Results Show Majority of Washington County Residents Favor A "Wet" County
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Posted: 7:37 AM Jun 23, 2009
Results Show Majority of Washington County Residents Favor A "Wet" County
The results are in and a majority of Washington County residents favor a wet county.
Reporter: Vanessa Nguyen
Email Address: vanessa.nguyen@wjhg.com

Washington County Wet/Dry?
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The results are in and a majority of Washington County residents favor a wet county.

Approximately 60% of voters welcome the idea of selling beer, wine and liquor in Washington County.
Close to 40% of residents wanted to stay dry.
And only 6% of voters were undecided on the issue.
The Washington County Citizens for Economic Opportunity conducted the poll back in late May.
The group is comprised of local business people who are trying to find ways to improve the county's economic situation.
Although there was almost a 20-point difference between the two groups, some people were more opinionated than others about the issue.

Reverend Alcus Brock says, "when I think of alcohol, I associate it with drugs because alcohol is a drug. And it causes basically some of the things that harder drugs cause that we are striving to rid our county of and our country of in fact."
Resident Wanda Schneider says, "well, it's a good idea that they have to go over the county line to buy alcohol to keep it inconvenient, the more convenient it is, the more people are gonna drink and the more families are gonna suffer, there's other ways to boost the economy."
"People are ready for a change and we need to move on and bring ourselves up to the times. As far as alcohol being a drug, it is a legal product that's out there and available," says WCCEO Chairwoman Sheran Whitaker.

Currently, businesses can only sell beer in Washington County.
The next step for the committee is to decide if they will put the issue before the county commission.


Latest Comments

Posted by: Cindy Location: Chipley on Jun 25, 2009 at 01:20 PM

The poll was prepared by Gilson Group, Inc of Niceville and conducted by Cherry Communications out of Tallahassee. The results of the poll are based on telephone interviews with 301 adults, 18 and older, who have voted at least once in the last 6 years. Washington County Citizens for Economic Opportunity (WCCEO) is a loosely-knit committee of local business people committed to strengthening and growing Washington County’s economy. The committee was formed in early 2009. Our officers are: Sheran Whitaker, Chair; Alan White, Vice Chair; Karen Schoen, Secretary, Diane Vitale, Treasurer. Other members of the WCCEO Executive Committee are Jim Ackerman, Ray Green, Mark Hess, Stockton Hess, Gary Hartman and Jim Town. It took me 5 minutes on google to get this information. You have to do the rest yourself.
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Posted by: mom of 3 Location: panama city on Jun 25, 2009 at 11:27 AM

I lived in Washington county for nearly 2 years and had no idea it was a "dry" county. Stores there sell alcohol so how is it a "dry" county?
[ Report Abuse ]
Posted by: Anonymous on Jun 25, 2009 at 11:03 AM

Yes Cindy. But the article states. "Approximately 60% of voters welcome the idea of selling beer, wine and liquor in Washington County. Close to 40% of residents wanted to stay dry. And only 6% of voters were undecided on the issue." So, my question is, who are the voters ?? Who, did they poll ? Was it just the people at the meeting, or was it a county wide poll ?
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