Petition Calls for By-The Drink Alcohol Sales

 Amanda Hurt-Piercy, staff writer

People have signed petitions for years to express their opinions on certain subjects.

On Feb. 7, R.L. “Bo” Bowman, the chairman of the “Committee of Citizens for the Improvement and Expansion of Levelland, Texas,” started a petition to call for an election to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants inside the Levelland city limits.

Petition forms were placed at various places across the city of Levelland such as at Worley Welding Works, Palmer’s, Wayne Bo’s and Crawford Equipment. Bowman set up an RV on the west side of the courthouse square, where Bowman said he averaged 23 signatures a day for the petition.

Bowman was given 60 days to get 624 registered voters to sign the petition. As of March 6, he had collected more than 700 signatures and was able to deliver the petition to the county clerk and tax assessor’s offices for verification on March 8 only a month after it began.

“ Our community is continuing to rise and expand, and I hope the legalization of alcohol in our restaurants will bring larger food chains to Levelland,” said Bowman. “ Larger food chains will hopefully bring people in from Littlefield, Morton, Brownfield and the western section of Lubbock to have their meals here in Levelland instead of having to drive all the way to Lubbock. And for the college population here in Levelland, it could offer more available jobs for the students and offer a better food variety for their visitors.”

The residents who signed the petition were required to be registered voters and live within the Levelland city limits. Their signatures on the petition had to be the same way it appeared on the voter registration card. Bowman also had a list of all the registered voters, so the prospective signers didn’t have to have their voter registration cards present with them.

“I support any business who wants to serve alcohol,” said Miz Ayn Bowron, owner and partner of Mean Women Grill. “I’m not a registered voter in this county, but if I was, my signature would be on that petition.”

The petition will be used to call an election in November 2006 to be held in conjunction with the general election, Bowman said.

“It has been a good experience,” added Bowman. “I’ve had the opportunity to come across many people who show enough interest to sign the petition. And a lot of the people who signed the petition signed it not for the alcohol but for the possibility for better food options.”

However, there are some Levelland residents who feel legalizing alcohol in Levelland restaurants is not a good idea.

“I definitely think it’s a bad idea,” said Eddie Trice, senior pastor of the South Plains Church in Levelland. “My opinion of all the drug problems in the United States, alcohol is still number one. I don’t see any way that this can be a positive thing for the community.”

Also, there are the majority of individuals who are neutral about the decision.

“Our board of directors discussed the matter at our last meeting, and we have yet to take a stance on it to date,” said Mary Siders, president of the Levelland Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Program. “We anticipate taking a stance prior to the November election, if necessary. We remain neutral at his time.”

Bowman encourages those Levelland residents who are in favor of legalizing alcohol to come out and vote in the November election.