Century voting for mayor and council; Jay on Sunday alcohol sales
Voters in Century and Jay will turn out this Tuesday, Aug. 18, for the Primary Election, but the ballots will look very different, as Century voters will vote for mayor and one council seat, while Jay voters will decide if they want to allow alcohol to be sold in the town limits on Sundays.
Jay
The Santa Rosa County ordinance reads: 'The hours for the sale or purchase of alcoholic beverages which are legal to be sold in Santa Rosa County shall be 7 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., each day of the week. It shall be unlawful to sell or purchase or engage in the business of selling or purchasing alcoholic beverages within Santa Rosa County between the hours of 2:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. each day of the week.'
The town of Jay allows the sale and purchase of alcoholic beverages from 12 a.m., Monday through Saturday at 12 a.m. Currently alcoholic beverages cannot be purchased or sold on Sunday.
Jay voters will see on the ballot: “Should the Town Council amend Section 3-1, of the Code of Ordinances of the Town of Jay, to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays? Yes or No.” The vote is non-binding. It will help the council decide whether or not to allow Sunday alcohol sales.
The issue has been brought to the council before by store by Exprezit Exxon gas station owner Neil Patel a couple of times, citing that his brother, a storeowner in Century, makes around $2,000 on Sundays. The council took no action at that time.
Council members have differing views so it was decided to put the issue up for the people who live in Jay to decide.
Councilman Josh Holloway, a minister, considers the amount of work it took to put the current ordinance in place.
“As a citizen of Jay, I would like nothing more than to keep it the way it is, out of the city limits,” said Jay Councilman Josh Holloway. “But I'm just one person. We decided as a council to put that in the hands of the citizens of the city. It's been that way for some time, and it took a lot of citizens to put that in place. So if that's still the consensus of the people today, we want to keep that in order.”
Jay Mayor Shon Owens owns and is part owner of several businesses in Jay.
“That's why we have elections, people have different opinions,” said Owens. “I feel like it's our duty to make sure to give every business in Jay the chance to be successful. The county has made decisions for what the county wants to do. If the council can't decide, then put it on the ballot and I think that's the best we can do. We want to give the people a voice.”
Century
Registered voters in Century will vote for mayor and council seat 1.
Running for the office of Century mayor is Benjamin D. Boutwell and incumbent Henry J. Hawkins. The term will expire in 2024.
Candidates for Seat 1 include incumbent Ann C. Brooks, Calvin Kenneth Cottrell, Jr. and Dynette Lewis.
Whichever two candidates get the most votes will run in the Nov. 2 General Election. The exception, according to the Century Town Charter, is if one candidate gets the majority of votes, which is 50 percent plus one, that candidate will take the seat.
For council seat 2, incumbent Luis Gomez Jr is running unopposed. The term for seats 1 and 2 will expire in 2024.
Seat 3 was left empty when Boutwell resigned to run for mayor. Interim council seat member Brenda Spencer is filling the vacancy until it expires. Candidates are Shelisa D. McCall and Leonard B. White. The seat will expire in 2022.
The General Election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020 and voter registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.
