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Thomasville alcohol vote set for August After months of debate and waiting for legal opinion, the date for a referendum on alcohol sales in Thomasville was set with little fanfare at the regular council meeting two weeks ago. Carefully measuring his words, Mayor Sheldon Day brought up the issue on last Monday night's agenda. "It is appropriate at this time, if the council so desires [to set a date on the election]," Day said. Day then read the entire resolution that would set the date of the vote. In a vote of 4-1, the council approved setting Aug. 14 as the date for a vote on alcohol sales in Thomasville. Day voted in favor of the date, and council member Charles Allen voted against. Alberta Dixon was not present at the meeting. Just before the vote, council member Lewis Herron spoke up with his feelings on the matter. "This is my position," he said. "The last time I checked, this was still a democracy in this country, and if we ever get to a point where we don't get to vote on the issues, we might as well get rid of the Republicans and the Democrats and we can all start driving the same cars. "If you're for this I want you to go out and campaign for it, if you're against it, I want you to go out and campaign against it, without accusing people of flying under the radar or doing things behind the scenes, but I know that's not going to happen. "I myself have been criticized, chastised and ostracized for defending people's right to vote on issues, but I am going to continue to defend the people's right to vote," Herron said. Day said he understood Herron's feelings on the matter. "Sometimes we have to put aside our personal feelings and do what's legal," he said. "We're mandated by state law to set a date." Charles Allen joined the conversation saying it was a time "to stand on our convictions and my conviction is still opposed to the buying and selling of alcohol." The council also approved an ordinance regulating the sale of alcohol within the city limits. That measure was also approved on a 4-1 vote with Day voting in favor and Allen voting against. "I made a promise to the community and I think the council agreed, that we would have an alcohol control ordinance in place before there would be a vote on alcohol sales in this community," Day said. He went on to describe the amount of publicity and public input the council tried to produce on the ordinance.
"In talking to folks on both sides of the issue, I think it's in the best interest of our community to go ahead and get this over with, whatever the result, so we can go back to being a community and working to grow and better Thomasville," Day said.
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