Living across the street from a tavern

The county sent word to me that the Effingham Family Association would be fined if we didn't remove all of our "Vote No" signs by tonight. Since I had to go to Springfield to visit a man in the hospital, I was picking up signs wherever I saw them, and I knew there was a home across the street from Kelly's Tavern in Springfield with a "Vote No" sign. I figured Kelly's would be upset about that sign, so I drove to the home. Sure enough, the "Vote No" sign was still in their yard, which sits directly across the street from Kelly's Tavern. I knocked on the door, and when the woman answered, I explained who I was and why we had to take down the signs. She let out a long sigh, and said that she was not even warned that Kelly's Tavern was going to open across the street. She said that on Super Bowl Sunday, they had lots of people bringing their own booze and having a party, and she was worried about the bar atmosphere that was going to come now that they would also be able to apply for a liquor license. That's why she was so reluctant to take down her sign, even after we lost the election. But she was nice about it, gave me her sign, and thanked me for being a voice for her viewpoint in our community.

Liquor passes in Effingham

Liquor by the drink passed in all three referendums here in Effingham County.
According to the Effingham Herald website, the measure passed overwhelmingly. Even though absentee ballots have not been counted, they will not change the outcome.
The county vote was 7,348 "yes" and 5,018 "no." That's 59% in favor.
Springfield voted 160 "yes" and 102 "no." That's 61% in favor.
Rincon voted 911 "yes" and 380 "no." That's 71% in favor.
In 2002, we defeated liquor by 57%, but this time it passed easily.
The proponents of liquor have pledged that they only want restaurants, not bars and nightclubs. I believe they are sincere in that pledge, and I hope that we can work together to ensure that we do not have bars.
To everybody who helped in this campaign, thank you for your hard work. You can put your head on your pillow tonight and know that you did your best, and that is all that you can do.
The alcohol issue is not an issue that I brought up, but I felt a responsibility to speak my convictions when the issue did arise. Now that liquor has been approved, I'm ready to move on and focus on sharing Christ's love with this community.

Coweta County got a Hooters

Charlie Pharis, from Woodstock, Georgia, tells this interesting story in an e-mail:

I know you know all the anecdotes and evidence about the so-called “full service restaurants” that are just chomping at the bit to come to Effingham (or any other place considering the sale of alcohol). We fought the same battle in Newnan and Coweta County back in the late 1980s – early 1990s. Same arguments…”if we want the full-service restaurants we’ve got to have liquor by the drink”, etc. Well, the referendum passed and everyone waited with bated breath to see these great restaurants that would be beating the doors down. When one finally showed up, it was Hooters! Not exactly the “family-friendly, full-service” kind of places the liquor advocates had envisioned!

The Liquor Debate On TV

WSAV-TV in Savannah aired a two-part series on the Effingham Liquor Referendum tonight. You can view the video clips on their website here.
And you can read and view last night's report on WTOC-TV here.

Former county commissioner gives me a call

My phone rang at home tonight, and the man on the other end identified himself as Charles Usher, a former Effingham County commissioner. He said, "I want to thank you for opposing this liquor referendum, and for not being afraid to speak the truth." He went on to say that when he was commissioner, we did not have beer and wine, and people kept pressuring them to allow beer and wine, so he did a study to find out if alcohol brought in sufficient revenue to pay for itself. The study showed that it did not; that whatever revenue was produced from alcohol taxes was spent on law enforcement and other increased social services.

Letter from an Applebee's waitress

The following e-mail was sent to me by a waitress at Applebee's, who requested that I keep her name anonymous:

I have been following the battle you are fighting right now. I would like to throw out my two cents. I live in Effingham and have my whole life, I recently passed my real estate exam and am a licensed realtor, I also am a waitress for Applebee's. I am also a mother of two girls, a member of your church and a friend of someone killed by a drunk driver. I am opposed to the liquor for many reasons. I would like to state that I have not heard one word about any full service restaurants even considering coming to Effingham, most corporate businesses require as part of a franchise agreement that there be so much of a population around the area intended to build which we do not have yet. This is to keep a big name business from having to have closed locations due to inactivity or slow business. I also know Bryan County allows liquor and that the only city to benefit by having full service restaurants is Richmond Hill. With in Bryan county, Ellabell, Pembroke, etc.. there are no big box chains except McDonalds and Dairy Queen I know they don't have liquor, But with in 10 miles of each other there are 2 bars on the outside of Pembroke on the same road. There are about 5 bars in the rural areas of Bryan county and no FULL SERVICE RESTAURANT'S. I know everyone is being deceived into thinking that we will get a great place to go eat if it's passed but that is not guaranteed. Just look toward Bryan County for a example. Rincon or Springfield could get a restaurant but what about Guyton, Shawnee, Marlow, Sandhill, etc... they will most likely wind up allowing bars because that looks to be the trend.

Live Liquor Debate on Radio this Wednesday

I will be debating the Effingham Liquor Referendum live on the radio this Wednesday, January 30, from 8 to 9 a.m., Eastern Time. (The debate will begin after the news, at approximately 8:06 a.m.)
It will be on Savannah's News/Talk station, WBMQ, 630 AM. Remember to tune to AM radio, not FM, to hear the debate.
Ray Steele of WBMQ will moderate the debate. I will be live in the studio, and Charles Kea of the CPCE, the pro-liquor organization in Effingham, will be on the telephone with us. I will be representing the Effingham Family Association.

UPDATE: The debate went well. Charles Kea made an interesting admission and an interesting evasion. He admitted that we are correct that "full-service restaurants" have located in communities that do not have liquor. Also, when I asked him to name a restuarant that has made a commitment to come to Effingham County if we approve liquor, he would not answer the question.

Pro-liquor people admit they don't know restaurant coming

The pro-liquor people made an interesting admission to a local TV reporter.
I was discussing the upcoming liquor referendum with a Savannah TV news anchor, and I said, "Why don't you ask the other people what restaurant we are voting on? The keep saying 'Vote for full-service restaurants,' so I'd like to know what restaurant they think we are voting for. Has any restaurant made a commitment to come if we vote for liquor?" The reporter replied, "I asked them that question, and they admitted that they did not know of any restaurant that had made a commitment to come."
Hmmm. Very interesting.

The myth about "full-service restaurants"

The people promoting the February 5 liquor referendum here in Effingham County have one mantra: "Vote for full-service restaurants." They are promoting the myth that unless we allow distilled spirits, we cannot attract top-quality, national chain restaurants. It sounds reasonable, but it isn't so.
These kind of restaurants are very expensive, requiring an investment of about $1 million to open. Thus they have strict site requirements for a new franchise about population, traffic, and economic demographics in an area. If liquor were the only thing keeping chain restaurants from coming to Effingham County, then why have we not already seen a Golden Corral or Ryan's Steakhouse, which do not even sell liquor?
Liquor proponents will reply that while the restaurants require traffic and population, they also require liquor. That simply is not true. If the population is there, they will come, with or without liquor. Look at Rankin County, Mississippi, a county in several ways similar to Effingham County. Rankin County is the suburban county east of Jackson. They had two liquor referendums in the past decade and each time liquor proponents told them they had to have liquor to get good restaurants. Both times, the voters said "No." After the first vote, Applebee's opened in Rankin County. Today, they have Applebee's in two locations, Ruby Tuesdays in two locations, as well as O'Charley's, Logan's Steak House, Texas Lone Star, and several other "full-service restaurants."
Now here is the difference between Rankin County, Mississippi and Effingham County, Georgia-- Rankin County has an interstate highway, and it has 150,000 people. As Effingham County grows, we too, will see more restaurants open. Don't believe the myth that we must have liquor to get them. No, with a smaller population, what we are likely to attract with loose liquor laws is seedy bars more than nice restaurants.
The truth is, we are not voting on restaurants. We are voting on bars and liquor! Why vote for something that brings all kinds of social problems with it? Does Effingham County really want to be just like Savannah? I don't think so.
Learn more about this issue on the web page of the Effingham Family Association at www.effinghamfamily.org.

Defending our church from attack

Below is the text of a letter to the editor that I sent to the Effingham Now newspaper defending our church. I think it is self-explanatory.
UPDATE: This letter was printed in the Dec. 27, 2007 issue of the Effingham Now. You can read it on their website here.

Dear Editor,

I was not surprised by the personal comments against me by the pro-liquor crowd in your newspaper's Effingham Now Vox Populi (Dec. 13, 2007), but you also printed an attack on my church that bordered on libel. You printed bald-faced lies about our church: that we manipulate people, that we don't do anything to help the community, that we don't encourage new people to join our church, and that if you're a nobody, don't bother joining us. None of that is true. You did not call our church for a response; you just printed this attack under the anonymous Vox Populi. Although the vox merely said "a church," how can anybody conclude it was any other church than First Baptist of Rincon when it was immediately after two other vox statements that attacked the church’s pastor by name?

A former member told me that she sent in a response to vox to defend us, so I waited a week for her response, but it was not printed. I cannot sit by silently any longer without responding to lies about the church that I love and serve.

1. We do not manipulate people. I have a few church members who disagree with me about the liquor issue, and we have discussed the matter lovingly and calmly, without any threats.

2. First Baptist Church of Rincon spends thousands of dollars every year helping the needy in the community with utilities, etc. Our church provided a totally free Harvest Festival on October 31 for the community that was attended by 1,500 people. This Thanksgiving, our church provided 100 needy families a free Thanksgiving meal. Our youth and college students constantly do acts of kindness, such as when they gave away 1,000 bottles of free water at the Rincon Fourth of July parade. Our senior adult choir goes to sing at the Effingham Nursing Home every month. We have a family counseling center that is open to the public. I could go on and on listing things that our church does in the community.

3. Our church has an active weekly evangelistic outreach, regularly inviting new people to join our church. Nearly every week new people join our church.

4. Our church is open to all races and economic backgrounds, and we currently have African-American, Asian and Hispanic people attending our church.

So as you can see, the vox comments about our church printed in your newspaper are not only false, but they are the complete opposite of the truth. While I respect the right of the people to express various opinions, I have no respect for the faceless “voice” of one person to openly lie about a church, nor do I respect a newspaper that would print such anonymous comments.