The Oconee County Board of Commissioners will take up three controversial items on Tuesday night, each of which could bring out a crowd.
The first, in order of appearance on the agenda, is a call for a referendum on the sale of distilled spirits by the drink in restaurants in the county.
W.E. “Bubber” Wilkes defeated incumbent Margaret Hale in the July 22 runoff for Post 3 on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners by adding votes in each of the county’s 13 precincts over his May 20 tally.
Wilkes almost certainly picked up the majority of the 892 votes cast for Maria Caudill in the May 20 Republican Primary, an analysis of the precinct data from both elections indicates.
W.E. “Bubber” Wilkes spent nearly $12,000 to regain a seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners, or four times the amount spent by incumbent Margaret Hale, whom Wilkes defeated by 105 votes in the July 22 runoff.
Wilkes spent almost all of his $11,988 on advertising, with $5,256 going to The Oconee Enterprise, $1,375 to The Oconee Leader, and $4,546 for printing of signs, campaign materials, and T-shirts.
The Oconee County Board of Commissioners, anticipating a large turnout tonight for its discussion of a liquor-by-the-drink referendum, moved its meeting from the relatively small Commission Chamber to the much larger Courtroom 1, but the change of venue proved to be unnecessary.
Only nine people spoke, with three of them expressing opposition to the proposal to put the issue before voters in November.
Discussion of a liquor-by-the-drink referendum tops a busy agenda of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night that also includes consideration of contracts for three roadway projects, at least one of which has been controversial in the past.
Also on the agenda is an amendment to the benefits plans for retired county employees that led to open disagreement among commissioners early last month and an update on Mars Hill Road widening project that has been let for bid by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The Oconee County Industrial Development Authority decided to weigh in on the liquor-by-the-drink issue on Monday afternoon, voting unanimously to ask the Board of Commissioners to put the issue on the November 4 ballot.
BOC Chairman Melvin Davis, a member of the IDA, said the commissioners will take up the issue at their meeting next Tuesday night and then vote on whether to put it on the ballot at the meeting on Aug. 5.
Former Oconee County Commissioner W.E. “Bubber” Wilkes unseated incumbent Margaret Hale in the Republican primary runoff for Post 3 on the Board of Commissioners today, with 51.2 percent of the 4,253 votes cast.
Wilkes will have no opposition in November, meaning he will return to the Commission after an absence of 10 years.
