Burley to read Sunday booze ordinance again
It's all about free agency versus governmental restriction of individual rights - and if you're looking forward to ordering a shot of Jagermeister in Burley this Sunday, you'll have to wait at least two more weeks.The Burley City Council agreed by a vote of 4-2 Tuesday night to allow a second reading of the proposed ordinance that would allow Sunday liquor sales in the city. Council members Dennis Dexter and Steve McGill voted to suspend the standard three-reading rule and vote on the matter Tuesday night. Instead, it will be either voted on or postponed by another two weeks during the Dec. 2 meeting.
Several people showed up Tuesday to oppose the potential ordinance - which City Attorney Randy Stone presented as a change that will allow the sale of liquor on "Sunday, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving."
Burley resident Tony Hart stood up and said, "A lot of traditional things go by the wayside just because somebody else does it. I've lived here for 50 years and seen the deterioration of the community."
The remarks prompted Jim Bryant, also a longtime resident, to angrily denounce Hart's position.
"I'd like to take it back to the 1800s when it was our right to drink on Sunday, when it was our individual rights to do what we wanted without people like Tony telling us how to live our lives," he said.
Others in the audience of about 25 people related the issue to religion.
"We just let our barriers down a little bit, pretty soon they're all gone," Dan Crane said, "There was a law written down 6,000 years ago about keeping the Sabbath holy. What about the other things this will bring?"
Crane went on to cite increased law-enforcement costs and, without explaining a connection, erosion of the Constitution.
Forrest Hall lectured the city council about three evils in society: drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
The first, he said, groups the only illegal intoxicants and seemed to suggest that the latter two should follow.
Hall praised the lack of tobacco smoke in most public places nowadays and said, "Alcohol is probably the most wicked of the whole bunch. Why should we support a person who wants to sell alcohol in the first place?"
Tawnya Hale, representing Nelson's Cafe and Pilot Lounge, pointed out, as she did at the previous meeting, that the business is already paying for a yearlong license, which is useless 52 days out of the year, and that bars already sell beer and wine.
Owner Shirley Middleton said, "As for Sunday being the Lord's day, every day is the Lord's day - and people who don't realize that need to take a closer look at themselves."
The overt opponent on the city council, Vaughn Egan, said, "I am strictly against whiskey on Sunday - for many reasons, and the majority of citizens in this city know what those reasons are."
He didn't mention any of the reasons but said that he would continue to support the ban "for the rest of my days on this earth."
Councilman Dennis Curtis, while voting in favor of a second reading, said, "If a man wants to sell hay on Sunday, I could care less. I've always been for commerce."
http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/11/20/news/minicassia/149144.txt
1 comment:
Were it not for the gloriously democratic process in Burley there might not be a third reading of the bill, which would be a grievous act by those for the desecration of everything that is good, pure, and progressive, which would itself be a miscarriage of the sort of justice on which this country was built, and in that way an undermining of the very foundations of these, need I remind them, United States of America!
Post a Comment