e-sound off for the week of August 5, 2010
e-sound off
Your source for community topics and thoughts
Sounding off on alcohol sales in Hartselle
“Instead of worrying so much about the alcohol, maybe they should be concerned that the small town of Hartselle being saturated with methamphetamine and making and selling / use of it. It is everywhere here! the devastation it does.It makes alcohol abuse look like child’s play! It’s illegal, deadly and it’s here. You may not know where it is until you hear an explosion and what it does to families is more than a crime.”
“While I can appreciate what others are saying about personal responsibility and its importance within the home and the community, at-large, I am very concerned, personally, about the “invitation” of the additional irresponsibility into Hartselle through legalized sales. It is not the sale of alcohol, but the over-consumption and the resulting behavior that is most bothersome to me. The generation of additional revenue for the city is of little consideration to me, as it would likely be offset by other problems local alcohol sales might bring.”
“What does legalizing alcohol sales mean for Hartselle? Our schools are going to be so much better? Decatur ended up raising sales tax after legalizing alcohol sales. Will Hartselle rescind the additional 1% sales tax? I don’t think so. What will Hartselle do with the additional revenue? It will be wasted like all other government agencies. The more revenue, the higher the budget and the more we waste. Why not cut our spending for extra money? That’s what my family does when cash funds are low. Hartselle will spend all of the extra revenue, and then we will need to raise property taxes in five years to pay for all of the extra police, crime, etc. that alcohol will bring. Good idea.”
“Although we stand on opposite sides of this issue, I do understand your concerns. I just think that it’s very unsafe to think that because a child lives in a dry town they won’t go out and drink. I don’t know about you… but I was no genius at 18. I thought I was bullet proof and death from doing something stupid was about the farthest thing from my mind. Not all children drink… but many do. Is it really worth keeping a town dry and allowing them to drive off on a Friday or Saturday night and they don’t think they are drunk and then drive 30 – 40 miles to go home. After all Huntsville not Decatur is probably the hot place to go for a night life. Normally children don’t go out alone, if they do, they really need to be told of the dangers and they should stay with a friend or friend whether they’re going to drink or not. I think this issue is one of those “slippery slopes”, but I’d rather take steps to keep younger folks safer or at least give them the choice to be safer, than take the chance that, the particular age group we’re speaking of will always make the best choices. There are pros and cons. I think there will be many opinions from the voters… but no one can ever accuse Hartselle citizens of not caring and doing the best they can by the children in the community.”
The Hartselle Enquirer’s
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