Dear editor
Dear Mr. Editor,
I have been reading all this stuff in your paper about voting Hot Spring County ‘wet’ and I ask myself, Why? All the information put forth by the “Committee” is either pure speculation, a distortion of facts, or just not true. I would like to give you readers something to think about. The ‘Committee’ says it is for the betterment of the community, really? They say it will attract business and increase tax revenue. Not so. Let me give you an example. My daughter and family live in Russellville, AR, which is in Pope County. Pope County is dry. Every time we go to see them, which is fairly often, there is always something new being built… Commercial that is, not to speak of new homes. Russellville is a thriving town, so what’s the difference? Let’s see: Russellville has a college; Malvern has one also. Russellville has I-40; Malvern has I-30. Russellville has a river; Malvern has a river. Russellville has a major railroad; Malvern has a major railroad. Russellville has a pine sawmill; Malvern has a pine sawmill. Russellville has Lake Dardanelle; Malvern has Lake Catherine and Lake Degray. Russellville has an electrical power plant; Malvern has three. Pope County has been fighting the Casino people for a couple of years to keep the Casino out of Pope County. If they wanted to put one in Malvern, the ‘powers that be’ would be jumping backwards to see it is done.
So what’s the difference between Pope and Hot Spring County? I know, but I will let the people figure it out for themselves. Pope County is not perfect. There are some ‘private entities’ that have a license to sell alcohol just like Hot Spring County does. Government will do anything for tax dollars. Government produces no goods to sell. The Alcohol & Beverage Control Board has circumvented the will of the people and done this. I have eaten in a lot of restaurants that have a license to serve alcohol and have never seen enough patrons having beer or wine with a meal to even justify the cost of their license. A case in point… there is a restaurant in Russellville called the Brangus Steak House. We eat there every time we are in Russellville. They don’t serve alcohol. They are not even open on Sunday, but every time we go there, the place is packed full!
The ‘Committee’ says that it will employ ‘X’ number of people. Not so. Your paper is full of places looking for employees. All over town there are signs for ‘Help Wanted’, ‘Now Hiring,’ etc. If these liquor stores employed people, they would have to quit their job somewhere else to go to work there, so the net result would be zero. As far as construction expenditures are concerned… If construction workers were not building a liquor store, they would be building something else somewhere.
As for as taxes are concerned, that is a ridiculous point. From what I have seen in your paper, the ‘Committee’ says it would bring in 80 to 100 thousand dollars per year to the county or city. That is not enough money to even know you have it. Adding 80100 thousand dollars to the budget of the county and city and expecting it to make a difference is like pouring a bucket of water into Lake Degray and expecting the lake level to rise. The only one that makes anything much from the sale of alcohol are the ones that own the liquor store. It would be real interesting to see who built the liquor stores, if this thing is approved.
The ‘Committee’ has these figures from the state surveys and data gathering agencies that show how good it would be for the county. Sure they do, as I said earlier, governments will sell their souls for tax dollars.
I look at TV and newspapers and see the State Police advertising, “Drive sober or get pulled over.” We have AA meetings everywhere, “Mothers Against Drunk Drivers,” Rehab Centers are full of those trying to dry out, ruined lives, broken homes, child abuse, broken marriages and the list is endless. The road ditches and woods are full of beer cans and liquor bottles, so I know that availability is not the issue here, but why in Heaven’s name would we want to contribute to the problem. I don’t drink, never have. Water is all I drink and I make it just fine. One can find no legitimate reason for wanting Hot Spring County wet!
Respectfully,
Larry Parker