GUN BARREL CITY - A measure on the Nov. 8 municipal ballot regulating the hours of alcohol sales in restaurants should be decided on the basis of its economic impact rather than moral issues, according to the supporters of extending the hours of late-night alcohol sales. Voters will go to the polls to decide whether to repeal an ordinance passed by the City Council this past summer to allow alcoholic beverage sales in restaurants on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 2 a.m. A "yes" vote would repeal the ordinance and prohibit later sales of alcohol while a "no" vote would maintain the ordinance and allow later sales. The ordinance was passed by a large majority of the council over the objections of Mayor Dennis Wood, who vetoed the council's ordinance and was in turn overridden by the council. Wood, who had campaigned on an anti-alcohol platform, and his supporters subsequently forced the measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. Alcohol sales are now allowed in the city's restaurants until 1 a.m. on Saturday night and until midnight on all other nights. The issue should be decided on the basis of how it will benefit the city and its residents rather than on the basis of religious teachings, said Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Webster, who supports later alcohol sales. "It's not about alcohol," Webster said in a recent interview. "It's about the economy and jobs." Two council members who voted in favor of extending the hours of late-night alcohol sales reportedly were asked not to return to the area church where they worshiped because of the stand they took. The late-night alcohol sale issue was first presented to the council in connection with a proposal by Applebee's to open a restaurant in the city. The restaurant chain's officials reportedly told the city's Economic Development Corp. officials that the plan was contingent upon the city extending the hours of late-night alcohol sales. EDC officials reportedly had worked for three years to get Applebee's interested in a Gun Barrel City location, and it reportedly is now a done deal if the late-night alcohol sales hours are extended. Both supporters and opponents of extending the late-night alcohol sales are campaigning vigorously to get the vote out on Nov. 8 and to clarify the somewhat confusing language of the ballot issue. Early voting is already underway as the campaigns head into the final stretch. Supporters of extending late-night alcohol sales note that the measure could increase the city's lagging sales tax revenue and provide jobs for more residents. Of the city's 5,700 residents, an estimated 1,000 are either unemployed or living below the poverty level, according to the supporters. Opponents counter that the extension of late-night alcohol sales would be detrimental to the community because it could lead to an increase in criminal activity and decreased safety for residents. Alcohol sales are now widespread in liquor stores, nightclubs and restaurants in Gun Barrel City. The extension of late-night alcohol sales hours would apply only to restaurants that derive at least 51 percent of their revenue from food sales.