00001 1 2 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 3 LICENSES COMMITTEE 4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5 In the Matter of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern 6 Amusement (Cabaret/Nite Club) applications for: 7 CYRENA MARTIN 8 "LEORIC SPORTS CLUB" 2035 West Fond du Lac Avenue 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 10 COMMITTEE MEMBERS 11 ALD. JAMES BOHL - Chair 12 ALD. MILELE COGGS, - Vice-Chairman ALD. ASHANTI HAMILTON 13 ALD. T. ANTHONY ZIELINSKI ALD. NIK KOVAC 14 LICENSING DIVISION by REBECCA GRILL 15 POLICE DEPARTMENT by SEARGENT CHET ULICKEY OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY by ATTORNEY BRUCE SCHRIMPF 16 17 18 Proceedings had and testimony given in 19 the above-entitled matter, before the LICENSES 20 COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, on 21 the 3rd day of September, 2008. 22 00002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is Cyrena Martin here 3 by chance? Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Amusement 4 (Cabaret/Nite Club) applications for "Leoric 5 Sports Club" at 2035 West Fond du Lac Avenue. 6 Good morning to you. 7 THE APPLICANT: Good morning. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If we could get you 9 each, please, to raise your right hand. 10 (Whereupon the applicant and Mr. 11 Burgess were sworn.) 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I'll need a name 13 and address from the applicant, please. 14 THE APPLICANT: Cyrena Martin. 5231 15 North 83rd Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53218. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And, sir, if you could 17 acknowledge yourself here for our record? 18 MR. BURGESS: Charles Burgess, 19 assistant manager and public relations for 20 Leoric's. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 22 MR. BURGESS: 5231 North 83rd Street. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And that is B-U-R-G-E- 24 S-S? 25 MR. BURGESS: Correct. 00003 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, sir. And 2 for Ms Martin, I'll ask you now if you 3 acknowledge receiving notice of today's meeting 4 with the possibility your application could be 5 denied. There - - There should have been a cited 6 police report, as well as an assortment of 7 neighborhood objections, including that the - - 8 an objection that the applicant holds a Class "B" 9 manager's license for the current license at this 10 location without a required premises license, in 11 violation of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances. 12 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: It's not - - We're not 14 saying that you're guilty. We're asking if you 15 received a notice that says those things. 16 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Thank you. Ms. 18 Grill, holds? 19 MS. GRILL: The Department of 20 Neighborhood Services has a hold for occupancy, 21 and the Health Department has a hold for 22 inspection and correction of any violations. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Sergeant 24 Ulickey? 25 SERGEANT ULICKEY: If I could start - - 00004 1 This is a somewhat convoluted report here, as you 2 can see. The reason that it is written this way 3 is because the current licensees, Mr. and Mrs. 4 McKenzie, have been unable to be located for 5 several months. The License Division sent them 6 letters to no response. I did have a 7 conversation with Mr. McKenzie several weeks ago, 8 and to my - - the best of my recollection is 9 maybe three or four weeks ago. It is our belief 10 that they're living in Florida. We can't at this 11 time prove it. Ms. Martin, I've had contact with 12 her via the phone. Mr. Burgess, same thing. And 13 the reason that we put all the incidents that you 14 see before you on this is because she was acting 15 as a manager, and is acting as a manager of 16 Leoric's. Additionally, a check of CCAP reveals 17 that - - that Mr. McKenzie has an eviction notice 18 going, listing Mr. Burgess and Ms. Martin as the 19 respondents on that eviction from this location. 20 So while it's kind of confusing, they may be able 21 to shed some light on this, but that being said, 22 I can read the report to you. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please. 24 SERGEANT ULICKEY: On 11/22 of '06 the 25 applicant received a citation for building code 00005 1 violations at 3117 North 27th Street. She was 2 found guilty and fined 480 dollars. A balance of 3 280 dollars is due by 9/8 of '08. 4 On 5/3 of '07 the applicant received a 5 citation for building code violations at 5231 6 North 83rd Street. She was found guilty and 7 fined 600 dollars, a balance of 600 dollars is 8 due by 9/8 of '08. 9 And the following incidents occurred 10 under Cyrena Martin's Class "B" manager license 11 for Leoric's. On 3/8 of '08 at 1:03 a.m. 12 Milwaukee police conducted a license premise 13 check at 2035 West Fond du Lac Avenue. Officers 14 attempted to enter the basement where the 15 bartender identified as Akasis Nam blocked 16 officers from entering the basement area. When 17 officers advised that - - advised him that the 18 license premise check allows for inspection of 19 the basement, he hesitantly moved away from the 20 door. As officers entered the basement, they 21 could smell a strong odor of marijuana and heard 22 voices coming from the storage area. Officers 23 entered the storage room and observed four 24 subjects sitting at a table with large stacks of 25 money in front of each subject and dice on the 00006 1 table. Field interviews were conducted and small 2 bags of marijuana were recovered from the floor 3 near the back wall. Cocaine was also found on 4 one of the subjects, and all were arrested and 5 given citations for gambling. The subject who 6 was found with cocaine was also charged with 7 possession of cocaine and the licensee, Ricardo 8 McKenzie, was issued a citation for disorderly 9 premise. That citation was dismissed. 10 On 3/25 of '08 follow-up was conducted 11 by officers at 2035 West Fond du Lac Avenue in 12 regards to the club hosting an underage dance 13 without the proper license or permission. The 14 event was advertised from nine p.m. to two a.m. 15 As officers entered the tavern they observed 16 approximately 50 underage subjects inside the 17 tavern. Officers spoke to employees who stated 18 they were unaware that special permission was 19 needed to host an underage event. 20 On 4/2 of '08 at 3:30 p.m. Milwaukee 21 police, along with an agent from the Wisconsin 22 Department of Revenue, conducted a license 23 premise check at 2035 West Fond du Lac Avenue. 24 Officers were met by the bartender on scene 25 identified as Akasis Nam, who was advised of the 00007 1 premise check being conducted by Special Agent 2 King. Found were numerous bottles that contained 3 - - that were contaminated by bugs and foreign 4 objects. All bottles were destroyed on the 5 scene. Attempts to locate the licensees by Nam 6 were unsuccessful. Also requested by Special 7 Agent King were inventories and receipts for 8 purchased liquor and none could be provided. 9 Warnings were given by Special Agent King and 10 licenses were checked by officers and found to be 11 valid. 12 On 4/21 of '08 at 12:10 a.m. Milwaukee 13 police were dispatched to 2035 West Fond du lac 14 for a man with a gun and gambling complaint. 15 Investigation revealed the complaints were 16 baseless, however, officers found several 17 illegally parked - - several cars illegally 18 parked by patrons who were inside the tavern. 19 Four citations were issued with the owners moving 20 the cars. Attempts were made to contact the 21 licensees, but officers were unsuccessful. 22 On 5/18 of '08 at 1:20 a.m. Milwaukee 23 police conducted a tavern check at 2035 West Fond 24 du Lac Avenue. As officers entered they observed 25 about 20 patrons dancing on the dance floor. A 00008 1 DJ was observed playing music while dance lights 2 were flashing. Officers also observed four video 3 slot type machines, an electric dart machine, one 4 video machine, one pinball machine and two pool 5 tables. There were either no licenses or expired 6 licenses for the equipment listed. Officers 7 spoke to Charles Burgess, who identified himself 8 as a manager/owner and husband of the licensee, 9 Cyrena Martin. Burgess was warned on past 10 occasions that the business was not allowed to 11 use the machines until they were licensed. 12 Officers issued citations to Cyrena Martin due to 13 the fact that she is running the business, and 14 police have been unable to make any contact with 15 either Leona or Ricardo McKenzie. It should be 16 noted on 1/29 of '08 Cyrena Martin applied for a 17 Class "B" manager's license for Leoric's Sports 18 Club and it was issued on 2/25 of '08. Charles 19 Burgess does not possess a Class "B" manager's 20 license. As to the charge of amusement license 21 required and pre-recorded music machine license 22 required, that is set for pretrial on 9/5 of '08. 23 24 On 6/1 of '08 at 12:10 a.m. Milwaukee 25 police conducted a license premise check at 2035 00009 1 West Fond du lac. As officers entered they 2 observed employees collecting a cover charge, but 3 found no signs posting indicating a cover charge. 4 Further check was also found no liquor license 5 posted anywhere in the tavern. The manager, 6 Cyrena Martin, was on the scene and was issued 7 two citations for tavern charges to be posted and 8 display of liquor license required. As to the 9 charges, they are set for pretrial on 9/5 of '08. 10 On 6/10 of - - I'm sorry - - 6/1 of '08 11 at 12:53 a.m. Milwaukee police were dispatched to 12 2035 West Fond du Lac for a battery complaint. 13 Officer spoke to the victim, who stated he was 14 hosting a party for his wife, and had food there 15 for his party guests. A patron who was not one 16 of the invited guests walked over and helped 17 himself to the food. When the victim told the 18 patron the food was for party guests only, the 19 subject punched him in the face. The victim 20 stated he started to tussle with the subject when 21 two other patrons started fighting with the 22 victim. That is when the manager of the tavern, 23 Charles Burgess, broke up the fight and called 24 the police as the suspect left the scene. 25 Officers did speak with Burgess regarding the 00010 1 fight. 2 On 7/10 of '08 at 2:25 a.m. Milwaukee 3 police, while on patrol, observed several cars 4 parked outside of Leoric's Sports Club with 5 lights on inside the business. Officers looked 6 in the window of the business and observed eight 7 people still inside. Police knocked on the 8 window and Charles Burgess, who identified 9 himself as the manager, stated to police that 10 four of the subjects were employees, and that the 11 other three weren't, and that he knew they should 12 not be in the tavern. Police asked Burgess to 13 provide proof who was employed by the tavern. 14 Burgess stated he couldn't, because - - He 15 couldn't, because he pays his employees in cash. 16 No one was able to provide any proof of 17 employment by the tavern. Burgess stated the 18 licensee, Cyrena Martin, was not on the scene, 19 but was at the tavern earlier bartending. 20 Attempts were made to contact the licensees, 21 Ricardo and Leona McKenzie, but officers were 22 unsuccessful. A citation for patrons after hours 23 was issued to Cyrena Martin, who has a Class "B" 24 manager's license with the tavern. And that 25 citation has a court date of 9/3 of '08. 00011 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: There is also an 2 additional police report that is part of the 3 current premises for the individuals who are the 4 - - the McKenzies, Sergeant. And that was what 5 you were also referring to in terms of the - - 6 the police report here at the location? 7 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Let's - - Let me 9 first off - - 10 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I'm just going 11 through that. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Let me first off ask, 13 Ms. Martin, are there any questions or comments 14 you have relating to items that were rela - - 15 that were read into the record here by - - by the 16 Sergeant. 17 THE APPLICANT: I guess we can go 18 through them one at a time. As far as the 19 violations I have with the City, those are being 20 addressed. I have court dates. I've been to 21 court on those. On North 27th, I don't own that 22 property, and did not own it at that time. I 23 have a court date going for - - for that one. 24 And, also, with the one at my home, which is 83rd 25 Street, that's a violation for the garage. The 00012 1 prior - - I've owned the place a little over a 2 year, and the garage was damaged by the prior 3 owner. It will be fixed. I've got the 4 violation. Either the fine will be paid or I 5 think I have a court date for those to be 6 addressed. 7 As far as the dates here, I guess we 8 can start with March. I guess the March 25th, 9 '08 we had a young person, a young entrepreneur 10 come to us, who was looking to have a fundraiser 11 for his group, a football team. His mom came. 12 We did try to contact our alderman and others to 13 find out what permits were needed. We were told 14 no special permits were needed for that. 15 However, we found out later we did need to 16 contact the Sergeant. There was no liquor on the 17 premises. They were, you know, had sodas, chips, 18 you know, for a teenage event. 19 MR. BURGESS: We actually - - Excuse me 20 - - We actually came down here to City Hall. 21 Also, the people who wanted to have the event 22 also came down here. We were told twice that 23 there was no special permit needed to have this 24 event. Parents were present. The officers at 25 the time - - When they came to do this, it 00013 1 probably was going on for 30 minutes. They said 2 they knew two weeks in advance that this event 3 was going to happen. We questioned these 4 officers, you guys are here every day. If you 5 knew two weeks prior that we were having this 6 event, why didn't you say anything? They said, 7 it's not our job to show you how to do this. 8 It's our job to keep it straight. And following 9 up with that, we were given Sergeant Ulickey's 10 number by someone here at City Hall. We were 11 told that any time we wanted to do this, to 12 contact him first, and we contacted him, found 13 out what his position is, and it's he then 14 contacts the Captain of the - - of the district 15 and gets permission for us to do it. We did it 16 two times - - one time afterwards. We were 17 granted permission by Sergeant Ulickey one time. 18 One time we were denied. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah. And for 20 committee members edification, the State Statutes 21 actually allow for any Class "B" premises to hold 22 underage events. Stipulation is that in advance 23 they have to provide a notice to the local police 24 district, that what their intentions are on that 25 date. And if - - if they are an establishment 00014 1 that does have liquor, that liquor must be then 2 placed in inventory or taken out of - - out of 3 the public eye for that particular event. 4 Sergeant, just out of curiosity, I 5 mean, is it something that you prefer that - - 6 that a applicant or a - - come to the License 7 Investigation Unit, because I've had - - I've had 8 on - - on rare occasions in the past 9 establishments that have just provided that 10 notice to the local district commander or to the 11 local district station? 12 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Well, the ordinance 13 provides for the Chief of Police or his designee 14 to grant this permission. I, as the Chief - - 15 the Chief's designee, review the information 16 given to me, and then either deny or grant it. 17 So it does have to come through my office. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Very good. And 19 that - - And obviously we've gone through change 20 of administrations, because I'm thinking of a 21 place that probably was doing this in about 2001- 22 2002 in my district, so we may have. You - - I 23 don't know if you were in that position at that 24 time. 25 SERGEANT ULICKEY: That was before my 00015 1 time. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. 3 That's good to know. All right. If you want to 4 please proceed, if you - - 5 THE APPLICANT: Sure. The next one 6 looks like it's April 2nd. Where it looks like 7 there was a premises check, and I think there 8 were maybe three bottles. There was a fruit-fly 9 found in the bottle. The receipts that they 10 requested were on premises. However, they were 11 locked in the office, which is held by Ricardo. 12 We're - - You know, we let them know we would get 13 them to them. They said that was fine. And then 14 they took the couple of bottles that did - - 15 there were fruit-flies, I think, in three bottles 16 when they showed up. Since then, we've changed 17 that. I mean, we have the pourers, and then 18 also, we just, you know, at night we use a 19 different type of cover and cover all the bottles 20 up. That's something that was easily 21 preventable. 22 April 21st - - 23 MR. BURGESS: Let me help address that 24 situation, because Cyrena wasn't there at the 25 time. The - - The tavern was not even open for 00016 1 operation. I was getting off work at my first 2 shift job, and I was coming to make sure the 3 cleaning people had cleaned. It was 4 approximately six o'clock maybe. I was actually 5 on my way out of the tavern. Officer Larry 6 Diebel showed up with Ms. Georgia King from the 7 ATF, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, to do this 8 check, which, you know, we - - we had no, you 9 know, objections to whatever they wanted to do. 10 So we allowed her to come in, and do - - and 11 resume her - - her check. There was several 12 bottles that contained fruit-flies, but to the 13 naked eye you could not - - I don't - - I'm sure 14 this came in front of the committee before. To 15 the naked eye you cannot see a fruit-fly in the 16 bottle. You have to shake it, and the officers 17 held flashlights to the bottom of the bottle, 18 even though it was broad daylight and all the 19 lights was on. And that's how they seen them. 20 So they showed me what they saw. So, I mean, we 21 had no objections to them pouring the alcohol 22 out. We don't want to serve anything with a 23 fruit-fly in it. She also asked for the invoices 24 for the alcohol that was on the premises. Those 25 invoices were not held by us at the time. So now 00017 1 that this has happened, we - - we keep a book of 2 all invoices at the bar on the bar at all times. 3 THE APPLICANT: Okay. 4/21, I don't 4 know what happened with that. It says it was 5 baseless. I don't know. It was a false - - 6 Somebody called in. I don't know. We - - 7 Nothing happened with that. I don't - - No 8 tickets were given. Didn't happen. No one was 9 there. And that's what - - It states that that 10 was a baseless call. 11 MR. BURGESS: Actually - - Actually at 12 that time we probably had ten officers show up. 13 We probably had four customers in the bar at the 14 time. And this was - - This is an ongoing - - 15 This is an ongoing affair for us. We have 16 approximately three to four times a week, ten 17 officers that show up, headed by Officer Larry 18 Diebel and Officer Mady. This - - From prior 19 events happening with Ricardo, and that's why 20 Ricardo McKenzie didn't want to really be on the 21 scene too much. Because I don't know whatever 22 personal vendetta these two have with each other. 23 It flowed over to when we tried to take over the 24 business and try to manage a decent crowd. And I 25 spoke to the Sergeant. I'm asking him, I mean, I 00018 1 said, you guys are here more than you're at the 2 district. You're never here for anything 3 violent. The Sergeant's response to me was, 4 well, we want to prevent anything violent. And 5 we changed our crowd from what Leoric's used to 6 have to what they have now. But, you know, even 7 business now is kind of bad, because, you know, 8 three or four times a week we have these same 9 officers that parade in for no apparent reason. 10 And at this time they said they had a call of a 11 man with a gun. There's nobody here. So they 12 did their search and they left. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Anything else? You're 14 not required to. I'm just, if there's anything 15 else you want to respond to, you're - - you're 16 able to do so. 17 MR. BURGESS: Yeah, we want to share 18 all these instances with you, because we feel 19 that - - we feel that, you know, we don't want to 20 make any direct, you know, complaints, because 21 this is not the committee to make them to. In 22 fact, there's a bitter harassment going on from 23 the prior events. If you go back through all the 24 way from the time of the opening of the Leoric's 25 to see what kind of things that were going on, 00019 1 fights, they needed traffic control, they need 2 all these different things, gunshots. None of 3 this stuff happens here anymore, you know, which 4 we - - we kind of try to make it a safe 5 environment. It was a issue with some - - some 6 gambling going on that those people were used to 7 doing those things behind the previous owner's 8 back, but that whole staff has been completely 9 gotten rid of. And it's - - It's a total new 10 staff that works there, and it's a total new 11 environment. You know, we had a issue with the 12 police coming in and saying, and they questioned 13 about the cabaret license, the dance license, and 14 the DJ. Well, when they came in, there was no 15 DJ. If you go into our DJ booth, there is no DJ 16 equipment. The jukebox was playing. The lights 17 that we installed flash to the base of the 18 jukebox. If - - If the jukebox plays and there's 19 a song that has a lot of bass in it, those lights 20 flash. They're motion lights. To the bass of 21 the jukebox. There is - - There is not one 22 single piece of DJ equipment that we own. We 23 tried to explain that to the officers, and when 24 they came in, they - - It was ten of them again. 25 They walked through the club. No one was 00020 1 dancing. Soon as they came in, it's because you 2 couldn't control - - you can't control the 3 jukebox when the song is going on. So a new song 4 came on, maybe six to seven females, they got up 5 and they started dancing on the officers. I 6 mean, just like - - like they were in a strip 7 club or something. It's - - It's just, you know, 8 I tried to seat everybody, get everybody seated 9 down. The officers, they enjoyed their moment, 10 and wrote their ticket afterwards. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, and some women 12 like men in uniform, I guess. 13 MR. BURGESS: That's what I said. But 14 that's basically what we, you know, what we been 15 experiencing here. The - - The atmosphere of the 16 Leoric's has changed, you know. The Sergeant, we 17 became pretty - - pretty cool. We always been 18 cooperative with the police when they come, you 19 know. They found a small baggage of marijuana on 20 the floor of one of those, by the feet of one of 21 those men who were gambling. We wand everybody. 22 We check everybody. There's, you know, nobody's 23 in the Leoric's with a - - with a firearm or any 24 - - any such thing. But a wand cannot pick up a 25 small plastic bag of marijuana. It can't pick up 00021 1 a small paper plastic of cocaine, which one of 2 the persons was found to have in their 3 possession. But, you know, I think that, you 4 know, we do neighborhood things. We got a team 5 of clean-up people. We cooperated with the BID 6 program, with that program in that neighborhood. 7 We've done that. We've done everything possible 8 to make sure that this place stays safe, you 9 know, at - - We close 15 minutes early. We have 10 not had traffic to where the - - the officers 11 have to come and remove people at all. And 12 within ten, 15 minutes, they're gone. 13 We have security that's licensed to 14 carry firearms. But we don't allow them to carry 15 firearms, because of the incidents that happened 16 before. And we did a lot of interviews of past 17 customers, and a lot of customers felt that the 18 security that had the firearms caused a lot of 19 the incidents. They felt that the need to be a 20 little more stronger in procedures that they need 21 to put down. So we don't want firearms on the 22 premise. We don't want security with firearms. 23 We want people to be able to talk to people, and, 24 you know, keep the situation calm. 25 That's why we kind of changed the age, 00022 1 the whole atmosphere of the club. We - - We 2 installed a - - a grown-up VIP room. We just did 3 a lot of different things to keep, you know, that 4 out of there. And if you talk to the police when 5 they come, any - - any of the officers that come, 6 they know that, you know, they never there - - 7 they never came there for violent problems. They 8 came - - One day we didn't have a five dollar 9 cover sign up. Somebody was having a party which 10 was a fundraiser. They cooked probably 300 11 dollars worth of food. The officers were on 12 their way out, same officers. Oh, by the way, 13 you guys charging to get in? Say, yeah, we're 14 - - we're collecting five dollars at the door to 15 help pay for the food. But where's your sign at? 16 Well, we didn't know we had to have a sign. It's 17 not our fault you didn't know. 221 dollar 18 ticket. The issue with the machines. They did 19 warn us, they pre-warned us about the white tags 20 that needed to go on the machines. When they 21 came back, those tags had came that day. They 22 found no other issues, so they looked at the 23 machines, where's your tags at? Oh, we have 24 them. But they're not on the machines. We did 25 take pictures, and that's going to go to court 00023 1 with us. We did take pictures of all the pool 2 tables, and the video machines that - - that the 3 license is there. But it's just the direct 4 reflect of their past relationship with the 5 McKenzies that's flowing over to us. And no 6 matter how we try to change the atmosphere, you 7 know, they have to allow us to be able to do 8 that, to see that there's a change. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I'll - - I'll just 10 - - And I can't speak for your operation of that, 11 but Leoric when it was run under the McKenzies 12 was run under the spotlight. They did lose - - 13 THE APPLICANT: Absolutely. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: They did lose - - They 15 had a very extensive police record. And, you 16 know, as we last year, they, I believe, lost 17 their - - 18 MR. BURGESS: Cabaret license. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Cabaret. Their 20 tavern/dance, as well, too. 21 THE APPLICANT: Right. 22 MR. BURGESS: Absolutely. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And underwent another 24 additional suspension on top of that, as well, 25 too. So - - 00024 1 MR. BURGESS: Right, we - - 2 THE APPLICANT: We totally acknowledge 3 that, you know, there were incidents that 4 happened. We definitely want the police presence 5 there. We want them to come by and they have. I 6 think it's gotten a lot better. We're able to, 7 you know, when they come in, they see nothing's 8 really going on. But they are doing a check, and 9 that's their job. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You want - - You want 11 to have a sign, "Under new management," and have 12 them understand that. 13 THE APPLICANT: Right. We're trying 14 that. 15 MR. BURGESS: We talk to all of them 16 individually. We talk - - I mean, we know - - 17 We're on a first name, last name basis with each 18 one. Now they come. It's not so much now in the 19 last two months, as they're parading through. 20 Because they - - I feel like they kind of got the 21 vibe that, okay, this is not this kind of place 22 anymore. Every time we come in here, there is 23 people of, you know, upper age, you know, 30 and 24 better in the bar. You know, we don't want to 25 make that our priority. We don't want to put 00025 1 that sign up now we got the letter saying that 2 you actually can. But, you know, it's kind of 3 hard to say that, you know, okay, we want 4 everybody in here 30. You know, we really want 5 25 and older, but we want mature 25 and older. 6 We want to be able to put a atmosphere together 7 that if this is, you know, if you come in here 8 and you're of a certain age and you're used to 9 acting this way, once you feel our atmosphere, 10 the atmosphere should want to - - should want to 11 change you. And that was one of the reasons why 12 we didn't want armed security. We don't want 13 anybody in place that could incite something 14 going on from using their power as a employee to 15 make these people, you know, rowdy. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If I - - If I may just 17 follow up here. There was a - - There was a 18 comment that was made by the - - the - - by 19 Sergeant Ulickey here, pertaining to a - - an 20 eviction respondent. What's the - - the status 21 right now of - - 22 MR. BURGESS: That's been cancelled. 23 THE APPLICANT: Right. 24 MR. BURGESS: We were going to probably 25 not do the Leoric's no more. We were kind of 00026 1 persuaded not to do it, but we felt that we came 2 this far, and we didn't want to give up. So 3 that's been - - 4 THE APPLICANT: It is - - Well, it's 5 taken - - It's hard when you have that, when 6 under management, he's owner. That's a 7 connection. It needs to be separated, you know. 8 If we're going to be the managers of it, we need 9 to have the licensing for it. We need to take 10 responsibility for it. When they're looking - - 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Who owns the building? 12 THE APPLICANT: They're coming in there 13 looking for him, you know. He wants - - You 14 know, it's going to be the separation. 15 MR. BURGESS: The building's owned by 16 Ricardo at this time. We were - - We're 17 presently working on some things to purchase the 18 building from him. It all depends on our status. 19 And so it can allow us to do, because I - - I got 20 to tell you, the police have probably been there 21 40 times. We got five incidents. But it's no 22 exaggeration when I say 40 times. So, 39 out of 23 the 40 times, the first question when they walk 24 in the door is, the first question that a certain 25 officer asks, is where's Ricardo. I've been 00027 1 there on the premise maybe two o'clock, because I 2 had a day off. I - - I've observed this officer 3 pull up in his squad car and question upstairs 4 tenants about Ricardo. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah. 6 MR. BURGESS: I asked the Sergeant why. 7 Well, the US Attorney wants to see him. That's 8 not the business' problem. Whatever they need to 9 do, whatever they need to, they know that this 10 subject is in Florida. Living - - Living in 11 Florida. They know that we're trying to operate 12 and run the business for a livelihood. I asked 13 him to stop several times. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 15 MS. GRILL: Mr. Chair. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Grill. 17 MS. GRILL: I just wanted to mention 18 that the license - - the current license is 19 actually in the McKenzie's name. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Right. 21 THE APPLICANT: Right. 22 MS. GRILL: Just so everyone's clear. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Right. I mean, that - 24 - And that's why they're still showing up there, 25 because they still are the - - the owners of the 00028 1 business here then. 2 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 3 MR. BURGESS: They made that clear. 4 THE APPLICANT: We're not trying to 5 rekindle an old flame. We want to take it, 6 change the name, and just, you know, go on as a 7 business. It, you know, it's a place. It's got 8 a nice occupancy. The capacity for 200 people. 9 We've had every, you know, anniversaries, 10 birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, 11 everything, you know. 12 MR. BURGESS: Repasts, we do free for 13 the community. 14 THE APPLICANT: It's an establishment 15 where, you know, people do like to come. They 16 like to go out. They like to have that. We want 17 to get away from where it is, just the alcohol, 18 where we can have a karaoke and other 19 entertainment things that they can do while they 20 are in our establishment. 21 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderwoman Coggs. 23 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: I have a question 24 for the City Attorney. 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: Yes, ma'am. 00029 1 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: I'm trying to think 2 of how to phrase this. How does that work if, 3 were they made aware of the eviction situation, 4 and I - - I do hear of the people before us 5 explanation. But what we know of is that they're 6 being evicted from the location. And the current 7 license holder is actually the owner of the 8 building. And I know two licenses can't exist at 9 the same time. So how exactly - - Say, they got 10 approved today. How exactly would that work? 11 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, then the McKenzies 12 would have to surrender their license. 13 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: And if they don't. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Then they don't get 15 their's issued. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: Then the License 17 Division doesn't issue the new license, I would 18 guess. 19 MS. GRILL: Well, practically. That's 20 not exactly how it works. When a new license - - 21 license is issued, we expire the previous 22 license. 23 MR. SCHRIMPF: Ah. 24 MS. GRILL: And we would issue them 25 their license if it was approved. 00030 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: But they have to - - 2 They - - They would also have to show that they 3 have a valid lease, as well, too, to demonstrate 4 that. 5 MS. GRILL: That's what's - - 6 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 7 MS. GRILL: That's what's done as part 8 of the investigation. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Right. 10 MR. SCHRIMPF: And, Mr. Chairman, 11 that's quite frankly, my - - I've got really two 12 or three questions for the applicant. Number 13 one, when did you start operation of this place 14 by yourself? 15 THE APPLICANT: Well, the manager - - 16 We're managing the club, you know, while he's - - 17 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, but you said 18 before that you purchased it. 19 THE APPLICANT: No. We have not 20 purchased this. 21 MR. SCHRIMPF: You have not purchased 22 it. 23 THE APPLICANT: No. 24 MR. SCHRIMPF: Do you have a lease? 25 THE APPLICANT: We have a lease. 00031 1 MR. SCHRIMPF: When was the lease 2 signed? 3 THE APPLICANT: That - - When we 4 applied for the manager's license. Once that 5 became effective, which is February, end of 6 February of '08. 7 MR. SCHRIMPF: So February of '08 you 8 started operating the place under your lease? 9 MR. BURGESS: We've - - We've been 10 there, but he decided to venture off into Florida 11 to do some things. So we've been there before 12 that, so just as of when the manager license 13 became effective, that way we could make the 14 lease effective, just to stay in the legal scope 15 of things. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: Did you ever supply a 17 copy of that lease, either to the License 18 Division or to the License Investigation Unit? 19 THE APPLICANT: No, I don't think so. 20 MR. SCHRIMPF: Is it a verbal lease or 21 a written lease? 22 MR. BURGESS: It's a written lease. 23 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well - - 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, their - - the 25 water got under the dam here. 00032 1 MR. SCHRIMPF: And by the way, Mr. 2 Chairman, according to CCAP, the eviction action 3 is set for further proceedings on September 10th 4 at 1:30. Do you know about that? 5 THE APPLICANT: Yeah. 6 MR. BURGESS: We discussed that, and 7 he's exonerating all, you know, everything - - We 8 wanted to base everything on today to make sure 9 that if we're - - if we're going to go further 10 with this that we can somehow just exclude him 11 totally out of the picture. So we don't have 12 those problems from 3rd District any - - anymore. 13 Looking for this individual. I mean, that's our 14 main problem, that they're looking for this 15 individual. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, Mr. Chairman, it 17 would - - The final determination of these sorts 18 of things would be up to the people in the 19 Prosecution Division of the City Attorney's 20 office, but quite frankly, it's beginning to look 21 to me like they're operating this place 22 illegally, currently. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah. That's what I 24 meant when I said, maybe a little water's gone 25 under the dam. 00033 1 MR. BURGESS: How would we be operating 2 illegal when he's - - he's not in Florida. He's 3 here. He's spoken with the - - he's spoken with 4 officers. He's - - He's doing everything he do. 5 He just don't want to be present - - he don't 6 want to be present in the club atmosphere 7 anymore, because he's running a different entity 8 here next door to the club. Police - - 9 MR. SCHRIMPF: You're operating it 10 after you signed a lease under his license. 11 MR. BURGESS: As managers. We - - We 12 operate as managers. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: But it shouldn't be 14 under a new lease. That's - - That's the 15 problem. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: That's a collusive 17 agreement. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The - - The problem is 19 having a new leaseholder for an entity that is 20 under the license of another individual. Like I 21 said, water under the dam here, for technical 22 sakes. I just - - Let me - - Let me just ask 23 here, and we'll give you some additional time. 24 Are there any other questions by committee at 25 this time? 00034 1 MR. RUNNER: Mr. Chair. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Runner. 3 MR. RUNNER: If - - If I could - - 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You've been sworn in, 5 have you not? 6 MR. RUNNER: I have not been. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll swear you in. 8 (Whereupon Mr. Runner was sworn.) 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And if you could 10 acknowledge yourself for the record. 11 MR. RUNNER: Sure. Alex Runner, 2377 12 North 48th Street. Staff assistant for President 13 Hines. President Hines did give me some notes, 14 instructions. I understand that President Hines 15 has met with the applicant. Is that correct? 16 THE APPLICANT: What he did is he asked 17 that I meet with the neighborhood council. 18 MR. RUNNER: Right. 19 THE APPLICANT: I did do that. 20 MR. RUNNER: Wait. If I may, I 21 understand you met with the BID, because I talked 22 to the BID. Tony Gibson - - The Business 23 Improvement District. I know that you met with 24 them. The Community Planning Council has - - has 25 called my - - our office, President Hines' office 00035 1 several times, saying that they have not met, and 2 that Tony Gibson had waited outside the front 3 door, talked on the cell phone. I won't get into 4 the details, but basically my understanding is 5 they have not met with the Community Planning 6 Council. 7 THE APPLICANT: Yeah - - 8 MR. RUNNER: President Hines - - 9 THE APPLICANT: No, we met. 10 MR. RUNNER: You did? 11 THE APPLICANT: Yeah, I went to one of 12 the meetings. They meet the third Thursday of 13 the month. 14 MR. RUNNER: Okay. 15 THE APPLICANT: I've been to their 16 meetings. And I spoke to him, I believe, last 17 week we were supposed to get together. Our 18 schedules didn't meet. 19 MR. RUNNER: Um-hnh. 20 THE APPLICANT: But - - And then this 21 third - - last third Thursday, they had some 22 prior things that they were wrapping up, and they 23 asked that I did not attend that meeting. 24 MR. RUNNER: Right. 25 THE APPLICANT: But we have met. 00036 1 MR. RUNNER: Well, President Hines had 2 thought perhaps it would be appropriate to hold 3 until you - - you'd have that meeting, if it's 4 still necessary. But a couple other things just 5 to reiterate. You know, President Hines does 6 acknowledge that these people want to take the 7 business in a different direction with a 30 and 8 older crowd, and - - But he also said, you know, 9 that there's a - - a public relations problem 10 here, or public perception problem. And he 11 thought for sure the name should be changed, if 12 it's going to go in a different direction. 13 THE APPLICANT: Yeah. 14 MR. RUNNER: I know you mentioned that, 15 but the application is for - - 16 THE APPLICANT: They did suggest - - 17 When we went to the meeting, that's exactly what 18 we talked about. 19 MR. RUNNER: Right. Because we get 20 complaints from people in Glendale about 21 Leoric's. We get complaints from people in Brown 22 Deer. It's embarrassing for our district, to be 23 honest with you. And, you know, we - - we can't 24 say what the committee should choose. But 25 there's obviously been these problems. We're 00037 1 happy to have these new people that want to take 2 things in a different direction. But at the same 3 - - By the same token presents that they've also 4 been running it. So that it's a difficult 5 position. We - - We leave it to the committee. 6 THE APPLICANT: It is difficult. And 7 that's part of the reason we're here. We want to 8 just get the name changed. We have to, you know, 9 go through that process. When we did meet with 10 the neighborhood committee, the - - a few of the 11 other members were there, Legacy Bank, and she 12 made some suggestions. That was probably the 13 best thing that we could have done, was meet with 14 that neighborhood committee. She suggested they 15 match, you know, for security, if we put up 16 3,000, they put up three, you know, there's some 17 - - They had a lot of great ideas in ways to try 18 to make it better for that community around 19 there. And another lady, she was there from, I 20 believe, Waste Management, you know. So they all 21 had their input. 22 And then Tony, he volunteered to match 23 up with me. 24 MR. RUNNER: To follow up. Right? 25 THE APPLICANT: Right. So that we 00038 1 would be in contact. And he's active in that 2 community and does live in that community, as 3 well. 4 MR. RUNNER: Right. 5 MR. BURGESS: I think at the time he 6 wanted to meet, we - - We both still hold full 7 time jobs, also. 8 MR. RUNNER: Sure. 9 MR. BURGESS: And I think at the time 10 he wanted to actually meet at the place was 11 during the time where we both were at work. 12 MR. RUNNER: Right. But as of now, you 13 have not met with him. You met with the - - 14 MR. BURGESS: He hasn't been - - We met 15 with him, also, but we hasn't met inside of the 16 club. 17 MR. RUNNER: Right, which - - 18 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 19 MR. RUNNER: Right, okay. Thank you, 20 Mr. Chair. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Grill, can you tell 22 me - - I see on the application that it indicates 23 a - - a cabaret license has been applied for. 24 I'm not seeing that in our agenda. I see a 25 previous one under Ricardo McKenzie that would be 00039 1 on - - If somebody can clarify that for me. 2 MS. GRILL: Well, it would say name of 3 building owner on that page, as Ricardo McKenzie. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah, okay, name. I'm 5 sorry. Yes, you are correct. I was not reading 6 that correctly. All right. Let me just ask at 7 this time, are there - - Is there anyone here to 8 testify, any neighbors here to testify on the 9 application for Leoric Sports Bar, 2035 West Fond 10 du Lac Avenue? If we could see an 11 acknowledgement, show of hands? Let the record 12 reflect that no one in the audience here does 13 acknowledge that. Are there other questions by 14 committee at this time? 15 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton. 17 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I just wanted to be 18 clear on whether or not we should be considering 19 the license if we don't have verification of a 20 lease. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That has to be provided 22 to the License Division. And there has to be a 23 suitable copy of the lease before there would be 24 the issuance of a license, but - - 25 MS. GRILL: Mr. Chair. 00040 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Grill? 2 MS. GRILL: As part of the 3 investigation that the License Investigation Unit 4 of the Milwaukee Police Department does, there's 5 question regarding the lease or ownership of the 6 property. So maybe Sergeant Ulickey would have 7 some information on that. 8 SERGEANT ULICKEY: In regards to that, 9 we - - we do ask. However, per City Ordinance, 10 and I - - I'm not positive on the State law. It 11 doesn't matter really who owns the building that 12 the person is in, as long as the - - Our main 13 concern and our requirement, according to City 14 Ordinance, is that the person is a resident for 15 the - - or in the State of Wisconsin for the 16 previous 90 days. That's our main concern. Of 17 course, their background investigation follows 18 that. But as far as the lease goes, there is no 19 Statutory requirement that the owner have a 20 lease. Now, you can - - In previous actions here 21 in front of the committee, persons have appeared 22 to contest that, whether or not they own a 23 building, whether or not they're allowed to be 24 legally in the building. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah, and we'll have 00041 1 them back again today. 2 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Exactly. And I 3 - - I would maybe ask Mr. Schrimpf if that's 4 essentially correct? 5 MR. SCHRIMPF: The Statute does not 6 have a specific requirement that a lease be 7 checked. That is true. The ordinances don't 8 have a specific requirement that a lease be 9 checked or that ownership of the property be 10 checked. But there is a Statutory requirement 11 that the licensee be in control of the premises. 12 So if the individual doesn't have a lease and 13 doesn't own the building, they are hardly in 14 control of the premises. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, and - - and 16 ultimately we can issue a license, but then there 17 would have to be some type of injunctive relief 18 that would be provided, or some type of effort to 19 demonstrate that to law enforcement to evict. 20 And that's not necessarily the City's role. 21 MR. SCHRIMPF: Right. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: At least this 23 committee's role, to establish that. That's 24 other additional legal action. 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: Right. 00042 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: May necessarily be 2 taken. So, obviously, if you weren't wanted at 3 that location, there would be some effort, and 4 that may be in - - in - - in the process right 5 now. Maybe that's been rectified. I mean, if 6 it's not, you won't have a place to - - 7 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You may have a - - a 9 piece of paper that says you can operate, but it 10 applies only to the building, and if you have the 11 piece of paper and you're not in the building, 12 well, then you're not operating, so, it is what 13 it is. Other questions, Alderman Hamilton? 14 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: No. That's it. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski, did 16 you have a ques - - Did you want the floor? 17 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: No, I don't. 18 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 20 committee. Alderwoman Coggs. 21 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Even with the 22 eviction thing being a little hazy, I do have 23 just some other concerns. Given the extensive 24 nature of the police report, and I know you went 25 through and explained, to the best of your 00043 1 abilities, the reasoning for some of this stuff. 2 I think what I'm missing is a plan of action for 3 change. 4 THE APPLICANT: Right. 5 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Aside from just 6 changing McKenzie's name off of things, what I 7 always encourage, and I think what we encourage 8 and what we like to see is not just a verbal, but 9 a written plan of, we see that these things are 10 problems, and here's what we're doing to address 11 those. And I'm not hearing that from you, and I 12 don't see that. That's - - 13 MR. BURGESS: Well, we did formulate a 14 business plan, and has been - - Our business plan 15 has been submitted, and also, you know, we talked 16 about several issues with the - - with the 17 security, and also, our bartenders that we have 18 now in there that's helping us are, you know, of, 19 you know, ten years experience. Everybody is 20 licensed. They're, you know - - you know, most 21 bars you got a unlicensed bartender working with 22 a licensed bartender. We just trying to do 23 everything we can, but most effectively what 24 we've done, was we changed the crowd. I mean, in 25 that type of business what more can you ask for. 00044 1 We - - We changed the people that visit our 2 location. You know, we can't compete with, you 3 know, the likes of Gene's Supper Club or 502. We 4 can't get, you know, but we can get in a medium 5 where we got some of that, you know. We don't 6 want none of what the old Leoric's had to offer. 7 We want none of that, and we won't allow it to be 8 there. We won't allow, you know, where the 9 police have to be called for traffic control. If 10 that happens, then we move the time back 15 more 11 minutes and shut down. We - - We kind of do 12 things to deter people from doing things that 13 would not allow them to have a good time, you 14 know. And I'm - - 15 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 16 MR. BURGESS: - - out there. She's out 17 there. We talk to people. We - - We constantly 18 give people the feeling that this is a good place 19 to be. 20 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: My apologies. 21 You're right. You did - - You did submit 22 something in writing. I did look at that 23 earlier. I guess my question is, and it's dated 24 a little earlier this year. Has most of this 25 already been implemented, and at what point did 00045 1 you implement it? 2 THE APPLICANT: Well, we've definitely 3 made some changes. I mean, we have video 4 cameras. We have the security. We have changed 5 our security, as well. Even though there haven't 6 been incidents, we are trying to, you know, 7 prevent them from happening. We work with both 8 Securas, and also, one of my clients, they have a 9 security company. It's the Best Guard. We - - 10 You know, it's a family bar or establishment. 11 We've had, you know, so we've got that on our 12 side, too. Every one our relatives probably has 13 been down there. They've had their celebrations 14 down there. We try to, you know, make sure that 15 they're around, and they're helping out, and 16 they're looking out, as well. 17 MR. BURGESS: Alderwoman Coggs, we do 18 have - - I mean, we have a - - a nice sized 19 capacity availability. But we're not looking to 20 utilize that on any given night to where these 21 problems can occur because you have to, you know, 22 be set to handle those kind of problems. We're 23 mostly looking for this place more to become a 24 place of, you know, receptions and not be open 25 all the time. We don't want to be open all the 00046 1 time. We want our days where we're there, and we 2 want more of fundraisers. We want more - - We're 3 doing right now, we're - - we hosted a couple 4 repasts for families. You know, that's free of 5 charge. There's just certain things that we're 6 doing, and once people know that these things are 7 out there, it's already - - it's already taken 8 effect. It's already taken effect, you know. 9 You're not making - - It's not going to make you 10 filthy rich, but, you know, it's going to keep - 11 - It's going to give you longevity. And that's 12 what we're looking for. We're looking to change 13 this so people from Brown Deer ain't calling. 14 White people from Brown Deer calling, white 15 people from Glendale calling, doesn't make any 16 sense. I can't understand why these people would 17 be calling about what's going on Fond du Lac and 18 North Avenue, but that's what we don't want to 19 happen. 20 MR. RUNNER: Mr. Chair, if I could just 21 add. If they don't get the license, it stays in 22 the control of Mr. McKenzie. Is that correct? I 23 mean, President Hines did say - - Obviously, 24 there's a major problem with Mr. McKenzie, and - 25 - and we would feel more comfortable with them, 00047 1 but at the same time we feel like - - like 2 Alderwoman Coggs said, they have some work to do 3 to continue to build confidence. And I'm a 4 little disappointed that the application is for 5 Leoric's. You know, it would be nice if it was 6 for a different name. 7 THE APPLICANT: They said we had to do 8 it like that, and then once we got that - - We're 9 waiting. And we'd love to change the name and, 10 you know, give it a start fresh. We're 11 backtracking and trying to play catch up, whereas 12 we would have immediately changed the name, day 13 one, if we could have. Because every time, you 14 know, I have a family, friends - - 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If you can - - 16 THE APPLICANT: That just the name, I 17 don't know, it's just - - It shouldn't be a 18 household bad name, but that's what it was. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And you can change it 20 to "No longer Leoric's." 21 THE APPLICANT: We tried even adding 22 the word, "The New," on some of our advertising, 23 "The New Leoric's," but we, you know, we wanted 24 to do it the right way. 25 MS. GRILL: Mr. Chair. 00048 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I just have one other 2 follow-up, and that is, you know, in your 3 business plan, and I - - I think you're kind of 4 crossing the line back and forth here. I mean, 5 in your business plan you - - you talk about 6 soliciting an age 30 and older, and then, you 7 know, and I understand where you're coming from 8 when you say, look, there are some 25 year olds 9 who can be very responsible. 10 THE APPLICANT: Well, if they're 11 families, you know - - 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: There are some - - 13 THE APPLICANT: We don't want to shut 14 it - - Even family, I mean, but everybody in our 15 family has had a birthday party down there. 16 They're turning 25. But we do, you know, 30 and 17 up would be - - 18 MR. BURGESS: Ideal. But also when we 19 formulated that business plan, that letter had 20 not went out saying that - - that now that is 21 what tavern owners can do. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 23 MR. BURGESS: You know. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, and I just - - 25 And I wanted to be clear with that. I mean, 00049 1 because if that is your intention - - 2 THE APPLICANT: Maybe the 25 and up, I 3 would say. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You know, I mean, 5 that's your intention, you can't place that in, 6 you know, and that may give the local alderman, 7 it may give the committee a little bit more 8 confidence in terms of, you know, instead of 9 saying we hope - - Because you know what? It's 10 the gentleman's agreement all the time. I'm 11 going to show up here at work every day by seven 12 o'clock, you know, and I can give you the best of 13 my intentions. You can come rolling up at 7:15 14 and see me rolling out, you know, and see me not 15 here at work sometime, you know. It - - What I'm 16 just saying is, is "your best of intentions" 17 sometimes fall through. At least if you put it 18 in your - - Rather than just a submitted plan, if 19 you actually make it part of your - - your 20 license application, it holds true. I mean, it 21 has weight to it, as opposed to just a - - a 22 nonchalant plan here. Ms. Grill, you wanted? 23 MS. GRILL: Yeah, two things. First on 24 the changing the name. When you're a new 25 applicant, you can put whatever trade name you 00050 1 want down on your application. But if you're not 2 - - If there is a current licensee in existence, 3 current license in existence and you're not the 4 licensee, you can't change the trade name. 5 THE APPLICANT: She explained that. 6 MS. GRILL: So if you want to change 7 your - - to your name now, feel free to do so on 8 the record. As far as the age distinction, if 9 you say 25 and older, you need to have that 10 posted. 11 THE APPLICANT: It's posted. 12 MS. GRILL: And it has to be adhered to 13 at all times. 14 THE APPLICANT: Okay. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Now the one distinction 16 that we do have is you have the ability to 17 designate certain days. So if - - If, for 18 example, a lot of times, weekends, maybe, where 19 there tends to be more issues, a lot of times on 20 Fridays and Saturdays. You can go 25 and up on 21 Friday night and Saturday night. But weekdays, 22 when it's a little more quiet where you don't 23 have as many problems, you could do 21 and up on 24 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. But, you 25 know, that's something you have to submit in your 00051 1 plan of operation. 2 THE APPLICANT: That sounds - - 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Anyways, that's - - 4 What other alderman are we going to have come in. 5 See, you want to come back to this committee here 6 now, don't you? Alderman Wade? 7 ALDERMAN WADE: Ha. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You got to be sworn in 9 here, as well, too. 10 ALDERMAN WADE: Yeah, swear me in. 11 (Whereupon Alderman Wade was sworn.) 12 ALDERMAN WADE: All right. I just 13 stopped in, because I - - I know these two 14 individuals. I know Cyrena and Charles really 15 well. As a matter of fact, Cyrena and I do a lot 16 of business together, financial investment type 17 stuff. And when they first started this 18 endeavor, I was a member of this glorious 19 committee. And so I went down to check some 20 things out. Talked to them in detail about what 21 the history of the place was and some of the 22 things that they needed to do. And then did some 23 follow-up by going in to see if some of those 24 things were in place. And, you know, I don't - - 25 I don't want to micro-manage President Hines' 00052 1 district, but at the time I was on the committee. 2 It was part of my job. And I personally saw much 3 more improvement in atmosphere, in clientele, 4 crowd control, from what we had from the previous 5 establishments. Now some of you - - Well, I 6 guess, only you, Chairman Bohl, know the history 7 of this - - this place, because we dealt with it 8 several times. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah, man. 10 ALDERMAN WADE: What's going on - - 11 What's going on - - What's going on in that area 12 investmentwise from the City and some homeowners, 13 a lot of new development going on in that area, I 14 think the Leoric's is something that needs to 15 also - - And I said this at committee to the 16 person. Because before we gave them a 17 suspension, I explained to them that they needed 18 to change their - - their style, change their 19 demographics. And from what I saw with Cyrena 20 and Charles, I think that's occurring to the 21 point where you would definitely have people who 22 are more professionally inclined, more mature, 23 patronizing their establishment. Very nice, very 24 clean, very spacious. Excellent location. I 25 think the biggest problem that we had with the 00053 1 Leoric's in the past was management. And I - - 2 I'm very confident that these two individuals 3 will - - will be an enhancement to management of 4 the establishment. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Other 6 questions by committee at this time? I'm going 7 to throw one out to you here, and this is going 8 to be a little bit of a curve ball. The - - You 9 know, and - - and I understand you are not the - 10 - the McKenzies, and yet you want to kind of do 11 your own thing, and try to establish your own 12 differences. One of the problems was the - - the 13 cabaret license, and, you know, they lost theirs. 14 You've been in operation, but you are seeking a 15 cabaret license here. 16 THE APPLICANT: Right. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is there any - - 18 anything that you want to comment on relating to 19 that? 20 MR. BURGESS: Yeah. A club, I mean, 21 for what we want to do, pulling permits, being 22 allowed to pull permits, a club that size, 23 without a cabaret license, is - - It can't - - It 24 cannot - - will not exist. That's why we have to 25 take - - We understand, we see what's going on, 00054 1 we follow this closely. We watch this as much as 2 we can on TV. We see that the first thing to go 3 lately has been the cabaret license. Now if we 4 had a smaller mom and pop place where we're not 5 looking for people to come to look for that, then 6 that would be fine. But to say that we need 7 certain amount of funds to operate, those funds 8 have to generate somehow. And by us having, 9 allowing people to do their thing and dance and 10 party, that's going to help generate funds. We 11 ran into the five dollar cover charge thing where 12 people come in and it's like where is this DJ, 13 where is this DJ, and that - - Now they're 14 turning around at the door. They want their 15 money back. We do have a Internet system that 16 allows us to play over ten to 15,000 records, 17 anything that's, you know, out there. But people 18 look forward to - - 19 THE APPLICANT: Yeah. 20 MR. BURGESS: - - talking to a live 21 person, hey, can you play this, can you play 22 that? And I'm sure, it going to be on us to, you 23 know, control this whole situation, because we 24 seen that this is a problem for a lot of places 25 that this is what's causing the problem or this 00055 1 is what the City feel is causing the problem, the 2 actual allowing people to dance. So, you know, 3 that's why we want to kind of keep it to where, 4 you know, sort of like a change we want to bring 5 in. We - - We try to pull permits for stepping 6 lessons. We want to bring in more of those 7 things. We got a steppin' teacher on-line. You 8 know, we want to keep it just so it won't stay 9 hip-hop. You know, we won't have those kind of 10 people there that's going to, you know, dance, 11 bump into each other and go outside and pull a 12 gun and shoot somebody. We don't - - We don't 13 want that. But we - - We need that to stay in - 14 - to be competitive, you know, we got - - we - - 15 To be competitive, to run a operation of that 16 size, you got to - - you got to be competitive. 17 We get - - We got a capacity of 240. I don't 18 mind 100 people there. We don't need, you know, 19 240 if - - if that's not, you know, spending 20 money. We need 100 people there that's going to 21 act right. They're going to come and do what 22 they need to do. They're going to leave 23 accordingly, and come visit us the next day 24 operation when we open. 25 THE APPLICANT: Right. And the other 00056 1 things, along with the cabaret, not just the 2 dancing, comedian, anything, karaoke, just to 3 have, you know, some other things to do, as far 4 as entertainment. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Right. Sure. 6 THE APPLICANT: Like music, or 7 whatever. 8 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Mr. Chairman. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski. 10 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Yeah. You know, 11 based on the previous conversations from our City 12 Attorney, who basically stated that if you don't 13 control the property, you can't use the license, 14 and based on the statements from Alderman Hines' 15 office, that they - - they still would like more 16 communication with - - with the neighborhood, and 17 all these other issues, I - - I just feel we 18 should hold this matter in - - in committee for 19 at the Call of the Chair. Try and get these - - 20 these matters resolved right now. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. That comes in as 22 - - as a motion. Boy, what I will just say is - 23 - is let's hopefully not revisit all the police 24 items here again. I mean, I think we've gotten 25 thorough explanations as to - - as to the items 00057 1 that have come before us, thus far. The motion 2 by Alderman Zielinski is to - - to hold this 3 matter at the Call of the Chair. Is there 4 discussion on the motion? 5 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton? 7 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I guess I would 8 support that motion if we, you know, just simply 9 have the understanding that, you know, that 10 they're going to do the - - the community 11 outreach or meet with the BID to just have those 12 conversations, and that - - and that they will 13 supply some type of lease to the Licensing 14 Division. So that when we do hear this again, 15 that we're not rehashing all of these incidents 16 over again. I mean, I think it's been pretty 17 much established that they're moving in a 18 different direction, that they - - that they 19 committed themselves to this, and that they've 20 proven to be, you know, to take this in a 21 different direction. So I would have to have to 22 drag them through this whole discussion all over 23 again, you know, after, you know, spending almost 24 an hour on it today. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah. And I really 00058 1 hate to have to rehash things after we spend an 2 hour on them on a day, as well, too, here. Mr. 3 Runner, you want to just add something here? 4 MR. RUNNER: Yeah, just to be clear. 5 They - - They have met with the BID, and they 6 have met with the Community Planning Council. It 7 sounds like just one member of the Community 8 Planning Council that wanted to come see the 9 inside, and they missed each other. 10 THE APPLICANT: Right. 11 MR. RUNNER: So hopefully that can 12 happen. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. And I - - And 14 I'd like to, if we're going to do that, make sure 15 that we try to get them on next cycle. I don't 16 want to drag this out any longer here. So it 17 just - - Alderman Hamilton, you had something 18 else you want to add? 19 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Yeah, the - - 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac? 21 ALDERMAN KOVAC: The eviction hearing 22 is happening on the 10th. So it might be nice to 23 have - - have that situation be a little less 24 hazy, hopefully. 25 THE APPLICANT: Right. 00059 1 MR. BURGESS: That - - That hearing 2 probably, it will probably be dismissed before. 3 That was all concurrent to what we were going to 4 plan to do here, you know, today is going to be 5 an official point, was one of our official 6 points. If we want it to continue, because we 7 don't no longer want to - - We want to move in to 8 proceedings and probably actually obtain the 9 whole building, you know, buying the whole place. 10 We want to really just push this individual 11 completely out of there, so it changes the whole 12 scope of how everyone looks at the place. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm certain he probably 14 wants to get out from underneath, too. 15 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 16 MR. BURGESS: Absolutely. 17 THE APPLICANT: We're in agreement on 18 that. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And - - And that - - 20 And that ultimately your position to purchase 21 that is going to be contingent upon getting a 22 license. 23 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 24 MR. BURGESS: Absolutely. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: It doesn't - - Doesn't 00060 1 do you any good to buy real estate where you 2 can't do anything with it, or at least, what you 3 want to do. 4 THE APPLICANT: Exactly. 5 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman, to pick up 6 on Alderman Kovac's point. If the case is going 7 to be dismissed, there will be an order of 8 dismissal that will come from the court. 9 THE APPLICANT: Um-hnh. 10 MR. SCHRIMPF: And you might want to 11 have that. 12 THE APPLICANT: Okay. 13 MR. SCHRIMPF: And present it here. 14 MR. BURGESS: Okay. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. All right. So 16 if there is no further discussion. Hopefully, 17 we'll - - we'll try to get you scheduled here for 18 next cycle then. I don't want to delay it any 19 longer than for your sake as well as - - as ours. 20 Motion by Alderman Zielinski is to recommend 21 holding this matter at the Call of the Chair. 22 Are there any objections to that motion? And 23 hearing none, so ordered. 24 Okay. So hopefully you'll have that 25 issue rectified, be able to meet with the one 00061 1 remaining player of the BID, make certain that 2 you have every issue rectified with Alderman 3 Hines, hopefully, by next time then. Okay? 4 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: And consider that 5 name change, too? 6 THE APPLICANT: Thank you. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hopefully, have 8 something by then. 9 MR. BURGESS: Do we submit a new 10 application for the name change? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I think you can just - 12 - 13 MS. GRILL: You can tell me right now 14 about the changes - - 15 THE APPLICANT: Oh. 16 MS. GRILL: - - or you can come in to 17 our office and - - 18 THE APPLICANT: Yeah, we'll come in the 19 office. 20 MS. GRILL: - - file a change. 21 MR. BURGESS: All right. Thank you. 22 THE APPLICANT: Thank you. 23 * * * * * 00062 1 2 3 STATE OF WISCONSIN ) 4 ) 5 MILWAUKEE COUNTY ) 6 7 I, JEAN M. BARINA, of Milwaukee Reporters 8 Associated, Inc., 5124 West Blue Mound Road, 9 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208, certify that the foregoing 10 proceedings is a full and complete transcript of the 11 revocation hearing for "Leoric Sports Club" taken at 12 the Licenses Hearing for the City of Milwaukee. 13 14 15 16 17 18 JEAN M. BARINA 19 Court Reporter 20 21 22 Dated this day of September, 2008. 23 24