Anti-alcohol organizer says efforts at standstill

The main organizer of an attempt to repeal by-the-drink alcohol sales in Corbin said the outlook for a successful vote on the issue in 2006 looks grim.
“It’s not going very good,” said Paul Litter, a member of the Corbin Church of the Nazarene and proponent of ending alcohol sales in Corbin. “There’s a lot of apathy toward it. People are just content with the way things are. They just don’t want to get involved.”
The effort kicked off in mid-November when about 45 people gathered at the Corbin church for an organizational meeting geared toward getting a vote on the issue on this November’s ballot. Corbin voters gave approval to a referendum in May 2003 that allowed restaurants in the city that seat 100 or more people to sell alcoholic beverages. Since, six restaurants have acquired a liquor license.
Litter, now a motel manager in London, said he formerly owned a nightclub in Ohio and fears pro-alcohol proponents might take the city down a slippery slope toward expanded sales. Currently six restaurants in the city limits offer alcohol to customers, but it is strictly regulated by local and state authorities.
To get the issue on the ballot, state law requires a petition with signatures from eligible voters within the area affected equal to at least 25 percent of total votes in the last general election. The petition cannot be circulated for longer than six months prior to any election.
If enough signatures are garnered, they must be turned into the county Judge-Executive for verification. The Judge-Executive then sets an election day for no earlier than 60 days and no longer than 90 days after the petition is filed.
A local option election regarding alcohol sales can only be held, on the same issue, once every three years.
Litter said no signatures have yet been garnered for a petition.
“We’ve contacted a lot of the local people who were instrumental the last time around to see if they would be interested in organizing and getting up a drive to put it on the ballot. Most of those people say ‘no.’ They just want to sit back and they’ll help if they have to, but they don’t want to get involved.”
Litter said many of the business owners he’s contacted refuse to weigh in on the issue because either support or opposition to alcohol sales hurts business.
“At this point, it’s kind of dead in the water until we can find somebody that’s going to help with it,” he said. “I’m not giving up. We are never giving up, but trying to get an organization together or a group of people that wants to work together has been tough.”