Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff writer
Even after seven years, there’s still a deja vu feeling in Muleshoe.
The Bailey County seat, labeled on its website as a place, “Where Progress is Routine,” is going through what must feel like another routine with a wet-dry election in May. It is the third election on the matter since 2008.
The ballot for the May 9 election gives city voters the choice to allow or decline, “the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption only.”
Proponents argue that Muleshoe and Bailey County residents already buy alcohol, but dry status means the economic benefit goes everywhere but Muleshoe. A group called Concerned Citizens of Bailey County argues the sales tax benefits are overhyped and that increased accessibility does not create “the safest, most wholesome environment possible for raising our kids and for the citizens of our community.”
Election day voting will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., with early and absentee voting running April 27-May 5.
Early voting will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, and the polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 28 and May 5 to satisfy a state law requiring two 12-hour early voting days for any election. All voting takes place at Muleshoe’s city hall at 215 S. First St.
The special election was required after citizens turned in a petition with more than 211 signatures — equivalent of 35 percent of city turnout during the 2014 gubernatorial election.
Muleshoe City Clerk LeAnn Gallman and city staff haven’t heard much from citizens other than the occasional request to see the petitions, but Gallman expects talk to pick up once early voting begins.
As of November, Bailey County was one of 10 dry Texas counties, down from 53 in 1995.
Forty-nine Texas counties are “completely wet,” meaning all alcoholic beverage sales are legal everywhere in the county.
The other 195 counties in the state have dry and wet areas, according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
Passage would put Bailey County in the same status as Curry and Roosevelt counties in New Mexico — partially wet because although the counties do not allow alcohol sales, the city governments in the county seats do.
“Our primary frustration with this election is that it is being held strictly for the municipality of Muleshoe,” said Barry Cowart of the citizens group. “Proponents of the petition state that they simply want to give the citizens a chance to vote on this issue; yet they are not allowing the rural residents of Bailey County a chance to vote. The county residents will be equally affected by the outcome of the election with no voice in the matter.”
According to records at the Bailey County clerk’s office, voters upheld dry status for the county in 1948 and 2008, in the Justice of the Peace 1st District in 1993 and in the city in 2009.
Troy Moore has spent 20 years in Muleshoe, and said people are always surprised when they’re told Muleshoe and Bailey County are dry.
“We’re just trying to put out a few more facts about the tax revenue generated from it,” Moore said.
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Jackie Claborn, Bailey County’s attorney since 2009, said he was asked to compile information on what a wet Bailey County would mean in terms of crime and tax dollars.
Claborn said because of his position in the county, he wants to be a clearinghouse of information rather than an advocate for either side.
“I want to give them all of the facts,” Claborn said. “If they decide they don’t want it, I’m fine with that.”
Claborn said he got lucky because a study was done by Muleshoe’s economic development corporation on improving retail.
“There is one line that has to do with alcohol,” Claborn said. “Based on their study, citizens in the Muleshoe retail area are spending about $4,935,000 on alcohol per year. Even I was shocked by that number.”
The city and county would receive 2 percent of sales taxes — 1.5 for the city, 0.5 percent for the county — on alcohol sales. Assuming all alcohol-related
purchases were spent in the city, the tax gain would be about $98,000. But a true number is hard to ascertain, Claborn said, because it doesn’t factor in:
• How much of that money would still be spent in other cities
• What would be spent by people visiting the city
• The tax revenues from other products, because a person who goes to a grocery store to buy alcohol might buy other products.
On the legal side:
• Tickets for minors in possession and open containers would rise
• Alcohol-related fatalities would drop. Claborn cited a 2006 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that said on a per-capita basis, dry counties averaged 3.5 times the alcohol-related fatalities than completely wet counties. The study did not discuss potential reasons for the number.
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Cowart said that since 2006, when Littlefield went wet, the city of comparable size has seen more DWI arrests (159, compared to 103 for Muleshoe) and public intoxication charges (126 to 60). He and the committee do not believe that is worth the extra 1.5 percent of taxes — $15,000 per $1 million spent on alcohol.
Additionally, Cowart said that while bootlegging would be eliminated for adult-to-adult transactions, selling alcohol in the city would simply make it easier for those who wish to sell to underage drinkers.
If voters approve wet status, there will be no change at restaurants due to the off-premises requirement. Grocery stores and convenience stores could immediately begin the application process with the TABC.
Chris Porter, a public information officer for TABC, said the process usually takes about 60 days. City councils may adopt ordinances prohibiting sales within 300 feet of a public or private school, church and/or public hospitals, and school boards can bump the requirement to 1,000 feet of their campuses.
Grocery and convenience stores would be limited to wine and beer sales, and a person who opened a package store would be allowed to sell any beverage.
Calls placed to Lowe’s grocery store corporate office in Littlefield were not returned, while United Supermarkets said it would apply for alcohol sales if the measure passed.
“It’s our job to take care of guest needs,” United Communications Manager Mary Myers said, “and if the voters say yes, we want to serve them with that product.”
The last two elections have seen dry status upheld with about a 55 percent vote. Even if the status is upheld again, Cowart said that’s no sign the argument will go away.
“We have fought this issue four times (since 1993),” Cowart said. “If we can convince enough people of the importance of developing and maintaining a safe, wholesome environment for our families, then perhaps the issue will be settled. Only time will tell.”
