More on Liquor by the drink

Ok, so I've gone by and found out more about the Liquor by the Drink initiative. 

First of all we have until July 23rd to have the petitions turned in for verification prior to the August vote.  Do NOT be thinking August, think today!

Second here are a couple of locations to sign the petition that I'm aware of. The Chamber of Commerce (Open 8 - 5 M-F, 9 - 5 Sat, 1 - 4 Sunday), Shear Design, and Breitschopf Reality all have petitions to sign.  For the time being Hector Porres and I have petitions to sign too, so if you see us ask.

You MUST be a registered voter in Gonzales County to sign the petition.  This is NOT just for the city of Gonzales, but the ENTIRE county.  So if you live in Waelder, Nixon or Smiley you also have a dog in this fight. People are needed in these other areas to push the initiative there too.  If you're interested contact one of the above locations.

You do not have to have your voter registration number, but if you do it will make verification easier.  If you sign the petition, please make sure you print your name next to if if you don't have your ID # so that verification will be easier for the County Clerks office.

If we ever want to fill up downtown Gonzales we've got to have a place for the people to go.  This is a good start to revitializing our downtown once again.

God Bless
Dennis Nesser

One for the Road?

Not sure how many people know this in Gonzales County yet, but there is an initiative by some people to bring liquor by the drink to Gonzales County.  In order for them to put it on the ballot it will take 2200 signatures.  This number is based on the last governors election.  They will have a set amount of days to get the 2200 signatures and have them turned in for inspection. So several thoughts come to mind.

One bravo for someone not waiting for out local government to make any change.  They are taking it straight to the people of Gonzales to decide.  Win, lose or draw they will know what the people of Gonzales have to say.

Second, if Gonzales county ever wants a nice restaurant in this county, it is going to have to have liquor by the drink. I can tell you, as someone who has managed a restaurant, that the profit margins in food industries is pretty slim. The profits are in the drinks.  And when you get into nicer places it's the drinks that make a difference.

Don't think so? Where do you go for a nice steak? Hmmm...seems like Roberts is the big talk.  They have liquor by the drink.  Kessels? Wait, they have liquor by the drink. And yet since I moved here over 15 years ago that's where we went for a steak.   Any Outback, Chilis, Applebees, etc etc etc are always going to have liquor by the drink. Why? Because that's how they make the money to survive.

Over the years I've seen a dozen restaurants move into Gonzales and fail. Just in the corner of the square I think I've seen a half dozen places come and go.  Some of those places were pretty good places to eat. Some were ok.  But none of them could survive.  I honestly think if they had put liquor by the drink in some of those places they'd still be around.

How many of you are a member of the BPO Elks in Gonzales just for the drinks with your meals?  It's probably one of the top 3 reasons to join the lodge.

You want to learn how to bring business downtown? You want people to walk through the downtown area after a meal? Well guess what, this will be one of those ways to do it.
 
So over the next several weeks you'll be seeing someone with a clip board asking you to sign.  I am going to ask you to seriously consider it.  Consider that at NO additional cost to taxpayers we have a way to bring people to our town to go eat, walk around and purchase goods.  Now that's the kind of thinking that will allow Gonzales to survive!

God Bless,
Dennis Nesser