00001 1 2 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 3 COMMON COUNCIL 4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5 In the Matter of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Dance 6 renewal application for: 7 ANTONIOS ANAGNOU EURO CAFE' BAR, LLC 8 324 East Mason Street 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 10 11 12 Proceedings had and statements given in 13 the above-entitled matter, before the CITY OF 14 MILWAUKEE COMMON COUNCIL the 27TH day of February, 15 2007. 16 00002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 CITY CLERK: A nonrenewal based on 3 non-appearance, neighborhood objection and the 4 police report of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern 5 Dance license of Antonios Anagnou, agent for Euro 6 Cafe' Bar, LLC, for the premises located at 324 7 East Mason Street known as Euro Cafe' Bar in the 8 4th Alderman District. Written exceptions have 9 been filed. 10 PRESIDENT HINES: The Chair recognizes 11 Alderman Jim Witkowiak. 12 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. I wish to amend file number 061088 by 14 rescinding the earlier recommendation of 15 nonrenewal based on nonappearance of the Class 16 "D" bartender license for Owen Minahan and return 17 it to committee. 18 PRESIDENT HINES: That's an appropriate 19 motion. Are there any objections to the motion 20 put forth by Alderman Witkowiak? Seeing and 21 hearing none, the motion carries. Thank you. 22 Have the members of the Common Council 23 read the reports and recommendations of the 24 Licenses Committee and any exceptions filed in 25 this matter? Will the City Clerk please call the 00003 1 roll? 2 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 3 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 4 CITY CLERK: Davis? 5 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Aye. 6 CITY CLERK: D'Amato? 7 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Aye. 8 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 9 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 10 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 11 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 12 CITY CLERK: McGee? 13 ALDERMAN MCGEE: Aye. 14 CITY CLERK: Wade? 15 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 16 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 17 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 18 CITY CLERK: Puente? Excused. 19 Murphy? 20 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 21 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 22 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 23 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 24 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 25 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 00004 1 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 2 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 3 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 4 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 5 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 6 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one excused. 7 Are the following applicants or their 8 counsels present and wish to address the counsel? 9 Owen Minahan? That item has been returned to 10 committee. 11 PRESIDENT HINES: Correct. 12 CITY CLERK: Timothy Evans? Antonios 13 Anagnou? 14 PRESIDENT HINES: Alderman Witkowiak 15 moves to go into the Committee of the Whole for 16 hearing oral arguments relating to this matter. 17 Is there any objections? Hearing none, we are 18 now in the Committee of the Whole. 19 All speakers shall be limited to five 20 minutes. The arguments shall be limited to the 21 subject matter of the report and recommendations 22 as written, and the exceptions, as well. With 23 that being the case, we will hear from the 24 representatives of the license applicant. 25 Please identify yourself for the 00005 1 record, and then once again, you have five 2 minutes. 3 MR. PYZYK: Mr. President - - 4 PRESIDENT HINES: Can you hold for a 5 second? Go right ahead. 6 MR. PYZYK: Mr. President of the 7 Council, members of the Common Council, I'm 8 Attorney Roger Pyzyk. I'm the attorney for the 9 Euro Cafe' Bar that the recommendation is for 10 nonrenewal as a result of a non-appearance before 11 the committee. I previously - - You should have, 12 hopefully, in your file, a letter that I had 13 drafted for your consideration, setting forth our 14 reasons for our request that this matter be sent 15 back to the committee, so that my client has the 16 opportunity to address the issues that were 17 presented by the neighborhood, to re-address 18 those issues, and have the committee have the 19 opportunity to hear the full story. 20 My client adamantly states that he 21 never received the notice of the hearing before 22 the license committee. He received the notice 23 that his application was late. That notice was 24 sent to 324 East Mason, which is the address for 25 the establishment, the license. He did not 00006 1 receive the one to the Jackson Street address. 2 Upon being advised by a caller that was observing 3 the meeting on cable and advising him that his 4 license was up for consideration, he immediately 5 ran down to City Hall, was taken up to the 6 hearing room, but unfortunately, by the time he 7 arrived there the committee had already voted for 8 the nonrenewal. 9 Although he asked that he be given the 10 opportunity, rightfully so, the committee had 11 already gone through that process and the next 12 process was that it was appearing before this 13 Common Council meeting here today. He had 14 intended on being here today anyway, because the 15 - - the notice from the City Clerk that he 16 received for the lateness of his renewal stated 17 that his license would be considered today. He 18 was unaware of the February 13th date. Mistakes 19 are made. We're not saying that the notice 20 wasn't sent out. As I pointed out to somebody's 21 attention, the findings from that committee, the 22 findings and conclusions, and then the signature 23 by Alderman Witkowiak, were also sent out to my 24 client. We never received those. I finally 25 obtained them by going down to the clerk's 00007 1 office, only to find out that they were addressed 2 to my client at an address of "1319 North 3 Street." I don't believe there is even an 4 address of 1319 North Street in the City of 5 Milwaukee. My client never received that notice 6 either, but we did get our objection in on time 7 before the City Clerk. 8 I'm kindly asking that this body give 9 my client the opportunity to be heard before the 10 Licensing Committee. There are matters that he 11 wants to bring to their attention, as far as his 12 coop - - the cooperativeness with the 13 neighborhood. There are things that were not 14 considered that need to be heard. I believe we 15 can work this matter out, but we need the 16 opportunity to go back before the Licensing 17 Committee, and we're just asking for that 18 opportunity, please. 19 My attempt here is not to point 20 fingers, as far as mistakes being made. The 21 neighborhood witness had stated she didn't appear 22 in Court, because she didn't get notice of the 23 subpoena to show up in Court. I don't know what 24 the fact is, but she had the opportunity to be 25 heard before the Licensing Committee and we're 00008 1 asking for that same opportunity. Thank you very 2 much for your attention this morning. 3 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you, Attorney. 4 Why don't you wait for a second? Are there any 5 questions to be asked at this point in time of 6 the attorney, representing attorney? Okay. 7 Thank you. Appreciate it. 8 MR. PYZYK: Thank you, Mr. President. 9 PRESIDENT HINES: Is there a light on? 10 Is there someone? 11 Chair will now hear from Mister - - 12 City - - Assistant City Attorney Bruce Schrimpf. 13 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you very much, Mr. 14 President, members. Whether or not you decide to 15 send this back to committee is something that is 16 reposed to your discretion. I guess I stand 17 ready to answer any questions that you may have. 18 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. The Chair 19 recognizes Alderman Bob Bauman. 20 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Just for the benefit 21 of the Council, why don't you run through the way 22 in which the applicant was notified, and the fact 23 that there - - that they even applied late for 24 renewal of their license? 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: The applicant had a 00009 1 notice sent to him, addressed to 1319 North 2 Jackson Street, on February 1st, 2007 by First 3 Class mail with a return address of the License 4 Division, and that was the address the applicant 5 gave on his application. It was not returned to 6 the License Division and the licensee, as counsel 7 indicated, did not appear at the time the 8 committee considered this, but appeared much 9 later in the meeting. 10 The findings of fact, it is a true 11 fact, were addressed to 1319 North Street, 12 Apartment 206, so he would not have gotten those 13 findings. I - - It's just total speculation as 14 to what happened to the notice of the hearing, 15 although he does admit that he received the 16 notice that was sent to the bar, indicating that 17 his application was late and the license was 18 going to expire. I believe it expired on 19 February 21st. Does that answer your question, 20 Alderman? 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: That's fine. 22 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you, Alderman. 23 Any additional questions, Alderman Bauman? 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No. 25 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. Are there 00010 1 any additional questions of Assistant City 2 Attorney? 3 The Chair recognizes Alderman Mike 4 D'Amato. 5 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Mr. Schrimpf, let me 6 - - I just want to get this notice thing 7 straight. The - - All three notices would have 8 been sent out of the same database, would they 9 not have? 10 MR. SCHRIMPF: Ah, I - - No. The 11 notice - - I do not know when the notice would 12 have gone out indicating that he was late in 13 filing, and that, therefore, he was gong to be 14 shut down for a while. My sense is that would 15 have been sent sometime prior to February the 16 1st. 17 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: But they all come 18 from the License Division, based on the database 19 that the license division has. Is that correct? 20 MR. SCHRIMPF: Correct. How this - - 21 It's my understanding as to how this works, is 22 that 60 days prior to the expiration of the 23 license, the License Division sends out the 24 application, as well as a letter of instruction 25 indicating by when the individual must file an 00011 1 application for renewal in order to have it not 2 lapse, and a warning that if you don't file by 3 this particular date, whatever they calculate 4 that to be, then there's a possibility your 5 license will lapse. And then, as they get within 6 - - My understanding is it's approximately 30 7 days and no application has been filed, a 8 reminder is sent out. Now, at some point there is 9 another letter that goes out that says okay, 10 you're going to have a lapse of your license, 11 because the License Division has calculated that 12 they cannot have a renewal hearing before the 13 committee in sufficient time for this body to 14 take up the license application before it 15 expires. And it's at that point that that final 16 letter goes out. 17 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: But the - - the 60 18 day letter goes out to 1319 Jackson. The 30 day 19 letter goes out to 1319 Jackson. The notice of 20 hearing goes to 1319 Jackson, and then the 21 findings of facts go to 1319 North Street. 22 MR. SCHRIMPF: Right. 23 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: These are not - - 24 These are not hand - - 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: There was an error. 00012 1 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: They're not hand- 2 addressed envelopes, though. They go out of a 3 data - - database that creates labels and puts 4 them on. 5 MR. SCHRIMPF: They are - - The 6 addresses are typed onto the envelopes. 7 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: They're typed onto 8 the envelopes? 9 MR. SCHRIMPF: Right. 10 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Okay. All right. 11 Very good. Thank you. 12 PRESIDENT HINES: The Chair recognizes 13 Alderman Michael McGee, Jr. 14 ALDERMAN MCGEE: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. Attorney, I just wanted to ask what 16 other legal recourse does the proprietor have if 17 denied sent back to committee? 18 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, the recourse 19 normally would be some sort of a review in the 20 Circuit Court of Milwaukee County, arguing, I 21 suppose, in effect, that he never got a hearing, 22 and that it should come back for a hearing. The 23 problem that you have here is that the license 24 has already expired, which puts it in a different 25 sort of procedural posture. 00013 1 ALDERMAN MCGEE: Thank you. 2 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you, Alderman. 3 Are there any additional questions of the 4 Assistant City Attorney? Seeing and hearing 5 none, thank you, Mr. Schrimpf. 6 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you. 7 PRESIDENT HINES: Alderman Witkowiak 8 now moves that we - - that the Committee now 9 rises, and hearing no objections, so ordered. 10 The Chair recognizes Alderman Puente. 11 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Thank you, Mr. 12 President. I would like to be recorded as 13 reading the minutes of the committee. 14 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. Are there any 15 objections to that? Seeing and hearing none, 16 that's fine, Alderman. 17 Are there any motions relative to these 18 matters? There is no further discussion. I 19 would request a vote of the Council members 20 present to approve the recommendations of the 21 Licenses Committee as filed, as contained in file 22 number 061088. Will the City Clerk please call 23 the roll? 24 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 25 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 00014 1 CITY CLERK: Davis? 2 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Aye. 3 CITY CLERK: D'Amato? 4 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Aye. 5 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 6 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 7 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 8 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 9 CITY CLERK: McGee? 10 ALDERMAN MCGEE: No. 11 CITY CLERK: Wade? 12 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 14 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Puente? 16 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 18 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 19 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 20 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 21 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 22 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 23 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 24 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 25 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 00015 1 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 2 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 3 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 4 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one no. 5 PRESIDENT HINES: 14 ayes, one no. The 6 file is adopted. 7 The Court Reporter is now excused. 00016 1 2 3 STATE OF WISCONSIN) 4 MILWAUKEE COUNTY ) 5 6 I, JEAN M. BARINA, of Milwaukee Reporters 7 Associated, Inc., do certify that the foregoing 8 transcript was reduced to writing under my direction 9 and that it is a true and accurate transcription of 10 the Common Council held on February , 2007. 11 12 13 JEAN M. BARINA - COURT REPORTER 14 Dated this day of March, 2007 15 16 17 * * * * *