High noon approaching for a.m. liquor sales

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — There's one week left before the city and Gallup Hospitality Association face off in McKinley County District Court over the upcoming "not-before-noon" liquor referendum. Lawyers for both sides are preparing their cases.

The Hospitality Association wants to stop the March 28 referendum that would let voters decide whether they want to ban all alcohol sales within city limits before noon. The group filed suit in district court March 9. Judge Joseph Rich called a show cause hearing for March 27, just ahead of election day.

City Attorney George Kozeliski has doubts about whether the Hospitality Association even has the right to file a suit.

"In order to sue, you need to be able to be sued," he said.

That, said Kozeliski, establishes the filer's "standing," and he's not sure the Hospitality Association a loose band of representatives from the local food, restaurant and hotel industries that meets inconsistently has it.

Deciding whether the association has that standing will be Rich's first decision, Kozeliski said. If it doesn't, the case is over. If it does, they can all move on to the meat of the case: whether New Mexico's Liquor Control Act allows municipalities to set their own hours for liquor sales on a citywide basis.

Kozeliski admits the question has the legal community divided, but has little doubt himself.

"I think a fair reading of the ... laws allow this election, and we're going to go forward with it," he said.

The association will most likely argue, as others have, that the laws only let municipalities ban Sunday sales as Gallup already has or make the entire community completely dry. It has the support of the Alcohol and Gaming Division, which has warned the city that it might not enforce the ban if it passes.

The Gallup Alcohol Action Team, the local group that petitioned for the referendum, has called the suit an attempt to stifle democracy.

Kozeliski expected a legal challenge much sooner; the Action Team announced its plans last September and had its petition certified by the City Clerk's Office in January. But now that the association has waited this long, he's surprised the association doesn't just wait for the referendum to play out.

"To try and prevent an election is kind of a weird step," he said.

If the proposal fails, the association has nothing to worry about. If it passes, it can still challenge its legality.

David Pederson, the association's attorney, could not be reached for comment.

Early voting, meanwhile, continues at City Hall.