Letter to the Editor

I was sorry to hear that the City of Oxford has to look to the citizens for fi nancial assistance for next years July 4th celebration. I guess I should keep up with local politics a little closer. I didn’t realize Oxford was in this tough of a financial situation. I assumed (wrongly it now appears) that we (Oxford) were in pretty good shape after Aldermen wouldn’t even discuss the financial gains of the city from allowing restaurants to serve a full menu (alcohol included) seven days a week without voting it down so quickly.

One would think that at least one Alderman or the Mayor himself would have asked for a study to be done to see the financial impact that up to 52 additional days (seven days a week, do the math) a year with restaurants being allowed to include it’s entire menu would mean to the city budget. It appears removing it from the table so quickly is clearly what’s not best for Oxford.

If fundraising as Amanda Ward’s July 5th article suggests is a possible remedy, then surely a closer look should be taken to the recent request by the Oxford Restaurant Associations to be allowed to sell alcohol and light wine seven days a week and another vote to instate this should be held right away. One can only assume how many other worthy events are suffering from budget cuts such as this one will next year. It’s a shame that such an important celebration should suffer.

Jason T. Plunk