A group of at least 50 concerned citizens from Northern Rapides Parish met March 1 to respond to recent media reports that indicated Pineville’s “dry” status could be threatened.
PINEVILLE – A group of concerned citizens from the Northern Rapides Parish met for the second time to do something to oppose the possible expansion of alcohol sales in their town.
The group met March 1 at Louisiana College’s Granbury Conference Center at the invitation of Joe Aguillard, LC president, to respond to recent media reports that indicated Pineville’s “dry” status could be threatened. At least 50 people, including pastors, concerned laypeople, and current and former elected officials from Southern Baptist and other denominations attended the meeting.
Aguillard called and led the meeting after receiving numerous requests from concerned citizens in the Pine-ville area, he said.
Pineville Attorney Michael Johnson told the group the alcohol issue would ultimately wind up on the ballots of those areas north of the Red River once again. Because there is no absolute right to sell alcohol in the United States, alcohol sellers are licensed. The licensing of alcohol sales is a “local option” meaning that it is generally left up to the voters of a particular area to allow or prohibit it. The citizens of Ward 9 voted to keep Pineville “dry” as late as 1981. Wards 10 and 11 did likewise.
Another election now seems likely. The only question is exactly how the issue will get to the ballot box. Johnson outlined three possible scenarios. First, an individual or group may push to place the issue on the ballot by securing the signatures of 25 percent of the registered voters of Pineville or any other election district. The total signatures needed for the city of Pineville would be 1,952.
Second, the Louisiana Legislature in 2003 passed a bill that decreed that the governing authority of a municipality created by legislative charter with a population of not less than 13,000 nor more than 14,000 can call for an election without the petition drive. Such an election could only allow for restaurant sales of alcohol. If, as it appears, Pineville falls into that population category, the Pineville City Council could place the restaurant alcohol issue on the ballot.
Third, and perhaps most troubling, relying on a 2005 Louisiana Supreme Court ruling, local option elections based on “ward” political subdivisions might be null and void. In Sabine Parish Police Jury vs. Commissioner of Alcohol & Tobacco Control, the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2005 ruled that when an old “dry” ward is merged into a new “election district,” that ward’s old alcohol prohibition is void. If this ruling becomes precedent for the entire state, as Supreme Court rulings usually do, then any alcohol prohibitions in Louisiana voted on in the old “ward” system may be nullified and voided, including the prohibitions of wards 9, 10, and 11 North of the Red River in Rapides Parish. This ruling could threaten “dry” areas all across Louisiana, though it has not yet been brought to court anywhere other than in Sabine Parish.
Regardless of how the issue proceeds to an election, Johnson encouraged the group to demonstrate their opposition to the possibility of expanded alcohol sales in North Rapides Parish by praying, spreading the word in their churches, and contacting city leaders and area media outlets. “Pineville and L.C. and church and families have always been synonymous to me. Expanded alcohol sales threaten all of this,” Johnson said.
Mayor Clarence Fields’ position on the issue is not yet clear. In a February 11 front-page article in the Alexandria
Town Talk Fields was quoted as saying, “I would like to see the law modified to help attract different kinds of restaurants – I could go for that as long as we could have complete control over where the alcohol is sold.”
Fields echoed his comments in the February 14 edition of the
Northside Journal. Fields said in that interview, “We will not look for a change that will allow wide open liquor sales. We envision sales in restaurants and special occasions at the convention center only. We would limit both the point of sale and the location.”
A Feb. 15 article in the
Town Talk indicated that the mayor and the Pineville City Council would rely on the citizens of Pineville to tell them when it was time to expand the sale of alcohol in the city.
Pineville citizens may have indeed contacted the Mayor about the issue. In a Feb. 27 meeting with a small group of local pastors, Fields indicated that he was now “leaning” toward keeping Pineville dry.
Both the official actions taken at the March 1 meeting at Louisiana College had to do with Mayor Fields and the Pineville City Council. The group committed to pray for the mayor and city council individually at 9 P.M. every night and corporately for ten minutes at their next meeting. The group also requested that Mayor Fields and the City Council make their position on the alcohol issue public by the April 10, 2007 Pineville City Council Meeting.
In light of Fields’ recent leanings to keep Pineville dry, the group excitedly encouraged the Mayor to commit publicly and fully to that position by signing a position statement produced by the group. The statement says in part, “My position needs to be made perfectly clear. I am opposed 100% to alcohol being sold in ANY form at ANY place and at ANY time in the City of Pineville. No exceptions.”
The group also encouraged all area elected officials to sign the position statement. Rapides Parish Police Jury President Butch Lindsey, who was present at the meeting, signed the statement in front of the group.
Those opposed to the expansion of alcohol sales were encouraged to gather in number at the next two Pineville City Council meetings to let their voices be heard. The meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, and 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, at the Pineville City Hall. The group also is circulating petitions for those who oppose the expansion of alcohol sales.
Those interested in being a part of the group may join the next meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at Louisiana College’s Granbury Conference Center. They may also join the group’s e-mail list by sending a request to pinevillevalues@aol.com