Commissioners last month talked about creating a Jackson County ABC board to study the issue. But that could be putting the cart before the horse.
Simply appointing a task force rather than creating a full-fledged ABC board would be a better route for now, County Manager Chuck Wooten told commissioners this week.
Under state statute, each ABC board members make $150 a meeting. So a bona fide ABC board would be more expensive than a task force.
But County Attorney Jay Coward also cautioned commissioners that a bona fide ABC board would then own the decision making process over new liquor stores rather than the decision resting with commissioners themselves.
“It may function in a way you don’t want it to function once you set it up. It has a life of its own,” Coward said. “They could decide to establish a store and start selling booze.”
That got commissioners attention.
“We need a committee then,” Commissioner Chairman Jack Debnam said.
It was the reason I came to the South.
Here are the true stories of some young people, all of them still under the age of 35. For the sake of anonymity, we will call the young people Lisa and Mike, Kevin and Laura, Patrick and Emily, and Michael (unmarried).
