Mayor signs first
Leader photo by Caleb Daniel
Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker signs a petition Wednesday seeking to place the expansion of alcohol sales within the city limits on the ballot for the public to decide.
Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker and his wife, Kay, were the first signers of a renewed petition drive to expand alcohol sales inside the city limits.
The petition is being carried by a Texas consulting firm on behalf of Brookshire’s, parent company of Super 1 Foods, and Walmart.
At issue is whether grocery and convenience stores should be able to sell wine and higher-content alcohol. Backers hope to get the question on the March 2023 ballot.
Walker said he’s in favor of Ruston voters being able to have their say.
“I feel like the people of the city need to be able to decide what they want,” he said.
Workers began gathering signatures at Super 1 and both Walmart locations Wednesday. The drive is expected to continue through early October, John Hatch, with Hatch Consulting Group, said.
It takes verifiable signatures from 25% of the city’s voters — that’s 2,454 people, according to the Lincoln Parish Registrar of Voters Office — to get the item on the ballot. That specific number is based on the number of registered voters in Ruston as of Wednesday, the day Hatch turned in the first signatures.
Walmart and Super 1 tried to get expanded alcohol on the ballot in 2018, but the petition fell short by 31 signatures.
The city did not get involved then. But now, Walker said he has a plan that he hopes will assuage some of the concerns residents voiced four years ago. He didn’t release details.
“We feel like we have a plan that will satisfy some of the concerns of the past, if it gets to a vote,” he said.
Hatch said a return to Ruston has been on the radar for about three years but was held up because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Package alcohol sales in Ruston are currently limited to beverages with no more than 6% alcohol content. That means only wine coolers and most beers.
By changing the law, the group hopes to allow grocery stores to be able to sell beer, wine, and spirits.
Supporters said Ruston is losing tax revenue and jobs because residents are forced to drive to other surrounding communities like Grambling to purchase alcohol.
