Liquor Referendum Makes the Ballot - At Last

Clarence Stowers casts deciding vote.

The Sunday beer and wine sales referendum will be on the ballot in November! The decision came Tuesday morning at the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners' meeting, with Commission Chairman John Raber breaking a 2 - 2 tie by voting YES to the referendum.

Commissioner Clarence Stowers, who had voted twice against the referendum, switched his vote to YES, joining Commissioner Bill Lewis on the YEAH side. Commissioners Tim Bowden and Clarence Grindle voted NO, as they had done previously when the issue was before the Board.

The pressure has been on the commissioners for months as Lumpkinites (including D&B) argued that the commissioners had denied voters the right to vote.

That public pressure seemed to be what changed Stowers' vote. When asked by The Dahlonega Nugget why he switched his vote, Stowers said he had not changed his mind on Sunday sales, but that he had changed his vote because "of the attacks," including attacks on his wife and mother. Some county employees had trouble doing their jobs because of all the calls on the Sunday sales issue, he said.

No matter what his reasons may have, Dahlonega and Beyond says, "Thank you, Mr. Stowers, for joining Mr. Lewis and Mr. Raber in giving the vote back to the people."