Pauls Valley, Oklahoma —
An already hotly contested liquor by the drink issue will be decided just a bit sooner than expected after all three Garvin County commissioners voted Monday to turn down an offer by supporters to pay for the costs of an election.
The action means a vote set by the group last week for Dec. 14 will instead come during November’s general election as a way of keeping the county from having to burden the entire cost of the vote.
The decision comes in response to last week’s implications from measure opponent Kive Kerr, who used such words as bribery to describe the act of supporters giving the money to pay for the costs of holding a special county election.
Commissioners have said for the past two weeks they were not for or against the measure but chose to place it on the ballot as a way of saving the county some money since it couldn’t afford to pay for that election.
Supporters had offered to pay for the election’s costs if the liquor measure was placed on the ballot for a vote without an initiative petition. Those same supporters have said their group could not afford to pay for both a petition drive and an election.
Their offer attacked by Kerr last week included a $10,000 cashier’s check already submitted to county officials.
During their regular weekly meeting Monday the county trio said no to the outside funds as all three commissioners voted to return the check submitted by the Garvin County Citizens for Economic Development.
They also approved in a split vote to move up the election to early November.
“I make a motion to return that check to the people that issued it to us,” District 3 Commissioner Johnny Mann said as all three agreed.
The commissioners’ decision came after George Burnett, assistant district attorney here in Garvin County, read an opinion from Assistant District Attorney David Batton of Norman advising them to refuse the offer from supporters to pay for the costs of the election even though he believes it’s legal.
“The only legal issue is whether or not Garvin County can accept the offer of payment. Unfortunately there is not any case law or attorney general’s opinion that is on point or closely analogous,” Batton stated in the letter.
Batton added he didn’t believe there is a problem with an outside group paying for the costs of a special county election since property statutes now allow for the regular donations of roads and easements to the county.
Much like commissioners last week, Batton also responded to Kerr’s strong implications of possible wrongdoing with the outside funds being accepted.
“With baseless, unsupported and inappropriate claims and accusations of fraud and/or bribery, there also appears to be a segment of Garvin County willing to make whatever fervent accusation, however false or misleading they may be, to contest the election regardless of any factual competence to the claims,” Batton advised in the letter.
“To avoid the possibility these fervent, false and baseless claims of improper conduct of ever being an issue, it may be appropriate that the citizen’s wishing to go forward with the ballot measure for ‘liquor by the drink’ go forward with collecting those signatures.
“It clearly appears that the fervent opponents of the ballot measure are simply costing the citizens of Garvin County the costs of the election.”
Representing the group supporting the measure, Jeff Shultz accepted the returned the check and said yes when asked if supporters still wanted the measure on the ballot.
Shultz said the group was confident it could repeat the initiative petition drive from four years ago and again collect the required number of signatures to get the issue on the ballot. The petition was successful in 2006, but voters narrowly turned down the issue.
With the prospect of the county having to pay for the election, District 1 Commissioner Kenneth Holden moved to limit the costs by putting the liquor by the drink measure on the November ballot.
“I think we should put it on the November election and save the county some money,” Holden said
“We’re doing this to save the county the cost of the election,” Mann said.
District 2 Commissioner Shon Richardson cast the lone no vote to the idea of moving the election up to November.
“I’m not saying I’m for it or against it. I’m just looking at it as a controversial issue,” Richardson said.
The decision came three days before the deadline to get a measure on the ballot for the November election.
Election Board Secretary Cathy Brinley said the deadline is Thursday, Sept. 2 for her office to receive an election resolution. She said the county is now looking at a cost of around $2,400 to pay for the printing of ballots. She estimates the full cost of the election is between $8,000 and $10,000.
Local News
Liquor vote to come in November
- Local News
-
-
It’s now official for county trust
A Garvin County trio made it official Monday by creating a brand new public trust authority designed to help area school districts after bond issues are OK’d by voters.
-
DNA findings put trial on hold
A jury trial will have to wait for one of five suspects accused of committing home invasions in two Garvin County cities back in the fall of 2010.
-
Retirement is full circle for Paoli principal
Throughout the history of any town, whether it is as big as Oklahoma City or in this case as small as Paoli, there are always natives remembered for going above and beyond the rest.
-
Delta to stuff bus for soldiers
As Memorial Day weekend is set to offer yet another chance to celebrate in the names of individuals who have sacrificed so much for America, Delta Public Transit has plans to help those whose service is either current or much more recent.
-
Swinging summer
-
Splash time for pool project
Hoping to make a big splash while thinking outside the box are a number of officials involved in the planning for an outdoor swimming pool facility in Pauls Valley.
-
End of School Honors
-
PVGH program more familiar patient care
While not all of the wounds have healed since the most difficult changes to Pauls Valley General Hospital via a control shift over to the St. Anthony Health System took place, some of the brighter days have already come from a new care position started on March 5.
-
Sides drawn in shooting case
A shooting earlier this week has one Pauls Valley man awaiting criminal charges for what some witnesses described as action done to protect others.
-
Disposal site protest now official
Now it’s wait and see time for a bunch of Pauls Valley area landowners who have completed a petition opposing a proposed oil field waste disposal site.
- More Local News Headlines
-




