00001 1 2 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 3 LICENSES COMMITTEE 4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5 In the Matter of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Dance 6 license for: 7 JOHN STREGE SIDE POCKET SPORTS BAR 8 9316 W. Appleton Avenue File No. 070556 9 In the Matter of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Dance 10 renewal application for: 11 MONTAL HINTON MONTAL'S LOUNGE 12 2525 N. Holton Avenue File No. 070190 13 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 14 15 16 Proceedings had in the above-entitled 17 matter, before the COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF 18 MILWAUKEE, on the 31st day of July, 2007. 19 20 * * * * * 00002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 PRESIDENT HINES: Will the City Clerk 3 please identify the matter before the Council. 4 CITY CLERK: Item number one. The 5 Committee recommends approval of file number 6 070556, a substitute motion suspending the Class 7 "B" Tavern license for 90 days, and revoking the 8 Tavern Dance license for the premises at 9316 9 West Appleton Avenue known as Side Pockets Sports 10 Bar in the 2nd Aldermanic District. Written 11 exceptions have been filed. 12 PRESIDENT HINES: Have the members of 13 the Council read the report and recommendations 14 of the Licenses Committee, and the written 15 exceptions filed? City Clerk, please call the 16 roll. 17 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 18 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 19 CITY CLERK: Davis? 20 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Aye. 21 CITY CLERK: D'Amato? 22 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Aye. 23 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 25 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 00003 1 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 2 CITY CLERK: Alderman McGee is excused. 3 CITY CLERK: Wade? 4 ALDERMAN WADE: Present. I mean, aye. 5 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 6 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 7 CITY CLERK: Puente? 8 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 9 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 10 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 11 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 12 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 14 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 16 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 18 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 19 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 20 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 21 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one excused. 22 PRESIDENT HINES: 14 ayes, one excused. 23 CITY CLERK: Is John Strege or his 24 counsel present, and if so, do either wish 25 to address the Common Council? They are 00004 1 present, Mr. President. 2 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. Thank you. 3 The applicant, we'll get the applicant sworn in. 4 Alderman Witkowiak moves that the committee - - 5 or the Common Council resolve itself into the 6 committee of the whole for the purpose of hearing 7 argument and oral report on behalf of the license 8 in opposition to the report and recommendations 9 and a statement presented by the City Attorney. 10 Is there any objections? Hearing none, we are 11 now in the committee of the whole. Each side 12 shall be limited to five minutes. And the 13 arguments shall be limited to the subject matter 14 on the report and recommendations and written ex 15 - - exceptions. With that being the case, we 16 have before us Mr. John Strege, I believe. You 17 have five minutes. Go right ahead, sir. 18 MR. STREGE: Okay. Good morning, 19 everyone. I just wanted to tell you that I feel 20 that I am good for this community. And the 21 security and the cameras that I have and what I 22 do, I've spent probably more money than most 23 bars. I don't feel that I'm - - I feel like I'm 24 singled out here, and there's a lot of bars that 25 have probably done a lot worse them me, and I 00005 1 don't - - I don't think I'm getting fairly 2 treated here. 3 Now, Mr. Davis, I - - I know this has 4 never been brought to his attention, but I would 5 like to bring this to your attention. Now Teen 6 Challenge seems to me to be a very good 7 organization. I have no problem with them. 8 They're - - They're okay. But last year in 9 October, they came to my bar, and I have a 10 witness, which is Kermit Bergman, because he 11 happened to be there. Thank God. And if you 12 want him up here, because we're under oath. They 13 walked up to me and they went just like this to 14 me, and I don't think this is very nice for any 15 businessman in the whole world. Craig walks up 16 with his guys and says, "Well, I'll tell you 17 what. I want to see what's on your agenda right 18 now. And I want that now." And I said, "Well, 19 relax." Well, I'll tell you what he said to me. 20 You want to know what he said to me, Mr. Davis? 21 He said, "I can go to Mr. Davis and I can go to 22 the Mayor and I can make you go away just like 23 that. Do you hear what I'm telling you? You 24 know how much power I have. You have no idea. I 25 can make you disappear just like that. Do you 00006 1 understand me? And then I'm going to buy your 2 land and I'm going to bulldoze your building 3 down." Does anybody in here - - would like to be 4 talked to like that? And I'll bet you Mr. Davis 5 doesn't even know that, because I never told him. 6 But I have a witness right here, and I'm under 7 oath, and I'm not here to lie. I'll take a lie 8 detector test afterwards. That is uncalled for. 9 I don't care what anybody says. That is not 10 right. 11 Now you got all these things that are 12 in here. Impact employees, community. I'll tell 13 you what. I do more in this community, but I 14 don't toot my horn like most people. Here, do 15 you want to see this? There. This is Pick 'N 16 Save, Mr. Davis. There's eight people that get 17 to get on that board at Pick 'N Save. Do you 18 know how I got that? I didn't come to them. 19 They approached me. And do you know why they 20 approached me? 21 PRESIDENT HINES: Mr. Strege. Mr. 22 Strege, you can calm down a little bit. 23 MR. STREGE: I'm sorry. 24 PRESIDENT HINES: Please speak to the 25 items on the - - on the - - that are entailed n 00007 1 the recommendations and the written exceptions. 2 If Pick 'N Save was in there. 3 MR. STREGE: Okay. 4 PRESIDENT HINES: Please calm down and 5 - - and speak to that issue. 6 MR. STREGE: I'm sorry. The thing is, 7 they approached me, because what I do for the 8 community. They approached me. I didn't 9 approach them. There. There I am. And there's 10 - - There's the Mayor and there's my assistant 11 manager, Amy. See this picture. I was in this 12 community, and I cleaned it up. And I helped 13 pick up all the garbage, and then they all came 14 back to my establishment, and they had 15 hamburgers, hot dogs and sodas for the children. 16 Now, if there isn't a guy in here that doesn't 17 think that I care, you're out of your mind. I 18 spend more money and more time. You know, you 19 see some of this stuff here - - I don't think 20 this punishment fits the crime. You know, this 21 guy is in our two mile radius, and - - and - - 22 and it's not like he's from Chicago or the south 23 side or - - I mean, I took the appropriate 24 measures. I have all the security in the world 25 there. I got five security guards. I've got two 00008 1 armed guards outside. I put poles up at Teen 2 Challenge, the - - the Pastor's parking lot and 3 mine. That cost me 1200 dollars. I didn't ask 4 for no money. I did that on my own to keep the 5 community safe. 6 And I want you to look at something. I 7 wish Mr. Davis would look at this. There's 8 assaults here from 2006, 2007, about all the 9 assaults. Let me see, 331 in District 2. John 10 has one. Now, just really look at this. I mean, 11 do you know how hard it is in this area to have a 12 good place to come to? I got - - I got Brian 13 Netzel right here. He's Universal Brixius, and 14 he's in your area. 123 million dollar business, 15 800 million nationwide. He's got 100 employees. 16 Guess who he comes to? He comes to my bar. Do 17 you know why he comes to my bar? Because he says 18 he feels safe, and the security there is up and 19 above what it should be. And that's why he feels 20 that way. You can ask him. 21 But I don't feel like sitting here 22 today being chastised. How about my employees? 23 I'll tell you what. My wife's got MS. And she's 24 out of a job today. And she's applying for 25 Social Security. It costs me 1400 dollars a 00009 1 month just for the insurance, and 700 dollars for 2 her Amrix, and that comes in the mail. And it's 3 got to be refrigerated. And I got a 12 year old 4 son. And I got to take care of things. And I 5 got to take care of these employees. I think the 6 best thing you could do for me is 15 days, and I 7 don't even think I deserve that. Because for 8 what I did, I did the right thing. 9 PRESIDENT HINES: One - - One minute. 10 MR. STREGE: That - - That shooter - - 11 That shooter got caught. Isn't that great? I'm 12 sorry he got shot. And you know when he got 13 shot, you know what he said? "Oh, you shot me." 14 That's what he said to her, who is an off duty 15 officer, and then had enough guts to say, "Well, 16 don't call the police." I mean, what are we 17 doing here. But he got caught. And I'm paying 18 the punishment for him getting caught. For 19 making the extra security to make sure it does 20 not happen in this neighborhood. And I put in 21 forth that extra effort, and here I am being 22 punished. And what does happen to these shooters 23 half the time? You guys all know that. They go 24 around. They shoot their guns up in the air. 25 They think it's fun. 00010 1 PRESIDENT HINES: Please close. Begin 2 to wrap up, sir. 3 MR. STREGE: Okay. I'm - - I'm sorry. 4 I'm a little excited, but I - - I'm just really 5 asking for mercy. I - - I don't think this is 6 very fair. And there's a lot of other bars that 7 have done a heck of a lot worse then me. And you 8 come to my bar and you see eight security 9 cameras. You come there, you see all my 10 security. I run a counter. I have - - I have 11 - - take pictures of all the IDs. I do what I'm 12 supposed to do for this community, because I care 13 about this community. And here I am, going to 14 have to leave here, sell my bar for 40,000 15 dollars less, and I don't want to leave. 16 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. Your time 17 has expired. Are there any questions of the 18 applicant at this time? Okay. If not, thank 19 you, sir. I do appreciate it. 20 MR. STREGE: Thank you. Thank you, 21 everybody. I appreciate everything, and I hope 22 you have a little mercy for me. 23 PRESIDENT HINES: We will now hear from 24 the City Attorney's office, Assistant City 25 Attorney Bruce Schrimpf. 00011 1 MR. SCHRIMPF: Good morning, Mr. 2 President, members. Bruce Schrimpf from the City 3 Attorney's office. This is a revocation that was 4 initiated on the complaint of Alderman Davis, 5 which essentially set forth three episodes. One 6 was an over-capacity on April 18th, 2007, which 7 resulted in a 5,000 dollar fine to this premises. 8 And then there were two incidents on October 9 21st, 2006 and June 24th, 2007, where allegedly 10 there were incidents with guns. The Milwaukee 11 Police Department, as part of this revocation 12 proceeding, filed a police report regarding the 13 incident of - - 14 First of all, there was, in fact, a 15 5,000 dollar fine for over-capacity, which was 16 entered on April 16th, 2007. There was an 17 incident on October 21st, 2006 where the police 18 department determined that a shooting did occur. 19 There were 12 casings found in the parking lot to 20 the entrance of the tavern, and basically the 21 department determined that a fight broke out 22 inside the bar, and then some of the patrons went 23 to the parking lot, and there were three to four 24 shots that were fired, although they found more 25 casings. 00012 1 And then on June 24th, 2007 it is true 2 that the police department was called for a 3 complaint of a shooting, and apparently a patron 4 was escorted outside of the bar. He had a 5 firearm. He went into the parking lot and there 6 were some shots that were fired. 7 Among the people that testified at the 8 hearing were a number of people from an 9 institution known as Teen Challenge, which is in 10 some proximity to this particular location. And 11 they testified to the fact that, in part because 12 of the shootings that have occurred at this 13 place, they move residents of this facility 14 around in order to help protect them to make sure 15 that shots are not fired into the - - into the 16 facility. 17 As always, whether or not you revoke 18 this license is reposed to your sound discretion. 19 Whether or not you suspend this license or the 20 tavern entertainment license is, again, reposed 21 to your sound discretion and the length of any 22 such suspension, naturally, is reposed to your 23 sound discretion. The time limits are minimum of 24 ten days, maximum of 90 days, should you decide 25 to suspend. The committee obviously recommended 00013 1 a suspension of the Class "B" Tavern license for 2 a period of 90 days, and revocation of the Tavern 3 Entertainment license. If there's any questions, 4 I'll be happy to try to answer them. 5 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. The Chair 6 recognizes Alderman Mike D'Amato. 7 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Thank you. Mr. 8 Schrimpf, a couple questions if I may. The - - 9 The folks who testified from Teen Challenge, is 10 that correct? How - - How far away were they 11 from the - - from the tavern? 12 MR. SCHRIMPF: I am not exactly 13 certain. I tried to recheck my records on the 14 - - on the distance, and I'm not certain how far 15 that is away. Perhaps the local Alderman will be 16 able to answer that question. I don't really 17 know that. 18 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Thank you. And with 19 regard to item D, it seems to me, I'm just - - 20 I'm surprised this is on the police report. A 21 fight broke out of the bar, but then some ten 22 blocks later, ten blocks away at a gas station, a 23 shooting occurred. Is there - - Is there - - 24 What's the linkage there? 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, apparently what I 00014 1 understood from it was that the people involved 2 in the shooting at the gas station, the fight, in 3 effect, started in the bar. I guess that was the 4 point of the police department. 5 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: But then the 6 shooting took place ten blocks - - 7 MR. SCHRIMPF: Right. Right. 8 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: - - ten blocks away. 9 MR. SCHRIMPF: Right. 10 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Okay. Thank you. 11 PRESIDENT HINES: Are there any 12 additional questions or comments - - Questions, I 13 apologize. Are there questions to the Assistant 14 City Attorney? Seeing and hearing none, thank 15 you. Alderman Witkowiak now moves that the 16 committee rises. And now, the motion. Are there 17 any motions relative to this matter or are there 18 any additional comments or statements to be made 19 at this time? Seeing and hearing none, I would 20 request a vote for the Council members present to 21 approve - - The Chair recognizes Alderman Mike 22 D'Amato. 23 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Mister - - Mr. 24 President, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to 25 watch this on the - - on the re-tape, and the 00015 1 vote was 3-2. I would just ask the Chairman if 2 he could comment on the deliberations with regard 3 to that vote. 4 PRESIDENT HINES: Alderman Witkowiak, 5 are you able to respond to that? 6 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: The - - Thank you, 7 Mr. President. Alderman D'Amato, the - - It 8 appears to me that the reason for the split vote 9 at committee was because some were considering 10 not renewing the license, whatsoever. I believe 11 that was the - - the dissension in the vote. And 12 that's why it went 3-2. 13 PRESIDENT HINES: Then - - Okay. So 14 that sounds fine. I mean, was there a need to 15 have - - The other two members that voted in 16 opposition, was there a need to hear from any of 17 them, Alderman? 18 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: No, thank you. 19 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. If there is no 20 further discussion, I would request a vote for 21 those Council members present to approve the 22 recommendations of the Licenses Committee as 23 contained in file number 070556. Hold on, 24 please. The Chair recognizes Alderman Joe Davis. 25 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Thank you, Mr. 00016 1 President. Please let the record reflect of my 2 abstention on this particular issue, due to the 3 fact that I was the Complainant. 4 PRESIDENT HINES: That would have been 5 identified during the roll call, but I appreciate 6 it, Alderman. And the rationale being is the 7 revocation was initiated by the local Alderman. 8 Cannot vote on it, so point well taken. Thank 9 you. With that being the case, Mr. City Clerk, 10 please call the roll. 11 CITY CLERK: On approval of the 12 recommendation of the committee. 13 Alderman Hamilton? 14 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Alderman Davis? 16 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: Abstain? 18 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Abstain. 19 CITY CLERK: D'Amato? 20 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: No. 21 CITY CLERK: Excuse me. Alderman 22 D'Amato? 23 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: No. 24 CITY CLERK: Thank you. Bauman? 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 00017 1 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 2 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 3 CITY CLERK: Wade? 4 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 5 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 6 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 7 CITY CLERK: Puente? 8 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 9 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 10 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 11 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 12 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 14 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 16 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 18 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 19 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 20 PRESIDENT HINES: No. 21 CITY CLERK: 11 ayes, two noes, one 22 excused, one abstention. 23 PRESIDENT HINES: 11 ayes, two noes, 24 one excused, one abstention. The motion carries. 25 Will the City Clerk please identify the next item 00018 1 before the Council? 2 CITY CLERK: Item number two. The 3 Licenses Committee recommends approval of file 4 number 070190, a motion to approve 5 recommendations of the Licenses Committee 6 relative to various licenses, included in the 7 file are the following recommendations. Renewal 8 with a 30 day suspension, based on the police 9 report, of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Dance 10 license of Keith Winters for the premises at 2911 11 West North Avenue known as Mary's Rainbow Inn in 12 the 15th Alderman District. No written 13 exceptions have been filed. 14 And renewal with a 90 day suspension, 15 based on neighborhood objections and the police 16 report, of the Class "B" Tavern license of Montal 17 Hinton for the premises at 2525 North Holton 18 Street known as Montal's Lounge in the 6th 19 Aldermanic District. Written exceptions have 20 been filed. 21 PRESIDENT HINES: Have the members of 22 the Common Council read the report and 23 recommendations of the Licenses Committee and any 24 written exceptions filed? Roll call, please. 25 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 00019 1 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 2 CITY CLERK: Davis? 3 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Aye. 4 CITY CLERK: D'Amato? 5 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Aye. 6 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 8 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 9 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 10 CITY CLERK: Wade? 11 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 12 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 13 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 14 CITY CLERK: Puente? 15 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 16 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 17 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 18 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 19 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 20 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 21 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 22 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 23 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 24 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 25 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 00020 1 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 2 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 3 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one excused. 4 PRESIDENT HINES: 14 ayes, one excused. 5 Please continue, Mr. City Clerk. I know there 6 are lights on. After we hear from the process 7 and going to - - back into - - convene back into 8 closed session we'll take action. 9 CITY CLERK: Is Montal Hinton or his 10 counsel present, and if so, do they wish to 11 address the Council? 12 PRESIDENT HINES: Yes. Alderman 13 Witkowiak moves that the Common Council resolves 14 itself into the committee of the whole for the 15 purpose of hearing oral arguments on behalf of 16 the license in opposition to the report and 17 recommendations and - - and a statement presented 18 by the City Attorney. Is there any objections? 19 Hearing none, we are now in the committee of the 20 whole. Each side will be given five minutes to 21 communicate their concerns. They shall be 22 limited to the subject matter on the report, as 23 well as any recommendations of written 24 exceptions. It seems like we have counsel on 25 behalf of Mr. Montal Hinton. Go right ahead, 00021 1 sir. You have five minutes. 2 MR. ARENA: Thank you, Mr. President, 3 honorable members of the Common Council. My name 4 is Andrew Arena. I'm here to represent Mr. 5 Hinton. Just a quick note about Mr. Hinton, is 6 he's 36 years old. He did purchase the building 7 in which he operates Montal's Lounge. It's on 8 Holton Avenue. It his desire and intent to be in 9 the building long term. He does work at the 10 business on a daily basis. 11 Now, I did not represent Mr. Hinton 12 before the committee, but I have reviewed a 13 videotape of that meeting. And to me, I guess, 14 the issue is one of what progressive discipline 15 is. And that's what we're here to seek, is some 16 reconsideration of the fact that there is a 17 recommendation for a 90 day suspension for Mr. 18 Hinton. I believe everyone on the Council is 19 familiar with the idea of progressive discipline. 20 It is something that hopefully everybody strives 21 to. A 90 day suspension, of course, is the 22 maximum by State law. And a 90 suspension has 23 great ramifications for Mr. Hinton. He will lose 24 employees. 90 days is three months, a quarter of 25 the year. He will lose a customer base, and he 00022 1 will lose the ability to have any income for 90 2 days, which is quite a burden for anybody to 3 expect. 4 The issue, as it seemed to me at the 5 hearing, involved testimony of three citizens, 6 two of whom were married, two of them recently 7 bought a home in the area. They've put the home 8 up for sale. They were concerned about their 9 property value, which is appropriate. And they 10 were concerned about certain activities that they 11 perceive taking place, and they perceive those 12 activities to be caused by Montal's Lounge. As 13 you all know, I'm not one ever to sit here and 14 deny that certain things don't take place outside 15 of a tavern after closing hours. But I feel in 16 this case, as in many cases, this is a big over- 17 exaggeration. This - - The partic - - The 18 particular witness, a lady, she talked about how 19 numerous time she called the police. When she 20 was pinned down and asked by a member of the 21 committee, she had notes of three incidents. She 22 talked about the same incident over and over. 23 And that incident, of course, is regrettable. 24 And it is taken very seriously by my client. 25 My client is now - - He was then, and 00023 1 is more diligent now, about closing early, and he 2 does go out himself and keeps people moving 3 along. And recently he's had contact with these 4 people, and they have not objected to his being 5 out there moving people along, keeping the 6 neighborhood quiet. She did show a videotape. 7 The videotape showed a lot of traffic up and down 8 that particular road, Holton. I think that it is 9 used by many to traverse the City, and not 10 necessarily clients of Montal's Lounge. Mr. 11 Hinton will bring in extra security. Like I 12 said, he will close early. 13 PRESIDENT HINES: One minute. 14 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: I did submit a plan 15 with my written exceptions. There will be extra 16 signage, et cetera, et cetera. We're not here, 17 and I'm not here on his behalf to blame other 18 people and to say that nothing's happening. I am 19 here to say that he can correct these issues. He 20 can have more contact with everybody. And merely 21 to point out that 90 days is very extreme, and 22 it's really akin to a death sentence for a young 23 business. So with that, I will reserve the last 24 of my time to answer any questions. 25 PRESIDENT HINES: Yes. Are there any 00024 1 additional questions by Attorney Arena? Chair 2 recognizes Alderman Puente. 3 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. You stated your client is closing 5 earlier now. What time, specifically, is he 6 closing? 7 MR. ARENA: Well, his clock on his bar 8 is 15 minutes ahead, and he closes 30 minutes 9 ahead pursuant to that clock that's 15 minutes 10 ahead. 11 ALDERMAN PUENTE: 45? 12 MR. ARENA: So actually it's about 40 13 - - 45, 40 minutes. So, you know, he's giving up 14 that time period, and as he believes, and as I've 15 explained to him, in that time period you really 16 don't make that much more, anyway. I mean, you 17 should be wrapping it up. And he understands 18 that, and he - - That's what he's doing. And 19 then he immediately does go outside with 20 security, and he's brought on extra security to 21 walk people to their cars, walk up and down, tell 22 people to remain quiet. 23 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Thank you. 24 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you, Alderman. 25 Are there any additional questions? Alderman 00025 1 Hamilton? 2 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. Has your client received any 4 discipline in the past? 5 MR. ARENA: No. 6 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Is this his - - 7 This is his first time coming before the 8 committee. 9 MR. ARENA: Correct. This is his first 10 time. Discipline may be warranted, but he feels 11 that he can correct his problems in much less 12 than 90 days. He's got the message. 13 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. Are - - 14 Are there any additional questions of Attorney 15 Arena? If not, thank you, sir. 16 MR. ARENA: Thank you. 17 PRESIDENT HINES: We will now hear from 18 the Assistant City Attorney. Assistant City 19 Attorney Bruce Schrimpf. 20 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you, Mr. 21 President, members. Bruce Schrimpf from the City 22 Attorney's office. The record of this place 23 indicates that within the last license year there 24 was at least one shooting. The circumstances 25 were that a person was standing outside of the 00026 1 bar, and someone drove by and apparently shot at 2 that particular individual. Mr. Hinton indicated 3 that there was no altercation in the bar prior to 4 that event occurring. 5 There was one situation of over- 6 capacity, approximately 20 to 30 patrons, but no 7 citations were issued for it, occurring in May of 8 2007. There a couple of other police contacts, 9 nothing which resulted in a citation being 10 issued. And then there were a number of 11 neighbors who came forward and testified as to 12 numerous acts of public urination, sexual 13 activity outside the place, episodes that these 14 neighbors viewed as illegal drug use occurring 15 outside of the place, and noise, a fairly common 16 complaint. The objecting neighbor - - Or one of 17 the objecting neighbors presented some DVDs to 18 the committee. There's - - I suppose one could 19 argue about the quality of those particular DVDs. 20 The neighbors testified and had evidence of 21 significant noise that disturbs them at all hours 22 of the day and night emanating from this 23 location. The DVDs do, in fact, tend to show 24 that there is noise outside of this location, and 25 whether or not you believe the - - the witnesses, 00027 1 that it's attributable to the patrons of this 2 location and the extent of that noise, is 3 something that is up to the person viewing these 4 particular DVDs and tapes. 5 The committee obviously recommended 6 renewal with a 90 day suspension of this license. 7 And if there's any particular questions I can 8 answer, I'll be happy to entertain them. 9 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. Are there 10 any additional questions of Assistant City 11 Attorney Bruce Schrimpf? Yes, the Chair 12 recognizes Ashanti - - Alderman Ashanti Hamilton. 13 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Thank you, Mr. 14 President. I just needed to know how long this 15 place has been in operation. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: I'm sorry, Alderman. I 17 do not know that. I - - I believe it's been 18 about a year. Okay. So a little less than a 19 year. 20 PRESIDENT HINES: Are there any 21 additional questions or comments? Additional 22 questions? If not, thank you, Assistant City 23 Attorney. 24 Alderman Witkowiak moves that the 25 committee now rises. Are there any motions 00028 1 relative to this matter? The Chair recognizes 2 Alderman Ashanti Hamilton. 3 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Thank you, Mr. 4 Chair. I'm just going to move to return to the 5 Licensing Committee, Hinton, Montal's Class "B" 6 Tavern Renewal application for Montal's Lounge at 7 2525 North Holton. I feel like there's a - - a 8 number of things that can probably be helped by 9 the applicant if he had representation at that 10 - - at that committee hearing. And I know I 11 don't - - I don't want to add to the workload of 12 - - of the Licenses Committee. I know it's a - - 13 a long and tedious agenda. But I think there is 14 more things to learn about - - about this event, 15 and maybe it can be - - be presented in a 16 different way to the committee. Because the - - 17 the 90 days, I know it wasn't supported by the 18 whole committee, but it - - it does seem a bit 19 excessive. 20 PRESIDENT HINES: With that being the 21 case, that is an appropriate motion. I mean, I 22 don't know - - And it won't adversely impact the 23 license. The license expires the 25th. If it 24 goes - - September 25th. So if it goes back to 25 committee for further discussion, it's not to 00029 1 suggest that the outcome would be different, but 2 there would be another opportunity without 3 adversely impacting the applicant, and there the 4 committee could, you know, have a change of 5 heart. But - - And that motion is appropriate. 6 On the motion, are there any comments on the 7 motion? Chair recognizes Alderman Mike D'Amato. 8 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. I'm - - I'm happy to support the 10 motion. Since this item has come up, I've had a 11 number of e-mails and calls from constituents 12 with regard to this location. While this is on 13 the west side of Holton Street in Alderman 14 McGee's district. Holton Street is the dividing 15 line between our districts. None of my 16 constituents were notified with regard to this 17 tavern. There are a number of them who object. 18 And I would just ask if this goes back to 19 committee, that I be provided with the 20 opportunity to notify my constituents who are in 21 close proximity to this location. Thank you. 22 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. Chair 23 recognizes Alderman Jim Bohl. 24 ALDERMAN BOHL: Mr. Chairman, I'm - - 25 I'm not going to support the motion. I - - For 00030 1 those of you who have had an opportunity to serve 2 on that committee, the proverbial second kick at 3 the can ultimately, one, amounts to the issue of 4 - - of the potential of - - of a double jeopardy. 5 And notwithstanding, when - - when a license is 6 up, imagine we get into the - - the precedent of 7 saying that we don't have enough people who were 8 here, that the notice, more people wanted to show 9 up, so on and so forth. If we actually allow 10 this to happen, we will be establishing a very 11 bad precedence for a committee that is already 12 long too far overworked. 13 I support keeping the motion that was 14 there at committee. Residents within 250 feet, 15 following the - - the standard policy that we 16 have established as a Council were noticed of 17 this particular matter. There were neighbors 18 that were present. I believe that there were 19 three or four that testified in opposition. It 20 just - - I don't know whether this - - it's sound 21 policy to do this, and certainly I will be happy 22 to relinquish my seat on the committee for other 23 members of this Council who see fit every time to 24 - - to send matters back to committee and hear an 25 item that probably took, I'm going to guess 00031 1 alone, about an hour and a half, hour forty-five 2 minutes for this item. It just is not good 3 policy. So I will not support the motion. 4 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you, Alderman. 5 Are there any additional discussions on the 6 motion? Hearing none, we can subject that to a 7 roll - - There's one objection. So it's just one 8 objection. 9 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: I will object, also. 10 PRESIDENT HINES: There's - - Alderman 11 Witkowski? 12 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: I will also 13 object. 14 PRESIDENT HINES: Alderman Bauman. 15 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: I object. 16 PRESIDENT HINES: So there's three 17 objections. Let's subject it to a roll call 18 vote, and we'll go from there. Chair recognizes 19 Alderman Ashanti Hamilton. 20 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair, why 21 don't I withdraw that motion. 22 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. 23 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: And - - And motion 24 for a 45 day suspension in lieu of the 90 day 25 suspension. 00032 1 PRESIDENT HINES: That's an appropriate 2 motion, Alderman. We would - - I mean, we would 3 either have to have that in writing, or we would 4 have to subject to a suspension of the rules. I 5 do understand the concerns, given the local 6 alderman's disposition. First, I will have to 7 entertain the body as to whether or not they'd 8 like to suspend the rules for that motion. Are 9 there any objections? I'm going to clear the 10 board. Are there any objections to the 11 suspension of the rules for offering a - - a 12 motion by Alderman Hamilton? Seeing and hearing 13 none, that is an appropriate motion, Alderman 14 Hamilton, that is before us. Do you want to 15 speak to that just briefly, sir? 16 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Well, it's just for 17 the - - for the reasons that I commented before. 18 I would - - I would have rather it just - - I 19 would have rather it had just gone back to 20 committee, and - - and heard it again, and maybe 21 residents who did not have an opportunity to 22 testify, to give them that opportunity. You 23 know, however, it doesn't seem like that's - - 24 that's the will of the committee, and I - - I 25 respect that. 00033 1 PRESIDENT HINES: So the motion by 2 Alderman Hamilton that is put forth, was that a 3 40 day suspension? 4 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: 45 day. 5 PRESIDENT HINES: 45 day suspension. 6 On the motion to, notwithstanding the 7 recommendations put forth by the committee, 8 Alderman Hamilton has put forth a motion of 40 9 days suspension. Mr. City Clerk - - Are there 10 any comments on the motion? Seeing and hearing 11 none, Mr. City Clerk, can you please call the 12 roll on that, please? 13 CITY CLERK: On the amendment. 14 Alderman Hamilton? 15 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 16 CITY CLERK: Davis? 17 ALDERMAN DAVIS: Aye. 18 CITY CLERK: D'Amato? 19 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: No. 20 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No. 22 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 23 ALDERMAN BOHL: No. 24 CITY CLERK: Wade? 25 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 00034 1 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 2 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: No. 3 CITY CLERK: Puente? 4 ALDERMAN PUENTE: No. 5 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 6 ALDERMAN MURPHY: No. No. 7 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 8 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: No. 9 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 10 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: No. 11 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 12 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 14 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 16 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: 6 ayes, 8 noes, one 18 excused. 19 PRESIDENT HINES: 6 ayes, 8 noes, one 20 excused. The motion fails. Are there any 21 additional motions at this time? The Chair 22 recognizes Alderman Witkowiak. 23 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Thank you, Mr. 24 President. I move to amend the file number 25 070190 by striking the Class "B" Tavern and 00035 1 Tavern Dance licenses of Jennifer Garcia, agent 2 for The 5th, LLC, for The 5th at 815 South 5th 3 Street and returning them to committee. 4 PRESIDENT HINES: That's an appropriate 5 motion. And I think it's in write - - Are there 6 any objections to the motion put forth by 7 Alderman Witkowiak? Seeing and hearing none, the 8 motion carries. The Chair recognizes Alderman 9 Mike D'Amato. 10 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Mr. President, if I 11 may be listed as objecting to the 90 day 12 suspension on Montal's Lounge, I'd like to be 13 listed as objecting, please. 14 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. I, too, 15 would like to be recorded against - - objection 16 to Montal Hinton, as well. Are there any other 17 motions relative to the Council file number - - 18 The Chair recognizes Alderman Ashanti Hamilton. 19 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Yes. I just wanted 20 to be listed as objecting to the 90 day 21 suspension, too. 22 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. Yeah, 23 this is the - - one of the unique situations, I 24 think the first time there's three objections to 25 recommendations having come before this body from 00036 1 the committee on a license. With that being the 2 case, we're going to take separate actions on 3 that particular license, the Montal Hinton 4 license. Mr. City Clerk - - 5 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Mr. President? 6 PRESIDENT HINES: Yes, sir. Alderman 7 D'Amato. 8 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: I'm - - I'm 9 objecting for different reasons than others are 10 objecting, so let me withdraw my objection, 11 please. 12 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. 13 ALDERMAN D'AMATO: Thank you. 14 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. And 15 that's an appropriate - - That's appropriate. 16 There's only two objections at this time, then. 17 Please continue, Mr. City Clerk. Are there any 18 other motions? Seeing and hearing none, if there 19 are no further discussions, I will request a vote 20 of those Council members present to approve the 21 recommendations of the Licenses Committee as 22 contained in file number 070190. Will the City 23 Clerk please call the roll? 24 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 25 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 00037 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: Wade? 10 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 11 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 12 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Puente? 14 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 16 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 18 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 19 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 20 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 21 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 22 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 23 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 24 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 25 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 00038 1 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 2 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one excused. 3 PRESIDENT HINES: 14 ayes, one excused. 4 The Committee Report is adopted. This completes 5 the report of the Licenses Committee. 6 * * * * * 00039 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 Licensing portion of the Commom Council Hearing taken 12 on July 31, 2007. 13 14 15 16 17 18 JEAN M. BARINA 19 Court Reporter 20 21 22 Dated this day of August, 2007. 23