Kasim Reed on Sunday sales bill: ‘I’ll sign it today’
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said this afternoon that he intends to sign the measure passed by City Council on Tuesday that would allow a November referendum on whether to permit the Sunday sale of alcohol in grocery and other retail outlets.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com
Said Reed:
“I’m going to sign it. What I’ve said all along regarding Sunday sales is that, though I am personally opposed to the measure, I’m going to respect the will of the Atlanta City Council.
“I have a great deal of respect for Council member Alex Wan. He is the author of this legislation that was passed overwhelmingly by council. I’m going to sign it today.”
The referendum will be on the Nov. 8 ballot, in conjunction with a vote to extend the penny sales tax by Atlanta Public Schools, and fill a vacant seat on the city school board.
As one of you below has already noted, if large crowds are drawn to the polls for the Sunday sales issue — that may not bode well for an extension of the school sales tax (which also applies to the Fulton and DeKalb county systems).
Which wouldn’t break the hearts of those who support next year’s transportation sales tax.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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110 comments Add your comment
Wilson
September 7th, 2011
3:32 pm
I’m a Christian. I go to church almost every Sunday. Then I often go home and have a Bloody Mary.
I will emphatically vote in favor of Sunday sales. The separation of church and state is real and important in this country. Furthermore, this tripe about it somehow being immoral to sell on Sunday (even though it’s perfectly legal to DRINK on Sunday) represents only a nutty sliver of American Christians.
Terrell
September 7th, 2011
3:37 pm
Yes, And, Why
Control the action of others by voicing our opinions? Really? Now because I’m against the majority I can’t say anything? I don’t care for drinking period and think it should be banned all together, but I respect how others feel and while I speak out against it that doesn’t mean I think any less of those who decide to drink. You have to be able to tolerate my view just like you expect me to tolerate yours.
Tom
September 7th, 2011
3:39 pm
Isn’t it amazing how so many who call themselves “liberty-loving”, “conservative”, “defenders of freedom” and “Constitutionalist” quickly change their tune when it comes to something that they think is in contradiction to their fairy tale religion?
Catholic George
September 7th, 2011
3:40 pm
It always amazes me how Baptists, Pentecostals, and other fundamentalists walk around thinking they’re Christian. Folks, you’re doing it wrong.
Terrell
September 7th, 2011
3:42 pm
Wilson
It’s immoral to sell it on any day, but we understand everbody doesn’t feel this way so we are trying to preservre Sunday at the least. Just because you go to church every Sunday doesn’t make you a Christian. Sepearation of church and state is important, I agree, because not every church is about God’s work but may have hidden agendas. I’m not talking about church. What I believe is more than just going to an edifice. This is my lifestyle. This is who I am, just like there are things about you that make you who you are, so if I’m nutty for what I believe then so be it.
Terrell
September 7th, 2011
3:46 pm
Tom
fairy tale? that’s the 2nd time I’ve seen this. If that’s how you feel then that’s how you feel. I can respect that but my question is why can you attack what I believe in but I can’t be critical about what you believe? The only way we can find out if this is a fairy tale is after we die and at that time it won’t matter. I rather go through life believing this “fairy tale” only to find out it’s not true than to go through life not believing only to find out it is true.
Terrell
September 7th, 2011
3:48 pm
Catholic George
Then tell me the correct way. What is it that Catholics do that make it right? Enlighten me.
Browncoat
September 7th, 2011
3:53 pm
Terrell, stop worry about everyone else and what they are doing, that would be a start.
Browncoat
September 7th, 2011
3:53 pm
worrying
Bobo
September 7th, 2011
3:54 pm
Terrell – You are correct, I just feel a lot of folks are kidding themselves. Religion is a great idea, nonetheless it had one purpose since the begining, to control the masses…this cannot be argued and it still shows today with this law (for the record I could care less if the sell on sunday, lol). The Bible and the Koran are excellent books of ideals to live by but not worth taking literally and killing each other over…perfect example of the rifts religion creates in our world is clearly show by how offended some of these people are in their comments and rebuttles above…People need to lighten up, live and let live
BrownCoat – Wrestled and when to school at Okla State – No UGA fan here, just up here in ATL working
Browncoat
September 7th, 2011
3:56 pm
Bobo, I am sure you could do just as good a job with the uga offense as the other one, lol
Browncoat
September 7th, 2011
3:57 pm
I suggest everyone just take it easy, man. And abide.
http://dudeism.com
Bobo
September 7th, 2011
4:04 pm
Browncoat – Ouch! lol!
Bobo
September 7th, 2011
4:05 pm
Browncoat –
That’s just like, your opinion, man…
LoL! Dont worry, this “dude’ abides
Terry
September 7th, 2011
4:05 pm
Yes to Sunday Sales, finally.
A tax increase for Atlanta City Schools? RU freakin kidding me. That thing has zero chance. Why would you give more money to an under performing, bloated bureaucracy.
The Drunk
September 7th, 2011
4:06 pm
I don’t know about you, but after church on sunday I need a good drink!!!
Proud American
September 7th, 2011
4:07 pm
@Everyone who opposes Sunday alcohol sales, get over it! Buying alcohol in a grocery store and other retailer is far more safer than going to a bar and consuming alcohol and then driving home drunk. Your bigoted bible belt views should not be forced upon anyone because they want Sunday alcohol sales. The solution for anyone who opposes Sunday alcohol sales would be to not buy alcohol. It’s not rocket science.
Terrell
September 7th, 2011
4:09 pm
Bobo
I strongly disagree with you my friend. I believe the Bible should be taken literally. Religion is man made, what I believe in is not man made. Just like people choose to believe in evolution I believe that God created all. Just because I express it doesn’t mean I’m trying to push it down your throats but to call what I believe in just ideas is an insult to me, but I respect your view and opinion. I agree that what I believe has structure and order and not everybody will want to abide by it, but what you view as control I view as something that is expected and a part of my lifestyle.
tellingitlikeitis
September 7th, 2011
4:09 pm
So funny that people are saying “no alcohol sales on the Lord’s Day”. Last I checked, every day is the Lord’s day!! Besides, didn’t they drink wine vinegar in the Bible Days? And, in the upper Room, didn’t Jesus say take this wine, as it represents my blood, and drink? Along with the bread that is to represent His body, it was told to do that in rememberance of Him. And where in the Bible does it say “thou shalt not drink of alcoholic berverages on Sunday”? I agree with some on here. If YOU don’t want to by alcohol on Sunday’s, then don’t!! Plain and simple!!! I say SIGN THE MEASURE and allow Sunday alcohol sales!! Maybe the state of Georgia won’t be so DEEP in the red because of its false beliefs that alcohol is not meant for “the Lord’s Day”.
Tech '10
September 7th, 2011
4:15 pm
Thank goodness!!!! I would much rather be able to buy a six pack on sunday and enjoy it in my home than be at a bar/restaurant and have to make a decision about how to get home.. I detest how religious people have made it a sin to drink even one drop. Says who?? Why is it a sin to enjoy a mix of naturally occuring herbs, grains and water? This isn’t going to turn people into alcoholics. Since I am a religious person, I will go ahead and say that I welcome this change. I honestly don’t think I will all of a sudden see drunks and delinquents wandering the street all stumbling around in the middle of the day on Sunday.
hobby
September 7th, 2011
4:18 pm
I like to take 2 baptists with me when I go camping. If I just take one baptist, he will drink all of my beer. If I take 2 baptists, they won’t touch it!
Tech '10
September 7th, 2011
4:19 pm
Also, as others have pointed out, if you already don’t drink, then there is nothing to worry about, your walk of faith will not be altered. If you do drink, your walk may be slightly more convenient. Whatever happened to preaching a responsible use of alcohol? Why can’t we teach responsibility?? Why does it have to be all or nothing? Is it possible for me to believe in God and (gasp) buy a few beers on a Sunday? Children please. Everyone knows Monks, who also hand wrote the copies of the Bible ( a very tedious task I might add) founded some of the oldest and most celebrated breweries in the world. No one ever seems to condemn them to hell..
Tech '10
September 7th, 2011
4:21 pm
hand wrote before the printing press… important addition.
Bobo
September 7th, 2011
4:22 pm
Terrell –
No problem with that, like I said, live and let live…more power to you as far as I’m concerned
…but I thik you nuts to take it all so “literally” …
One of my closet friends in college was actually my preist (I was raised Roman Catholic)…Extremely intelligent man, 3 or 4 doctorates, and had traveled to over 50 countries across the world. He was the person who tough me to question everything in the bible, dont every take anything literally otherwise your just trainable, gullible and naive…aka part of the masses…
Let me ask you this, have you ever been out of this country to see the rest of the world? It might open your eyes and broaden your views a little. I find folks like yourself (no offense ment at all, just being honest) usually are so blindly dedicated simply because they know nothing else…
Bobo
September 7th, 2011
4:27 pm
Tech 10 –
Excellent Point!!!!
Its all extremes in this country…all or nothing, war on this, war on that…my way or no way…there’s a lot of cry babies out there! LoL!
Tech '10
September 7th, 2011
4:39 pm
Agreed Bobo!! A chill pill and an adjustment of perspective would be good for everyone. I grew up Church of Christ and I was told my parents were going to hell when I was 11 because they got a divorce. Needless to say, I have been a little skeptical of everything I have ever been told by so-called followers of Christ since then.
To your earlier point, leaving the country was a huge eye opener! The attitude towards beer and liquor in countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, etc is so much different than ours. Knowledge is power and the desire to gain more knowledge and come to understand new things simply means we are growing as humans and we owe that to ourselves and others.
God did not send his Son to die on a splintery piece of wood so that his “followers” could hole up and tell everyone else they were doomed. How are we supposed to be salt of the earth if we are not willing to mingle with those of the earth? Anyway, I could go on and on about this, but I will spare everyone the rest of my ranting haha.
Bobo
September 7th, 2011
4:43 pm
Tech 10 –
We need to catch up for a beer sometime, LoL!
I like your style buddy and couldnt agree more!
All the best!
Free Beer Sunday !
September 7th, 2011
4:44 pm
YES !!! to sunday Sale !!!
Tech '10
September 7th, 2011
4:54 pm
Bobo, I like your moves! haha… yay movie reference. Good to know I’m not the only one who thinks for themselves! Well as soon as I move back to good ole GA from the very hot and bothered state of Texas, I will most certainly join ya for a brewski. Fingers crossed for this coming March… seems so far away!
k.g.
September 7th, 2011
5:06 pm
So its okay to get in my car on a sunday eve go to a bar and stay there, and get drunk or tipsy then ride off and have an accident or dui but i cant go to the package store and make a purchase and enjoy it in the comfort of my home on sunday, wow i will be voting for sunday sales!!! thank you mr.mayor
Kev
September 7th, 2011
5:06 pm
Are the liquor stores going to be open if this passes? I don’t like beer or wine (except for cooking) but I do like some vodka.
truthbtold
September 7th, 2011
5:12 pm
@ hell-bent, 100 years ago – the notion of cell phones, computers, television, radio, and microwaves more than sounded like “fairy tales,” but I bet you believe in them. You can’t sense any evidence of the presence of any of the signals that allow for their existence. You can’t see, touch, hold, feel, or smell any sign of their existence. You can’t even explain how one device would put out a signal to be picked up by another? How does it travel and penetrate structures? How can it be in so many places at the same time? What’s controlling and altering the invisible presence? And how do you know that it’s there without the devices to display it? What if you were blind and deaf? Would someone explaining the existince of all of this phenomena going on all around you be believable? The intelligence to design this technology requires 1 trillionth of the intelligence to design DNA. The odds of nature accidently coming together to produce life and the systems that support it, are worse than the odds of a natural disaster creating a touchpad computer from scratch!
Tech '10
September 7th, 2011
5:13 pm
k.g. – agreed.I am glad the Mayor is willing to do something for the good of the City, whether or not he agrees with it or not. Now if only we could do something about these public schools…. Well you guys.. I am 800 miles away. haha.
hymensaint
September 7th, 2011
5:37 pm
Terrell
you won’t “find” out at all. You die. nothing happens after that.
hymensaint
September 7th, 2011
5:42 pm
“I find folks like yourself (no offense ment at all, just being honest) usually are so blindly dedicated simply because they know nothing else…” Bobo
Sounds like yankees and red sox fans LOL
Michael Dynes
September 7th, 2011
5:44 pm
How about a referendum to force Chik-fil-a open to open on Sunday? I always want a chicken biscuit on Sunday’s…
hymensaint
September 7th, 2011
5:45 pm
truthbtold-
How do you explain anything to a person that is blind and deaf?
Ken
September 7th, 2011
5:46 pm
The church wants you to believe that its against GOD the sale of alcohol on Sunday. This is crazy and they know it too. I am a GOD fearing man and do not understand why such foolishness is being perpetrated. But I beat one of the so call religious person will be the first to buy a drink at the store. Oh yea they will by wine not alcohol. Come on man!!!!!!!!!!!!
A.S.
September 7th, 2011
5:48 pm
Sunday alcohol sales needs to be permitted. Georgia is one of the few states in the country that has this law and it really hurts the sales for local businesses such as restaurants and liquor/package stores. There’s no reason we should have this law other than to protect the church goers. HOWEVER, church and state should not be related. As America becomes more diverse we need to move past laws like this. This may have been okay in the 40’s but its 2011 baby!
Away With The Far Right Idiots
September 7th, 2011
6:03 pm
Do you think the silly part of the law that doesn’t allow a bar or restaurant to pour a drink before 12:30 p.m. on Sunday will get changed? Guess they wrote that into law to keep us in church until at least 12:30 p.m. That is so silly. My friends from the UK really laughed at the one.
artyc
September 7th, 2011
6:12 pm
you can buy a better chicken sandwich7 days a week
MGB
September 7th, 2011
6:21 pm
Separation of church and state…nuff said
Forest for the Trees
September 7th, 2011
6:46 pm
This is a simple choice.
Either you vote yes because you would like the option to be able to purchase alcohol on Sunday, or you don’t vote at all, because you don’t want to infringe on the rights of your fellow citizens.
If you believe in freedom, how could you possibly vote No on this issue?
Obama
September 7th, 2011
8:21 pm
The new mayor of Atlanta…Alex Wan
PubicHairDawg
September 7th, 2011
8:22 pm
Enter your comments here
PubicHairDawg
September 7th, 2011
8:24 pm
It’s all about Inventory. Just keep a months supply and you can forget about the regulations.
m
September 7th, 2011
8:38 pm
He respects Wan -but does not respect his right to marry legally. Hypocrit Reed. Just wants votes, such a politician. Who was he anyway before he beat Norwood…nobody and he still is…
m
September 7th, 2011
8:39 pm
Alex Wan 2013! No white; not black…just what we need…
Someone honest…
willydoit?
September 7th, 2011
9:14 pm
All this talk of Sunday alcohol sales is making me thirsty!!
m
September 7th, 2011
9:16 pm
http://westernfrontamerica.com/2011/08/23/update-brittney-watts-murder/