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Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:18 pm Posts: 1115 Location: Rising Fawn, GA
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Next Tuesday will be the vote for Trenton Mayor Race. I live in the county but shop in the City. When I keep hearing one of the candidates talk about putting the malt beverage ordinance to a vote to the people it shows a great misunderstanding of the malt beverage laws. The only vote the city can have on this issue is whether the city is wet or dry for malt beverages. The only other votes the city can have is to allow package sale of liquor, liquor by the drink or Sunday Sales. So if the residents want to stop the sales of malt beverages from convenience and grocery stores than the city could put it to a vote. If the vote turned out to repeal the malt beverage ordinance than the city would have to make up the revenue they got from it by the only option of raising property taxes. I am betting it would be a huge raise in property taxes over 3 times what it is now. I am not sure if the county gets any money from malt beverage sold at stores in the city. If they did it could also trigger a raise in County property taxes.
As a business traveler I can attest I pick where to stay based on restaurants and hotels. Hotels locate next to restaurants. Restaurants like Chilis, Logans, Olive Garden, Outback. When travelling it is hard to tell that there is local restaurants like our local ones. These den of the devils restaurants require liquor by the drink. So if the leaders want to attract new hotels they need to create a business climate that is friendly to the a fore mentioned restaurants. And yes that would require a vote by the people to allow liquor by the drink. This is not likely to happen. Until then only small restaurants will locate here. Thus no more hotels will come and business travelers like myself will stay in Tiftonia or exits that offer more of a variety of places to eat. Fast food gets old when you are on the road. http://timesfreepress.com/news/2011/nov ... s-alcohol/ Trenton hopefuls spar over finances, alcohol
Quote:
Trenton hopefuls spar over finances, alcohol By Andy Johns Saturday, November 5, 2011 POLL HOURS
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
The three men vying to be mayor of Trenton, Ga., all say they have ideas and experience.
The campaign pits incumbent Mayor Barton Harris against former Mayor Anthony Emanuel and former Dade County Commission Chairman Tommy Lowery.
And while Trenton has weathered a carpet plant closure, recession and a devastating tornado, the candidates say voters keep bringing up city finances and alcohol.
"Right now they're essentially broke," Lowery said of the city.
Trenton officials recently had to shift money from a sewer fund to cover operating expenses while they and the county wait for federal reimbursement for the costs of the April 27 tornado cleanup.
Lowery said that, as mayor, he would trim spending to rebuild reserves.
"I think they've got to establish a realistic budget and live within that budget," he said. "That might mean some tough decisions have to be made on what we spend on what."
Emanuel said the loss of 400 jobs at the Shaw yarn plant three years ago took a major bite out of the local economy, which still hadn't recovered even before the April tornado. He pledged to cut spending rather than try to increase city revenue.
"The revenues have taken a major hit, and we've got to manage that," he said. "We're not going to increase taxes. We're going to decrease expenditures to bring them in line with our revenues."
Harris said he's been involved with the budget process the last few years and that the city "is running really lean right now." Employees have not gotten raises, and nearly every department has been forced to cut back.
"The city's doing all we can do keep taxes low and keep everybody under budget," Harris said.
He said the way to improve things is to find ways to keep residents' shopping dollars at home.
Lowery and Emanuel said voters also have spoken to them about city alcohol regulations.
In 2010, the City Council voted to allow restaurants to serve beer and wine, but Lowery said the people should have been able to decide.
"Trenton is a very God-fearing town," he said. "I think the people should have been allowed to vote on it."
Emanuel called the council's decision a mistake and pledged to do what he could to let residents decide if they want local restaurants to serve beer and wine.
Harris said alcohol is not really an issue in the race. He said he doesn't drink beer, but said the council is elected to make decisions that help the city.
"When it's time for the tough decisions to be made, I'm not afraid to make them," Harris said.
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:58 pm Posts: 2179
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"Trenton is a very God-fearing town," he said. "I think the people should have been allowed to vote on it."
Is Trenton so "God Fearing" that selling beer and wine in grocery stores and convenient stores is ok but not in Resturants? Sounds more like "Small Minded" to me! But oh well that's the story we have said all along. As far as voting on the issue, it is being played on "Tha Fluffer" Station that Lowery will seek to repeal the vote... HHHMMM does that mean that Pizza Hut will have to give up it's license and it's 30% improvement in sales? I just wish folks were smarter (Not small minded) and think about what they are saying before they make themselves look stupid.......
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:58 pm Posts: 532
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Well if it is so bad (Beer and wine Sales) Maybe the “Fluffier and the Fish Wrapper” could publish the names, along with the pictures, of all those drunks that have been arrested after a night on Downtown Trenton. I am sure that will seal the deal to get it recalled. However it will not affect me in that I live in the county and when I want an “Adult Beverage” I go to Tennessee and give them my tax money because they need it more than the City of Trenton does. I say this because of the wide spread business base here always brings in excess revenue and the revenue brought in by the “Devil ‘s Brew” is not needed here but is needed in Tennessee and I base that on all the Restaurants they have there who sells it.
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:58 pm Posts: 2179
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309 total votes out of over 1600 voters tell me that it was "Much to-do bout NUTHIN"! Such a shame that a city voters don't pay more attention to an election than that. The cost of an election is one place the city could save money. While I am glad of the outcome, I would be ashamed to call myself a "City Resident" if I couldn't have found the time to vote in two or three weeks. When you look at the numbers and what the candidate stood "fer" you will be able to see that the "God-Fearing Folks" really are not paying attention to what they are preaching. But oh well, same ole---same ole...............
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:58 pm Posts: 2179
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racinwithrex wrote:
309 total votes out of over 1600 voters tell me that it was "Much to-do bout NUTHIN"! Such a shame that a city voters don't pay more attention to an election than that. The cost of an election is one place the city could save money. While I am glad of the outcome, I would be ashamed to call myself a "City Resident" if I couldn't have found the time to vote in two or three weeks. When you look at the numbers and what the candidate stood "fer" you will be able to see that the "God-Fearing Folks" really are not paying attention to what they are preaching. But oh well, same ole---same ole...............
Having worked the last two City elections I was thinking the numbers were around 1600 but to be fair since the Sentinel done the re-search and I did not... Here are the TRUE numbers... _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Still, lest it be thought that those 309 voters represent the entire electorate of Dade’s county seat, the Sentinel checked with the Dade County Board of Elections and ascertained that the city currently boasts 1,210 registered voters. That makes Nov. 8 turnout around 25 percent.
And in case you’re interested, 2010 Census figures estimate the city’s total population at 2,301.
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:58 pm Posts: 2179
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You would have thought that the City being in debt for over 240,000.00 would have mattered but seeing how our media is so focused on finding out facts... We now know that something was wrong for some time. Still not sure that amount in debt will hold up when everthing is counted but my gosh, that is bad.
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:58 pm Posts: 2179
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Seems out-going Mayor didn't like the fact that the City has been said to be a little under 250 grand in debt. So with the Fluffer reporting this morning, it was said that it really wasn't that bad because the City had to pay for the April Tornados which cost a little over 60 grand so that only leaves somewhere in the ball park of 180 grand.
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:58 pm Posts: 2179
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racinwithrex wrote:
You would have thought that the City being in debt for over 240,000.00 would have mattered but seeing how our media is so focused on finding out facts... We now know that something was wrong for some time. Still not sure that amount in debt will hold up when everthing is counted but my gosh, that is bad.
Heck if you thought that amount was bad, it got worse when the Mayor spoke before the County Commission and said it's more like 500 grand in the hole. It amazes me that this kind of overage couldn't be seen by the taxpayers by all the spending that was going on. I mean ever meeting was full of spending without any account of where it was coming from. They keep hiring part-time and spending money like it was a great economy. But I won't tell you... "I said SO" just look it up and it's there in my previous post. I do think it will take more than a year to dig out from under the debt because of the funding that will have to be covered in the next few years. The economy of Trenton can't grow that much in that little of time... If it grows at all.
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