Letter To The Editor

Officials Don’t Trust Citizens

Dear Editor,

            Nothing against my bourbon-drinking friends, but the State of Mississippi understands that beer is less harmful, and more widely enjoyed, than hard liquor. That is why, even though hard liquor cannot be sold on Sundays in Mississippi, our cities are explicitly given the authority to allow beer sales on Sunday. Scores of Mississippi cities do that, ranging from Jackson, to Oxford, to Batesville, to Coffeeville.

            It is not a moral issue, it’s business. If someone wants to pick up a six-pack for the Sunday afternoon game, there is no reason why that person should have to drive to another city. The argument “Well they should stock up on Saturday” is specious. They didn’t. So instead now they buy it from a neighboring, more business-friendly town. Probably along with that gallon of milk and a loaf of bread and maybe, if they’re in Batesville, a tank of cheap gas. That’s Water Valley money going out of our city. Mayor Hart and his aldermen are not supposed to be in the business of encouraging that.

            When a law is motivated by one church’s doctrine, it is bad law. It has economic, not moral consequences. The prohibition on Sunday beer sales is one example, and cold beer sales is another.

            There are—and rightly so—very serious penalties in Mississippi for drinking and driving. But apparently our mayor and his aldermen believe that Water Vallians are going to violate those laws in our eagerness for a “cold one” on the way home. Our city’s governing body forbids the sale of cold beer because it does not trust Water Valley citizens to obey existing law. When you think about it, that’s pretty insulting.

            This is an economic issue, not a moral issue. A local businessman who sells beer for off-premises consumption spoke with a senior city official about cold beer sales. (It doesn’t matter who the official was, they all speak with the same voice on this issue.) The businessman said that cold beer sales in Oxford and Coffeeville were hurting his business. “I told him that I didn’t want to spend $30,000 for a new cooler, and I didn’t want to hire somebody to keep it stocked. But I need to stay competitive.” The official told him “Sell them a six-pack and a bag of ice, you’ll make more money.”

            An attempt at humor, perhaps, but not very funny when you realize that the official was saying no to a major capital investment by a local business, no to the hiring of another worker in a city that needs jobs badly, and no to keeping Water Valley businesses competitive.

            Mayor James A. Young of Philadelphia, Mississippi, said it best back in 2010, when his Board of Aldermen approved Sunday beer sales. “I have a moral authority over me, but not over the people.” Mayor Hart and the board should heed that wisdom.

Best regards,

Cliff Lawson