Dear Editor

    This coming Tuesday, June 4th we will have the privilege and the freedom to vote as citizens of the United States. This is truly the one freedom that we have living in this land where so many have given their lives to give us this right.

     Many of us will exercise our right and vote for the candidates that we believe can best serve our community. I will vote “NO” for legalizing the sale of alcohol.

     I will do so because that is my personal choice. We all have a right to our opinion, and we also have the right to agree or disagree, on whether we want alcohol to be sold, by the glass or not in Brookhaven.

     Some decided Wednesday night that I couldn’t have a choice by coming on my private property and stealing a sign out of my yard, and not just mine, but many others throughout the community.  That by the way is a “crime.”

     The decision to vote “no” comes from seeing the effects of alcohol in my own family as well as many others. I cannot support something that has caused some much hurt and destruction in its use. My concern for my family and friends justifies my decision to vote “no.”

     As to the debate concerning economic development impact, again that is where we all have the right to agree or disagree. But, having worked to promote economic development in our community, I would challenge our community to be as concerned with issues like literacy, teenage pregnancy, dropouts, drug abuse, and a prepared workforce, as we are about the sale of alcohol by the glass.

These issues have impacted our ability to recruit industry into our area. This is where we create the biggest economic impact when we secure an industry creating 100 plus new jobs. Yet we have difficulty finding the workforce based on the business or industry needs.

     So, Tuesday vote your convictions, and we will let the outcome of the vote give us our decision as a community. Then, it is my hope that we unite and focus on how the ordinance is written, as well as other issues with the same passion that we have given to this one.

     I close with this question, “After this, what will we work on so hard to legalize next?”

Kenny Goza