Before voting to approve five new permits at last Thursday’s meeting, beer board member Frank Thomas chastised the county commission for “pulling the wool” over beer board members’ eyes in passing the recent change in minimum distance requirements to qualify for a permit to sell alcoholic beverages.Frank Thomas, board member from the 2nd District, is unhappy that the commission voted the new regulations in when two commissioners who had previously voted against the measure were not in attendance."The wool was pulled over our eyes by changing the distance from 2,000 to 800 feet,” Thomas told the assembly. “It was sneaked in on us.”The measure passed by a vote of 7-5 at the commission meeting in late February, and the minimum distance requirement between businesses eligible for beer permits and places of public gathering, such as churches and schools, was dropped from 2,000 feet to 800 feet.The old restrictions, which were enacted in 1939, had been a thorn in the council’s side for some time.The subject was brought up at the December commission meeting, when a minimum distance of 400 feet was brought to a vote.That proposal died on a 7-7 tie vote with all members present.County Mayor Mike Foster declined the opportunity to break the tie.“The county executive could have broken the vote either way, but he wouldn't,” Thomas said at last week’s meeting. “He said he didn't want to make anybody mad either way, but he didn't give a damn who he made mad down here.“It came up again when they found out two of them wouldn't be there at the meeting,” Thomas continued.