00001 1 2 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 3 LICENSES COMMITTEE 4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5 In the Matter of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Dance 6 renewal application for: 7 DANIELLE DEPRIEST M&M LOUNGE 8 1848 W. Fond du Lac Avenue 9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 10 COMMITTEE MEMBERS 11 ALD. JAMES WITKOWIAK - Chair ALD. JAMES BOHL, JR., - Vice-Chairman 12 ALD. JOSEPH A. DUDZIK ALD. ROBERT PUTENTE 13 ALD. WILLIE WADE 14 LICENSING DIVISION by REBECCA BARRON NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES by TOM WESSEL 15 HEALTH DEPARTMENT by PAUL ZEMKE POLICE DEPARTMENT by SEARGENT CHET ULICKEY 16 OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY by ATTORNEY BRUCE SCHRIMPF 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 13th day of February, 2007. 22 00002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: In the 15th 3 District, Danielle Depriest, Class "B" Tavern and 4 Tavern Dance renewal applications for M&M Lounge 5 at 1848 West Fond du Lac Avenue. Good morning. 6 THE APPLICANT: Good morning. 7 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Could you raise 8 your right hand, and we will swear you in? 9 (Whereupon the applicant was sworn.) 10 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Your name and 11 address for the record, please. 12 THE APPLICANT: Danielle Depriest. 13 Home address is 1312 North 36th Street. 14 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Okay. Thank you. 15 Health Department? 16 HEALTH: Health has no objection. 17 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Neighborhood 18 Services. 19 DNS: We have no objections. We show a 20 current capacity of 98. 21 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Thank you. Ms. 22 Depriest, do you admit to receiving notice in the 23 mail there's a possibility your application could 24 be denied because of items contained in the 25 police report? 00003 1 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 2 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Sergeant Ulickey, 3 the report, please. 4 SERGEANT ULICKEY: On 10/16 of '05 at 5 1:45 a.m. officers made lawful inspection of the 6 licensed premise at 1848 West Fond du Lac. 7 Officers counted patrons as they were leaving the 8 tavern, close to capacity was 98, and officers 9 counted 115 patrons leaving. Excuse me. The 10 applicant, who was not on the scene, was cited 11 for over capacity, found guilty, and fined 2359 12 dollars. 13 On 11/6 of '05 at 2:30 a.m. officers 14 made a lawful inspection of licensed premise at 15 1848 West Fond du Lac. Upon arrival officers 16 observed a patron run back into the tavern, and 17 approximately 30 patrons run out, some carrying 18 open intoxicants. Upon entry officers could 19 smell a strong odor of marijuana. Several 20 corner-cut baggies consistent with the packaging 21 of illegal drugs were found. Officers also 22 observed patrons drinking alcohol, gin, whisky 23 and vodka from original containers. Further 24 investigation revealed unlicensed video 25 entertainment machines, a rear exit door locked 00004 1 and a steel gate and various building code 2 violations, such as exposed wires, water dripping 3 from the ceiling, et cetera. Neighborhood 4 Services was notified about the code violations. 5 The applicant, who was not on the scene, was 6 cited for amusement machine required, which was 7 dismissed. Safe egress was from all doors. The 8 applicant was found guilty and fined 343 dollars. 9 Permitting consumption from original containers, 10 the applicant was found guilty and fined 343 11 dollars. And disorderly premises, which was 12 dismissed. 13 On 12/10 of '05 Milwaukee police 14 observed patrons in the M&M Lounge after hours. 15 Officers tried to gain entry, but the front door 16 was locked. They looked through the window and 17 observed numerous patrons sitting at the bar 18 drinking from beer bottles. On seeing police the 19 patrons ran back into the - - or ran to the back 20 of the tavern. Officers were unable to gain 21 entry and were advised by a sergeant on the scene 22 to do the follow-up the next day. The officers 23 on the following day spoke to the tending 24 bartender who denied any knowledge of the bar 25 being open after hours. A citation was issued to 00005 1 the licensee, and she was found guilty, fined 343 2 dollars. 3 On 2/3 of '06 Milwaukee police were 4 conducting underage buys of alcoholic beverages 5 to minors at Class "B" taverns. Officers sent a 6 Milwaukee police agent who was under the age of 7 21 into the lounge. He was able to purchase two 8 Genuine Draft alcoholic beverages without being 9 asked for identification. The licensee was 10 issued a citation for sale to underage and was 11 found guilty and fined 152 dollars. 12 On 2/25/06 Milwaukee police were 13 dispatched to 1848 West Fond du Lac for shots 14 fired. Investigation revealed there had been a 15 fight. When officers checked the tavern for 16 possible victims, they found three underage 17 patrons hiding in the basement. Subjects told 18 police that the bartender told them to run to the 19 basement when officers arrived. Regarding the 20 fight, several citations were issued for licensee 21 responsibility, presence of underage and 22 resisting and obstructing. The applicant was 23 found guilty of licensee's responsibility and 24 fined 686 dollars. 25 On 3/25 of '06 Milwaukee police 00006 1 observed large crowds at the M&M Club. Conducted 2 an investigation to see if they were over 3 capacity. There were officers at the front and 4 back of the tavern exits counting patrons as they 5 left. Final count of the patrons indicated there 6 were 130 patrons inside the tavern, 32 people 7 over capacity. In addition, officers observed 8 drug paraphernalia at the rear of the bar. At 9 the other pool table was found a baggie 10 containing a milky white substance, which later 11 tested positive for crack cocaine. The open drug 12 use in the tavern has been an ongoing problem and 13 has been discussed with the tavern employees on 14 several occasions. The licensee was issued a 15 citation for posting of occupancy, found guilty 16 and fined 1,000 dollars. 17 On 3/31 of '06 Milwaukee police 18 conducted a tavern check. Officers went directly 19 to the back of the tavern where they observed a 20 patron holding onto a baggie, which was believed 21 to contain marijuana. Upon seeing police the 22 subject dropped the baggie to the floor, later 23 tested positive for marijuana. In addition, 24 another patron was asked if he had any marijuana. 25 He stated he did. Subjects admitted that they 00007 1 were about to roll a blunt, which is a street 2 term for a marijuana-laced cigar. Both these 3 subjects also stated that they were frequent to 4 the M&M Lounge and admitted that smoking 5 marijuana is common among patrons, and that 6 tavern employees often look the other way when 7 the smoking occurs. Both these patrons were 8 arrested for possession of marijuana. 9 On 6/24 of '06 Milwaukee police 10 conducted a tavern check, and officers noticed a 11 patron that appeared to be under the age of 21. 12 A field interview was conducted, which revealed 13 his age, this patron to be 19. Patron admitted 14 to using her cousin's ID to enter the bar. 15 Patron received two citations for presence of 16 underage and underage misrepresentation. And at 17 that time no other violations were found. 18 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Thank you. Ms. 19 DePriest, do you have any questions of the police 20 report? 21 THE APPLICANT: No, but I would like to 22 state for the record, we did meet with Captain 23 Harpol. We have made some changes, and we 24 haven't had any problems since the last citation, 25 which was March 31st. We - - We no longer play 00008 1 - - play rap music. We just cater to a older 2 crowd now, which would be classic R&B and jazz. 3 And that has brought in a different crowd. And 4 we no longer have that unruly younger crowd. 5 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: How long have you 6 had this license? 7 THE APPLICANT: It will be almost four 8 years. 9 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Not a good police 10 report. Comments from the Alderman's office? 11 AIDE: First of all, Alderman Hines 12 does not condone this kind of behavior. But 13 after the meeting this summer, there was a new 14 direction taken in the establishment. And there 15 has been no incidents. They've changed their 16 venue of music. They've changed the clientele. 17 The clientele is more 35 and over. And also, 18 they're putting in a food service restaurant, and 19 they're in the stages of actually installing it 20 right now. So they're going to be serving food, 21 and that's a plus. With all that said, the 22 Alderman is not opposed to this license. 23 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: The Alderman is 24 not opposed. 25 AIDE: He is not opposed. 00009 1 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Okay. 2 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman. 3 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: After reading this 4 police report, I sort of am, but - - Mr. 5 Schrimpf. 6 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you. I'd like to 7 ask the Sergeant, respecting item number seven. 8 Licensee responsibility. Did that include the 9 presence of underage charge? 10 SERGEANT ULICKEY: We weren't able to 11 find information regarding that in our City - - 12 City system. That's why there's only the 13 licensee responsibility listed. 14 MR. SCHRIMPF: Let me ask the applicant 15 then. Do you know if the - - if the item number 16 seven, directing your attention to that on the 17 police report, and the presence of the underage. 18 Was that included in the fine that you received 19 for the licensee responsibility? 20 THE APPLICANT: I would have to look at 21 the original ticket. I think just that - - that 22 person was fined for using a fake ID, but it was 23 placed on our - - 24 MR. SCHRIMPF: I take - - 25 THE APPLICANT: - - the under - - It 00010 1 was for the - - the underage patrons that were 2 hiding in the basement, and that - - We also have 3 new staff, so those bartenders are no longer 4 working there either. 5 MR. SCHRIMPF: Okay. So the - - the 6 licensee responsibility included the three 7 underage patrons hiding in the basement. Is that 8 correct? 9 THE APPLICANT: Right. 10 MR. SCHRIMPF: Let me ask the License 11 Division. Does the - - Well, does the current 12 license include as part of the premises, the 13 basement area? 14 MS. BARRON: The current premises is 15 first floor and basement storage. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you. Do you 17 happen to know - - Let me ask the licensee. Do 18 you happen to know where these persons were 19 hiding? 20 THE APPLICANT: Well, the basement is 21 really big. There's like three - - three 22 different huge areas, because years ago it used 23 to be a restaurant. So there's like an old meat 24 room. They didn't specify which room. The 25 basement is huge, but - - 00011 1 MR. SCHRIMPF: What did you do with the 2 bartender who advised these individuals to go 3 down to the basement? 4 THE APPLICANT: That bartender was let 5 go immediately. Now we just have two older 6 ladies that are more experienced, and they bar 7 tend. 8 MR. SCHRIMPF: Okay. Thank you, Mr. 9 Chairman. 10 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Any other 11 questions by members of the committee? 12 ALDERMAN WADE: Oh, boy. I - - I have 13 had the opportunity to go to what appears to be 14 two different bars. I went to the M&M Lounge 15 before when they had the younger crowd and 16 visited, and I've visited since they've had - - I 17 think I may have been in there just recently, 18 maybe - - maybe less than a month ago. I went 19 inside to see exactly what was going on with them 20 in light of this coming up, and it's been a 21 drastic change. And it's - - it's been a drastic 22 change. They - - They're saying that the crowd 23 might be 35. I'm thinking maybe 45. Because it 24 was - - It was older people. I know there was - 25 - It was older people there. 00012 1 THE APPLICANT: We have a few senior 2 groups. 3 ALDERMAN WADE: Yeah, it was a lot of 4 older people there the last three - - two times 5 that I went, older people there. 6 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 7 ALDERMAN WADE: Real quiet. Not 8 crowded like it was before. Mature people behind 9 the bar. 10 THE APPLICANT: Yeah. 11 ALDERMAN WADE: So you - - I know one 12 thing. You - - I can - - I know your cash flow 13 has gone down tremendously. 14 THE APPLICANT: Yes, it has. 15 ALDERMAN WADE: With the amount of 16 people that were in the bar. 17 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 18 ALDERMAN WADE: But I think it may be 19 for the good, because of what's going on in the 20 area. You got that - - that new - - 21 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 22 ALDERMAN WADE: - - building next door 23 that's almost fully occupied. 24 THE APPLICANT: Yes. 25 ALDERMAN WADE: A lot of other things 00013 1 going on in the area, and I think it was wise on 2 your part to make that change. Even though it 3 may be slow now, I think once you get that 4 kitchen going, that your business may pick up and 5 it may be the type of clientele that will - - 6 won't have you in front of us like this. 7 THE APPLICANT: That's what we're 8 hoping. 9 ALDERMAN WADE: So I - - I want to 10 commend you for making that change and taking 11 that financial hit. 12 But I - - I do have to say to the 13 committee that I have gone in there and they have 14 done some things to change it totally. Like when 15 I was in there they was playing Bobby Blue 16 Blands, so, you know, I'm like - - I know it's 17 not too many young people want to be in there 18 listening to the Bobby Blue Bland. So you guys 19 have did a 360, and - - and I - - I think - - I'm 20 pretty sure, I'm pretty confident that you will 21 be able to continue to operate. But I would say 22 stay along the lines that you are right now. 23 THE APPLICANT: Yes, that's what we 24 plan. 25 ALDERMAN WADE: And you probably will 00014 1 not have to come in front of us the next 2 licensing period, would be my expectation, from 3 what I've seen. 4 THE APPLICANT: Okay. Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Any other 6 questions by members of the committee? Anything 7 you'd like to say in closing before we - - 8 THE APPLICANT: No. Just that we plan 9 to keep things going as they are, so that we 10 don't have to appear anymore, and we are willing 11 to work with the community and the police 12 department. We have no qualms with that. 13 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: I have a question. 14 When this - - When the open drug use was going on 15 in the bar - - 16 THE APPLICANT: Um-hnh. 17 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Were you aware of 18 it? 19 THE APPLICANT: No. And that was the 20 main meeting with the - - with Captain Harpol was 21 for, is that like I told him, we don't - - we 22 don't check their pockets. But the suggestion 23 was made that to change the music, you would get 24 a different crowd. And that's what we did, and 25 it's working. 00015 1 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: How much time do 2 you spend there? 3 THE APPLICANT: I'm there at night, but 4 I also have a daytime job. So we've hired a - - 5 a manager to run the daily business, daily 6 operations, because that was one of the things 7 that the police said that we needed to do. So 8 we've done that, also. 9 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: It sounds to me 10 like - - I don't know - - I don't know how this 11 stuff could be going on in your place and you 12 didn't know about it. 13 THE APPLICANT: I mean, well - - I 14 mean, I'm sure that the people come in with stuff 15 in their pockets, I mean, that in a crowd like - 16 - 17 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: And - - And I know 18 that. But this was - - This was like - - It was 19 like open season here, that people could just 20 come in and smoke marijuana in your place. You 21 must have known about it. 22 THE APPLICANT: No, we - - We don't 23 allow and we don't condone that. And in the 24 meeting we also discussed the - - the sale of the 25 cigar things, and that's why we don't sell those 00016 1 cigar - - those filtered cigars anymore, because 2 they were - - the police said they were finding 3 out that those wrappings on the floor with the 4 tobacco out, so that's why we don't sell those 5 anymore, either. 6 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Well, there's 7 something I'm missing here, and I'm not getting 8 to the bottom of it, and I don't know if you're 9 being perfectly honest with me, but I don't want 10 to beat this horse anymore. So this matter is in 11 committee. 12 ALDERMAN WADE: Mr. Chair. 13 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Alderman Wade. 14 ALDERMAN WADE: I would like to 15 recommend a renewal with a ten day suspension, 16 based on stuff in the police report and based on 17 my personal observation of what's going on at 18 that restaurant. 19 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Motion by Alderman 20 Wade is to recommend renewal of this license with 21 a ten day suspension, based on items contained in 22 the police report. And Alderman Puente moves to 23 make the entire police report part of the 24 permanent record in this hearing, and hearing no 25 objections, so ordered. And now, Alderman Wade 00017 1 moves to recommend the renewal of this license 2 with a ten day suspension, based on items 3 contained in the police report. Is there any 4 discussion on that motion? 5 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Mr. Chairman. 6 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Alderman Dudzik. 7 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: I won't be able to 8 support a - - such a minimal suspension. The 9 young lady's had four, I believe, it's four 10 warning letters already. So she had to have a 11 clue that something was going on at her - - at 12 her bar, and I'm - - I'm confident that this 13 committee has been far - - has been quite lenient 14 in the past. She's had at least five incidents 15 in just the last year, and they basically give 16 her just another slap on the - - on the wrist. 17 And I can appreciate Alderman Wade's position, 18 that she's turned her - - her business around 180 19 degrees, and I'm - - I'm sure within a week she 20 could do it again, which would put us right back 21 to where we are, where we were earlier this year, 22 with this particular location. 23 So I - - I can't support that 24 recommendation, just based on the police report 25 alone. Thank you. 00018 1 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: We'll take a roll 2 call on the motion. 3 CLERK ELMER: Alderman Bohl? 4 ALDERMAN BOHL: No. 5 CLERK ELMER: Alderman Puente? 6 ALDERMAN PUENTE: No. 7 CLERK ELMER: Alderman Wade? 8 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 9 CLERK ELMER: Alderman Dudzik? 10 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: No. 11 CLERK ELMER: Mr. Chair. 12 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: No. 13 CLERK ELMER: Motion failed. One to 14 four. 15 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Matter is still in 16 committee. 17 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Mr. Chair. 18 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Alderman Dudzik. 19 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: I would be willing to 20 make a motion at this point in time, based upon 21 the police report that this license be granted 22 with a 30 day suspension. I still consider that 23 fairly lenient, given the number and the severity 24 of the police activity at this particular 25 location. I think it's, as Alderman Wade 00019 1 indicated, something that she could turn around 2 relatively easily, and I fear that giving her 3 anything less than a 30 day suspension would, in 4 fact, just lead her down the path of - - of 5 turning it around and - - and going back to the 6 money-making ways that she's had in the past, 7 which would only continue the problems that there 8 were at this location. 9 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Motion by Alderman 10 Dudzik is to recommend approval of the renewal of 11 this license with a 30 day suspension, based on 12 items contained in the police report. Is there 13 any discussion on that motion? Are there any 14 objections to that motion? 15 ALDERMAN WADE: I'll object, Mr. Chair. 16 CHAIRMAN WITKOWIAK: Hearing one 17 objection, the motion carries on a vote of four 18 to one. 19 MR. SCHRIMPF: Ms. DePriest, the 20 committee is going to be doing findings of fact 21 and conclusions of law, recommending renewal of 22 your license with a 30 day suspension. You will 23 receive a copy of that report, and you will have 24 an opportunity to submit written objections to 25 that report, which must be submitted to the 00020 1 second floor office of the City Clerk on or 2 before 4:45 p.m. February 22nd, 2007. If you 3 submit such written objections, then you will 4 also have an opportunity to appear before the 5 Milwaukee Common Council when it meets on this 6 matter on February 27th, 2007 at approximately 7 nine a.m. in the Common Council Chambers of this 8 building. It's the same floor, but the opposite 9 end. 10 THE APPLICANT: Okay. 11 MR. SCHRIMPF: All right. Thank you. 12 VICE-CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Ms. 13 Depriest. 14 * * * * * 15 00021 1 2 STATE OF WISCONSIN ) 3 ) 4 MILWAUKEE COUNTY ) 5 6 I, JEAN M. BARINA, of Milwaukee Reporters 7 Associated, Inc., 5124 West Blue Mound Road, 8 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208, certify that the foregoing 9 proceedings is a complete transcript of the M&M Lounge 10 that came before the Licenses Committee Hearing held 11 February 13, 2007. 12 13 14 15 16 17 JEAN M. BARINA 18 Court Reporter 19 20 21 Dated this day of April 2007. 22