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Tribal Council to vote on casino alcohol sales
By Derek Hodges
Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians may soon have the opportunity to vote on alcohol sales on the Qualla Boundary.
The Tribal Gaming Commission is expected to bring a proposal to the Tribal Council today (Thursday) requesting the vote, tribal administrator Paxton Myers said.
Commission members want residents of the reservation to vote on whether alcoholic beverages can be sold at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. Officials believe the sales could help increase profits at the casino.
The Commission, which is appointed by the principal chief and approved by the Tribal Council, manages gambling operations according to the tribe’s compact with the state. They plan to call for a referendum about on-premise sales of beer, wine and mixed beverages.
The on-premise designation means the sales could not include alcohol to be transported off casino grounds.
The Council’s last vote on alcohol sales came in 1999. Patrick Lambert, then-head of the Tribal Gaming Commission, convinced Council members to allow a referendum on off-premise sales on the reservation. Like his current counterparts in the Commission, Lambert said Cherokee was losing money to other tourist areas because of the tribe’s rules against alcohol.
A groundswell of oppostion to the sales led Council members to rescind their vote to allow the referendum.
The last time the whole tribe voted on alcohol sales was in 1980, when the issue was soundly defeated.
While many Cherokee residents have already been discussing the issue, no one in tribal government would comment before the meeting.
Tribal Council will meet at 3 p.m. today (Thursday) in the Council Meeting House next to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. The agenda for that meeting will include the vote on a referendum, Myers said.
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