) | ®
By JANE RENN
Staff Writer
A local liquor store manager
is not happy, to say the least,
about the possibility that the
state-owned liquor business will
become private.
“It stinks!’ said Louis Vol-
petti, a Pittston man who has
worked at a Dallas liquor store
for six years and has been in
the business for 16. Volpetti had
quite a bit more to say about
‘Governor Thornburgh’s going
away present to the state.
“Naturally, we're concerned
about our jobs,” Volpetti said,
“but we’re also looking out for
the interests of the people.”
Volpetti believes private
stores will pursue customers
more aggressively, causing
increased consumption and
more social problems. Even
sales, he said, the state is ‘‘not
pushing it; we don’t twist your
arm.” He pointed to several
customers in his store. ‘The
business is here,’’ he
said, ‘shrugging his shoulders.
Private stores, Volpetti added,
would charge as much as possi-
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dollars coming in through their
efforts, the state will only lose
money in the long run.
“See all this money?” he said,
pointing to the cash register
drawer as he finished ringing up
a customer. “All this goes to the
state. Tonight it’ll be in the
bank.”
‘Volpetti also believes that con-
venience stores which would
begin to carry liquor under new
laws would limit selection to
only a few fast-selling brands,
hurting customers with more
selective tastes.
And, he said, private owners
would be more interested in
sales than in whom they sold to,
such as minors.
Customers benefit in another
way, also, Volpetti claimed.
When state-run stores have a
sale, he said, they really are
sales.
“The public flocks here when
there’s a sale because they
know it’s a legitimate sale, and
not a percentage off a number
someone made up.’’
But the current system is not
perfect and could be improved,
Volpetti admitted. However,
“On the hole, the philosophy of
the system is good.”
As for the comparatively high
pay rate received by clerks,
(approximately $9 per hour),
Volpetti feels it stimulates the
economy. Paying fewer employ-
ees a higher wage makes more
sense, he stated, than paying
several a lower wage, even if it
does make sale days harder on
his staff of six.
There is one part-time worker
at the store, Henry Husted, who
works 13 hours per week (at a
lower rate than the full-timers).
Husted believes the plan to
privatize the liquor stores is just
“a lot of words now.” Still, he
thinks compromises will be
made, especially in hiring.
Applicants must now receive
priority status if they are a
veteran or the spose of a vet-
eran. Husted believes that test
scores will become less impor-
tant and experience in customer
services will count for more.
Volpetti is very firm in his
opinions.
“I think it’s all be over-
turned,” he stated. And he’s
ready to debate anyone over the
quality and desirability of state-
run liquor business: ‘My argu-
ments will far outweigh the
opponent’s.”’
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By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
State Sen. Charles D. Lem-
mond, Jr., R-Dallas, says he
believes outgoing governor Dick
Thornburgh’s proposal to turn
the liquor system over to pri-
some sort of compromise.
“It’s such a complicated legal
issue that I think it will have
great difficulty getting through
the way the order is now,”
Lemmond said. “I would have
to believe that there will be
some sort of workable compro-
mise made.”
Last week Thornburgh, in
what he termed as “my going
away present to Pennsylvania,’
signed an executive order he
hopes will end the state’s 53-
year-old liquor monopoly. Under
the order, the operation would
be phased out and would also
transfer other duties of the
Liquor Control Board to other
state departments by June 30.
Thornburgh signed the order
last week after the state Legis-
lature’s session ended without
any compromise agreement on
extending the operation of the
LCB under the state’s Sunset
Act.
That order may apparently be
overruled by incoming governor
Robert P. Casey, however,
when he takes office after
Thornburgh’s term expires on
January 20.
“I did vote for a two-year
extension of the LCB bill,”” Lem-
mond stated. “That would keep
it under state control for two
more years and give the new
governor a chance to outline his
plans for reform of the system.”
December 22
Advertising
Deadline
December 18
In the fiscal year ending June,
1985, the LCB made approxi-
mately $29 million in profits and
collected some $135 million
more in taxes. How that tax
money would be made up should
Thronburgh’s plan go through is
also of concern.
“In this time now, especially
with the loss of Revenue Shar-
ing Funds, there is a cry for
more funds, not less,” Lem-
mond said. “A lot of towns and
cities are concerned about that
right now.
Prison chaplain
The Rev. Mr. Gary Stefanski,
Chaplain of Luzerne County
Prison, was the speaker at a
recent Back Mountain Kiwanis
breakfast meeting at Irem
Country Club, Dallas.
Meanwhile, the LCB has initi-
ated a legal battle of its own
monwealth Court to block
Thornburgh’s order to overturn
the system.
Other legislators have accused
Thornburgh of grandstanding
and don’t believe his plan will
go through once Casey takes
office. Casey, who favors the
current system with some
reforms, could also push for
legislation to offset Thorn-
burgh’s proposal before sub-
stantial changes can be made.
He described the nature of his
work at the prison, and the
importance of counseling and
ministering to the spiritual
needs of the inmates as well as
their families.
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