RUSTON, La (KTVE/KARD)— Ruston residents voted to expand alcohol sales in the city, passing all five propositions that were on the ballot this past election. While propositions 1, 2, and 5 were already in place in Ruston, propositions 3, and 4 are new and will only bring more revenue to Ruston.
Mayor Walker explained how it felt to watch the results come in. “When the early voting came in, that’s always a good indicator of how things are going to go. I was really kind of surprised, mostly at the bars, because if there was one out of the five I thought would fail, it would be the bars. More boxes came in, and the trend just continued, and we realized that all five were going to pass.”
The results are in, and Walker expressed what this means for the city of Ruston. “It means that our restaurants that are here will remain; they won’t have to stop selling alcohol within their restaurants, but with number four passing, supermarkets can now sell alcohol. That means a tax increase as far as what’s coming into the city, but not just the city; it’s the school board, the police jury, and the sheriff.”
Walker told NBC 10 whats next now that the election is over. “This coming Monday night is our city council meeting, our April meeting, and we will actually present some ordinances that will deal with the actual paperwork that’s necessary and the logistics of getting someone ready to sell in a grocery store or a bar, so we will do that in April and May. People are asking me, you know, how long is it going to take before they will be able to sell? We’re not putting a timeline on it because we have to do things right through the state and everything else. So I’m saying that hopefully, in June, we’ll be ready.”
