, council declines to place referendum on ballot

Public comments at a July council meeting showed strong support among attendees for permitting Sunday alcohol sales in Barnesville, but the council did not place the question on the November ballot.

At the July 1 meeting and the same month’s agenda discussions, several business owners and members of the public — including convenience store owner Hiren Patel and other residents — urged the council to let voters decide the issue. Mayor Pro Tem Larry B. Whitworth and Councilmember Sammie D. Shropshire, Jr., said they had heard similar sentiments while meeting constituents.

Councilmember Shropshire moved to put a referendum authorizing Sunday alcohol sales on the Nov. 5, 2019 ballot; the motion received no second and was declared dead. Mayor Banks twice called for a second and no councilmember seconded the motion, so the council took no further formal action on the matter at that meeting.

What attendees said: In an on-the-record show of hands at a July meeting, 19 people present indicated they favored Sunday sales and four opposed it. Opponents, including Dorothy Carter, urged the council to consider public-health and youth impacts in addition to revenue and convenience arguments.

What’s next: Placing a referendum on the ballot requires a council motion and a second followed by a vote; without that, the issue remains unsettled until a future meeting or council-initiated agenda request.