Cove liquor petitioners to gather signatures during Rabbit Fest
Fri, 2015-05-15 05:00
News Staff
Several teams are fanning out across the Cove attempting to get a petition which would allow hard liquor sales in Copperas Cove. The petition itself does not authorize liquor sales; rather, it will allow the measure to be placed on the November ballot which will allow residents to vote on whether or not liquor sales will be permitted in the city. Mitch Lofton, along with T.R. Dyer and his wife Laura are also joined by Rachel Sizemore visiting various businesses and setting up areas where citizens can sign the petition. Tuesday night Lofton was at Applebees and Dyer, his wife and Sizemore were at Giovanni’s. The group plans to be gathering more petition signatures during Rabbit Fest this weekend. They will be located at or near the Chamber of Commerce booth. There are many reasons why this question should be placed on the ballot, petitioners say. All the folks gathering petition signatures had the same reasons for promoting the measure. It is estimated that Copperas Cove may be missing as much as $100,000 in sales taxes which are curSee rently going to Killeen and Lampasas. When people who get off work in Killeen or Fort Hood go shopping before coming home, they may very well be picking up a bottle of liquor and those sales taxes are staying within the locality where the purchase is made. Another very valid point is that many restaurants simply will not build in Copperas Cove because the expense of maintaining private club records is prohibitive. Several residents told the signature gatherers that legalized liquor sales in the Cove would lead to increased crime. Lofton said he has checked around the state and that idea is just plain false. If folks are going to have a drink and they live in a “dry” city, they simply pick up their bottle elsewhere and bring it home. That does nothing to point to an increased crime statistic. The petition is currently about 800 signatures short. The group gathering the signatures hopes to see a surge during the Rabbit Festival