Irving City Council member Beth Van Duyne received no support from her colleagues Wednesday afternoon in a bid for a charter election on requirements that restaurants make no more than 40 percent of revenues from alcohol sales.

Van Duyne requested the charter election following a controversial City Council decision last month allowing alcohol sales at the convention and entertainment center and Irving Arts Center.

Mayor Herbert Gears painted Van Duyne, who voted against last month's measure, as a sore loser.

"We don't rehash when you lose a vote," Gears said. "We argue about it and debate it that night and it's over."

But Van Duyne said the council was acting hypocritically. She said the city was placing revenue requirements on businesses while skirting the same conditions for city venues.

"We didn't even think about the community value we claimed to uphold," Van Duyne said.

Van Duyne also said the city is essentially spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a convention and entertainment complex that will include restaurants that will have an uneven competitive edge against other Irving establishments.

Van Duyne's colleagues seemed confused about why she made the request. Council member Joe Philipp had City Attorney Charles Anderson point out that the alcohol requirements aren't part of the city's charter. And others said the only way to put the matter before voters would be to ask them to repeal the current rule – something most members adamantly oppose.

"This is sheer folly," Philipp said. "This is ludicrous to me."

Philipp, who also cast a dissenting vote on last month's measure, asked Van Duyne if she wanted the city to repeal the 60-40 rule. She said her opinion didn't matter.

"What matters is we make it all or nothing," Van Duyne said.

Council member Allan Meagher said that if voters chose to repeal the rule, bars and sexually oriented businesses would flock to the city. He said he fully supports the 60-40 provision. But Van Duyne said completely backing the rule would mean applying the same standards to the city facilities that received a green light last month.

Gears also criticized Van Duyne for not expressly voicing where she stands on the 60-40 rule. She countered that her position should be clear since she voted against the city facilities last month out of fear that it could spur a legal challenge to the requirement.

During a break in Wednesday's work session, Van Duyne clarified that she didn't want to repeal 60-40. She wants a vote that could allows residents to make it an across-the-board requirement, possibly reversing the vote about city facilities that the council made last month.