BRANDON – (AP) Brandon Mayor Tim Coulter foresees a vote as early as October on whether sales of liquor by the drink would be allowed in the city.
Meanwhile, a Brandon minister says a group of pastors is organizing opposition to such an effort.
Pastor Rick Henson of Oakwood Baptist Church said he’s been in touch with several other pastors who oppose selling liquor by the glass in the primarily residential city.
Henson told The Clarion-Ledger that the pastors haven’t met yet, but they are organizing an effort.
“We’ve talked on the phone about getting together,” he said. “In the meantime, we’re doing background work. We’re in the preliminary stages, and we will stand against it.”
Coulter said he is considering hiring a company to survey residents to determine whether there is strong opposition.
Meanwhile, he says he expects citizens will begin a petition by the end of the summer. If 20 percent of registered voters sign it, the city will hold a referendum. Changing the liquor policy would require 60 percent approval.
A new law that will take effect July 1 allows municipalities with more than 5,000 residents to hold an election to come out from under a county’s dry law without legislative approval. Coulter said the petition will introduce a liquor-by-the-glass policy almost identical to Flowood’s.
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