To the Editor,

We are getting closer to making a decision on the wet/dry vote in Clinton County (January 24th). If you are not able to vote on January 24, absentee voting will be available starting Friday, January 6, 2017, at Shelia Booher’s (County Clerk’s) office in the courthouse.

Neighbors, family and friends, we are living in a gold mine! We are the only county around that is sitting between two lakes that generate approximately 4.4 million visitors a year. People come from all over to visit these lakes, our town is losing revenue every year. We should focus on getting them to come to our community, at the present time they don’t have a reason to. People who want to drink are going to drink. They will drive to the Tennessee border or go to the next county and bring it back, so why let other states or counties make the revenue from these sales?

I know where I stand…I know where others stand…and I know that no matter what anyone says at this point, most minds and votes are already decided. For those of you that are undecided, think about this – when voting “yes” you are voting to open doors for businesses to come into our community and creating jobs for our children and grandchildren. Do you remember in the fifties, sixties, and, well, even today the families that left Clinton County for work? They went where work was and I, for one, would like to see growth so this and future generations will stay and raise their families here. Look around Clinton County. Over the years we have lost sewing factories, houseboat factories, tobacco fields, etc. Where we go from here is up to you, the voter!

Folks, get on your computers and do some research. Check out “Alcohol Laws of Kentucky.” Under Safety: The study shows about 39,000 alcohol related accidents in Kentucky found that residents of dry counties are more likely to be involved in such crashes, possibly because they have to drive farther from their homes to consume alcohol, thus increasing driving exposure. The study concludes that county-level prohibition is not necessarily effective in improving highway safety. Other data collected by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis supported the claim of higher rate of DUI accidents in dry counties, “dry counties have a fatality rate in drunk driving accidents of 6.8 per 10,000 people. Conservatively, wet counties had 1.9 per 10,000 people”…By voting “YES” you will help reduce DUIs and fatality rates amount drivers. One more. Research at (the) University of Louisville recently found that meth lab busts in Kentucky are significantly higher in dry counties, suggesting that meth production is more common where alcohol is banned.

If you are voting “no,” what plans do you have to bring revenue/business to Clinton County? A vote of “no” means we are pushing new businesses and jobs to surrounding counties, do we want that?

Kentucky Tax Code KRS 243.075 gives Clinton County the right to put a tax on alcohol for our county, to be used in economic hardship. For more evidence please go and check at the courthouse. I am anticipating approximately $10,000 per month in taxes for our community. For years we have been losing taxes to Tennessee, now we are losing taxes to other counties in Kentucky. It is time for us to look out for Clinton County. These tax dollars can help our police, fire department, ambulance service, and sheriff’s department which will help our community.

All of these folks that are opposed to Clinton County going wet…I sure hope they are not supporting and exposing their family to alcohol in an environment such as Outback, Cheddars, Red Lobster, etc…that just would not make sense, would it? Please do your research, and make an informed decision. Don’t let others influence your decision.

We must work together for our community to prosper. From what I see there are more pros than cons. No matter the results of the vote, we are still as one community working together to go forward. This vote is a freedom of choice.

Jim Soma

Albany, Kentucky