City of Milwaukee - File #: 130710

• File #: 130710
• Version: 3
• Type: Motion
• Status: Passed
• File created: 9/24/2013
• In control: COMMON COUNCIL
• Final action: 12/17/2013
• Title: Substitute motion suspending for 90 days the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment Premises licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water" in the 4th aldermanic district.
• Sponsors: THE CHAIR
• Indexes: ALCOHOL - REGULATION AND LICENSING

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
12/17/2013	2	COMMON COUNCIL	AMENDED; Minutes note: The question was put: Have the members of the Common Council read the report and recommendations of the Licenses Committee and the exceptions filed under this matter? All members of the Common Council indicated reading the report and recommendations of the Licenses Committee and the exceptions filed under this matter. The question was put: Are any of the following or their counsels present and, if so, do they wish to address the Common Council: Lisa Farrell, Thomas Wilson, III, and Habib Manjee? Representatives for Lisa Farrell, Thomas Wilson, III, and Habib Manjee indicated that they are present and wish to address the Council. Ald. Zielinski moved that the Common Council resolve itself in the committee of the whole for the purposes of hearing oral arguments on behalf of the complainant or the licenses in opposition to the report and recommendation and then a statement by the City Attorney. There were no objections. Individuals appearing: Atty. Marc Christopher, Christopher Law Office, LLC, counsel to Lisa Farrell and Thomas Wilson, III Atty. Michael Maistelman, Maistelman & Associates, LLC, counsel to Habib Manjee Assistant City Attorney Adam Stephens, City Attorney's Office Ald. Zielinski moved that the committee now rises. There were no objections. Ald. Bauman moved for a ninety (90) day suspension of the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment Premises licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water" in the 4th aldermanic district, notwithstanding recommendation of Licenses Committee. Ald. Wade moved that the committee convene into the committee of the whole for the purposes of asking questions to the City Attorney. There were no objections. Individual appearing: Assistant City Attorney, Adam Stephens, City Attorney Office Atty. Stephens said that the portion to which the suspension has already served, thirty (30) days, be considered served. Ald. Wade moved that the committee now rises. There were no objections. Motion by Ald. Bauman for a ninety (90) day suspension of the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment Premises licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water" in the 4th aldermanic district, notwithstanding recommendation of Licenses Committee, prevailed. (Prevailed 9-6)	Pass	9:6
12/17/2013	3	COMMON COUNCIL	APPROVED	Pass	9:6
11/5/2013	1	COMMON COUNCIL	AMENDED; Minutes note: Ald. Zielinski moved that the Council convene into a committee of the whole. There were no objections. Atty. Marc Christopher present for the complainants and addressed the Council. Assistant City Attorney Adam Stephens present for the city and addressed the Council. Ald. Zielinski moved that the committee now rise. There were no objections. This matter was temporarily held to address an issue relating to filing of written objections and was taken up again at 10:10 A.M. Ald. Dudzik moved to amend this file to revoke the license of the Class B Tavern and Public Entertainment Premises of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 N Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water" in the 4th aldermanic district Failed 8-7 (Ald. Hamilton, Ald. Davis, Ald. Kovac, Ald. Coggs, Ald. Wade, Ald Perez and Ald. Zieilinski voting "no") Ald. Dudzik moved for a 90 day suspension. Prevailed 9-6 (Ald. Hamilton, Ald. Davis, Ald. Kovac, Ald. Coggs, Ald. Wade and Ald. Perez voting "no")	Pass	9:6
11/5/2013	2	COMMON COUNCIL	APPROVED	Pass	13:2
10/18/2013	0	LICENSES COMMITTEE	SUBSTITUTED; Minutes note: Reconvene: 12:27 P.M. Individuls present: Atty. Marc Christopher for the Lisa Farrell and Thomas Wilson, complainants Habib Manjee, licensee Atty. Michael Rud and David Halbrooks for the licensee Nicholas Morato - 610 N Water St. Ald. Robert Bauman - local alderman Atty. Halbrooks objected to the chair's cancelling a subpoena for Captain James Harpole. The City Attorney noted that the attorney is free to call anyone to have them come and testify. Supporters of revocation: Captain Steve Basting - in a little over a month there were 2 shooting incidents and one shots fired. His greatest fear was a shooting downtown because of the fear of downtown that it would spread. He tries to work with establishments to correct problems, rather than issue citations. The licensee was going to move speakers and add insulation to mitigate the noise complaints coming from the Hilton Hotel. The previous year there hadn't been issues with the tavern, which had made changes requested by the Captain in the past. Despite the cooperation of the licensee and the police department involvement, the disorder continues and seems to be getting worse. He is also concerned about the activities occurring near the hotel entrance. Atty. Halbrooks objected to mention of the police report, arguing that those are not part of the record. Captain Aaron Michael Rapp - based upon briefings from the district officers. Officer Paul Bjorkist - testified as to the shooting that occurred in the parking lot and the club's use of ID scanners in identifying the shooters. A video was shown of the shooting in the parking lot on June 2nd, 2013. Officer Jeff Klein - seldom assigned to 618, but were assigned there on July 12th where he saw a fight just south of 618. Officers could not break up the fight or disperse the crowd. The fight occurred just over a minute. One subject was detained, who was released once he calmed down. Some minutes later the security at 618 started letting people leave the premise. He heard gunshots and people were saying "white van" and the van was stopped. Officer Eric Fjeld - he was also present at the fight/shooting on July 12th conducting traffic control a block away. The Lady Bug security staff said that the people ejected from the club were involved in the fight. Officer Christopher Martin - heard 4 shots being fired and ran to the location and saw four individuals carrying a fifth man who had been shot. He didn't know if the shooter or the victim had been at 618 - the men had been downtown to meet women because they knew the club was having a large event that evening. Officer Adam Bradley - Officer Martin and he were partners that evening. Later investigation showed that the victim had been shot in front of the hotel. It was later discovered a building window had been shot out at 610 N. Broadway Make 2 pictures of business with shot-out window part of the record, by Ald. Kovac. Prevailed. 5-0 (Exhibit 1) Lisa Farrell - 611 N. Broadway - general manager of the Hilton Garden Hotel. The concerns were that employees and guests didn't feel safe, what they and their children saw outside their windows, and loud music. Because of the shootings, guests have mentioned their safety concerns to her and the social media coverage has had a negative impact on the hotel. Atty. Halbrooks argues that Ms. Farrell is not a city resident and therefore not able to file a complaint; that will be adjudicated in court. The Committee will disregard the testimony of Ald. Coggs relating to her looking at Trip Advisor. Atty. Halbrooks moved to strike Ms. Farrell's testimony as she is not a city resident as she stated as part of the record. Kanitra Murphy - 2928 W. Wells, Apt 203 - employee of the Hilton Garden Hotel as a night auditor. During the week days there are few complaints, but on weekends (Friday-Saturday) she gets noise complaints from guests on the back side of the hotel. The complaints have decreased, but she is is still getting complaints about club music. She could feel the bass from the music by putting her hand on a guest room window. She also observes cruising at closing time of Lady Bug and believes patrons of this club also block traffic. Montral Wilder - 2459 N. Gordon Pl - security at Hilton Gardens hotel who works Thursday-Saturday nights investigating primarily noise complaints relating to music or people yelling. A lot of times the noise is coming from the club or from vehicles being driven by or from people going to/from the club. He is not armed and needs to call his supervisor or the police if his actions do not stop the problem. Doniellel Barry - 5078 N. 22nd St. - works Thursday-Saturday nights as security at the Hilton. He observes a lot of heavy traffic and people stopping/partying in the street. He stops the public from coming into the hotel who are not guests. He worked the night of July 4th/morning of July 5th when the man was shot and he worked to make sure guests knew that they were safe, but no-one was allowed to enter or exit. Rachel Foreman - works at the Grand Avenue Club at 210 E. Michigan St. - concerned about the violence as it is hard to convince their clientele that it is safe to come down to their programs in the evening. John Halverson -operations manager for the Grain Exchange - because of the street traffic they close their front doors at 9 p.m. and employees leave with at least one other person, rather than alone. He sees broken bottles, drunk individuals, public urination and illegal parking. Brian Ward - 622 N. Broadway - he has had to be escorted past police lines because of the shooting on July 4th. On July 12th or 13th there was a lot of cars in the street and a shot was fired a few feet from them. This was the shooting previously mentioned involving the white van. Thomas Wilson - 400 N. Broadway, #311 - one of the complainants testified as to his feelings of personal safety. Beth Weireck - Executive Director of downtown business district - still experiencing problems despite all the district's work. Recess: 4:30 P.M. Reconvene: 4:43 P.M Ald. Coggs moves to temporarily hold this file. Witnesses called by the licensee's attorney, David Halbrooks: Officer Tom Boland - spends 1.5-2 hours at 618 in a typical shift. Security at the establishment escorts the crowds out and to the parking lots and does a good job at closing. The establishment has a staggered closing time with another bar, which works well. He did not see the July 4th or July 12th incidents. He does not take a position on the revocation. Sgt. Scott Charles - the bar does an excellent job at closing and does a good job screening at the door with checking IDs and wanding people. He only hears muffled music in the alley. He thinks that it's just a few bad people ruining it for everyone else. There are other factors that affect the street traffic - some nights are vey quiet. Ald. Bauman was subpoenaed and is at the table. He does not have the requested copies. The investigator has video of Ms. Farrell at her New Berlin home. Atty. Halbrooks would like to have them added to the record so they can be used by the court in the future. Lisa Stinebocker, Legal Investigation, LLC, conducted surveillance at Ms. Farrell's husband's home in New Berin. Ald. Perez moved to make the disk part of the record. There were no objections (Exhibit 2) Atty. Halbrooks presented video (played at the hearing) explaining all the noise-muffling steps the club has taken. Make disk provided part of the record, by Ald. Coggs (Exhibit 3). There were no objections. Mr. Morato went through the procedures that the bar goes through for security, litter, and general management of the establishment. Make 12 total photo and documents provided by Mr. Morato part of the record, by Ald. Perez. There were no objections. (Exhibit 4) Make 4 photos of the public service done by the bar part of the record, by Ald. Dudzik. There were no objections (Exhibit 5) For the July 5th fight, those were not patrons of the club - they were underage. On July 12th, the individual may have been a patron, but the club did pat him down and were pro-active in assisting the police. Recess: 5:55 P.M. Reconvene: 6:10 P.M. Michael Kenny- 3116 E. Grange, Cudahy - regional manager for CPS Standard Parking, manages 2 parking lots in the area. He has armed security at some of his parking lots, security guards at some of the lots, but not all of them. The armed guards are to ensure that people are paying for parking and to protect the property and the customers on the lot. The night of the shooting the guard was at another lot because there was no wedding scheduled that evening and would not have seen what was taking place. If 618 was not in operation, he is 85% sure he wouldn't have a guard at this lot. Myles O'Neill - 245 N. Broadway - co-owner of The Wicked Hop - he hasn't been aware of any problems from 618 patrons. Wicked Hop is about 3 blocks from 618. His customers feel safe in the neighborhood. Homer Blow - 2003 W. Capitol Dr. - with WNOV Radio - he has done some work at the club and has observed its security measures, which are very tight. He has been paid by the club at times as an independent contractor. Sheik Mohammed Nazar - 8055 S. 20th St. - feels the facility should remain open and is well run Zolli Jonakin - 3406 N. 11th St. - in charge of pat downs at the estabishment Torey Lowe - well-run establishment Anwar Jenkins - 4597 N. Houston Ave. - Running Rebels - he runs a good operation. Ald. Dudzik recused himself at 7 p.m. because he fears that Mr. Morato is polling the audience for names of potential speakers. Atty. Halbrooks assured the chair that the individual's name was on the list, but he was confirming the correct pronunciation. Ald. Zielinski allowed testimony to continue. Atty. Halbrooks made a list of witnesses present since 10 a.m. to testify. Make this list part of the record, by Ald. Coggs. There were no objections. (Exhibit 6) Cedric Peoples - 5679 N. Bethlehem Andre Lewis - 1619 W. Good Hope Rd., Glendale - part-time employee of the club Bonnie Taylor - 2118 N. 27th St. - twice-a-week customer of the club, a very safe club. Ald. Kovac moved for 30-day suspension based on neighborhood testimony, police report and police testimony. Prevailed. 4-0 (Ald. Dudzik recused) Total hearing time was 6.5 hours. Adjourned: P.M. Linda M. Elmer Staff Assistant	Pass	4:0
10/18/2013	1	LICENSES COMMITTEE	RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL	Pass	4:0
10/3/2013	0	LICENSES COMMITTEE	HEARING NOTICES SENT
10/3/2013	0	LICENSES COMMITTEE	HEARING NOTICES SENT
9/24/2013	0	COMMON COUNCIL	ASSIGNED TO	Fail

Number
130710
Version
SUBSTITUTE 3
Reference
Sponsor
THE CHAIR
Title
Substitute motion suspending for 90 days the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment Premises licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water" in the 4th aldermanic district.
Analysis
This substitute motion suspends for 90 days the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water" in the 4th aldermanic district.
Body
Whereas, The Licenses Committee received a notarized complaint from the Lisa Farrell and Thomas Wilson, III requesting the revocation of the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water"; and

Whereas, The Licenses Committee held an evidentiary hearing on October 18, 2013; and

Whereas, After considering the complaint, neighborhood and police testimony, and the police report, the Committee found that enough evidence existed to justify a 30-day suspension of the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water Street doing business as "Club 618 Live on Water"; and

Whereas, The Common Council considered this matter on November 5, 2013 and voted 9-6 for a 90-day suspension based upon the findings of fact and the testimony at Council; and

Whereas, The Common Council again considered this matter on December 17, 2013 and voted 9-6 for a 90-day suspension based upon the findings of fact and the testimony at Council; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the Class "B" Tavern and Public Entertainment licenses of Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, LLC for the premises at 622 North Water...