No vote on Sunday liquor
Petition falls short by 33 signatures

By Zsombor Peter
Staff writer

GALLUP — The city’s long-standing ban on Sunday liquor sales will stay put — for now.

According to City Clerk Alfred Abeita, a petition drive by a group of local bar and restaurant owners fell short of the number of names needed to force a public referendum on whether to bring Sunday sales by the glass back to Gallup.

Millennium Media President Sammy Chioda, owner of soon-to-open Sammy C’s Rock N’ Sports Pub and Grill on West Coal Street, turned 730 signatures into City Hall Aug. 20. By state law, the city needed to validate only 500 of them to call the referendum. But according to Abeita, staff could approve only 467.

“So it fell short by 33 signatures,” he said.

To be valid, the signature must belong to a city resident registered to vote in Gallup. To validate the names, the city cross-references the address where a voter is registered with the address where he or she lives. Of the 263 signatures staff disqualified, Abeita said, the two city addresses usually didn’t match up. In some cases, the signers were registered in the county.

The shortfall does not put Chioda and his fellow committee members — Jennifer Dowling, Don Good, Mike Hsu, and Sammy’s wife Marie — down for the count. But they will have to “start from scratch,” as Abeita put it, which includes a new application to the city to collect signatures and another 90 days to do it in.

Chioda did not return The Independent’s message requesting an interview. But Joanne Hsu, wife of Mike Hsu and co-owner of the King Dragon restaurant, said the group won’t be rushing to reapply.

“Not right now,” she said. “Too much work.”

Petition opponents say Sunday liquor sales would increase drunk driving and public intoxication in Gallup. Supporters say sales by the glass would serve only responsible drinkers and help spur the local economy.