00001 1 2 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 3 LICENSES COMMITTEE 4 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 5 In the Matter of the REVOCATION of the Class "B" Tavern 6 and Tavern Dance, Amusement Machine Premise, Billiard Hall, Cigarette and Tobacco, Pool Table and 7 Phonograph/Jukebox Premise Licenses for: 8 VICKEY MENDEZ "LAST CHANCE" 9 3235 West Scott Street 10 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 11 COMMITTEE MEMBERS 12 ALD. JAMES BOHL - Chair ALD. MILELE COGGS, - Vice-Chairman 13 ALD. ASHANTI HAMILTON 14 LICENSING DIVISION by REBECCA GRILL POLICE DEPARTMENT by SEARGENT CHET ULICKEY 15 OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY by ATTORNEY THOMAS MILLER 16 17 Proceedings had and testimony given in 18 the above-entitled matter, before the LICENSES 19 COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, on 20 the 3rd day of September, 2008. 21 22 * * * * * 00002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Revocation of the Class 3 "B" Tavern, Tavern Dance, Amusement Machine 4 Premise, Billiard Hall, Cigarette and Tobacco, 5 Pool Table and Phonograph/Jukebox Premise 6 licenses of Vickey Mendez for the "Last Chance" 7 at 3235 West Scott Street. Is Vickey Mendez 8 present? Come forward, please. 9 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman, for the 10 item number two on the agenda, as I was reviewing 11 some of the documents in this matter, I 12 discovered that some of the potential witnesses 13 in this matter are old and dear friends of mine, 14 stretching back to my enlisted days in the U.S. 15 Army, which gives you an idea of just how long 16 and how old. And as a result of that, Mr. Miller 17 will be taking over for me, and I appreciate 18 that, and good luck to the committee. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. I will just 20 say here for the record, on this motion relating 21 to revocation, that we have considerable number 22 of - - of documents here, approximately two 23 hundred documents that are part of this record. 24 And the - - the issue is - - is that this item 25 was last heard and a renewal was issued on, do we 00003 1 have a date, Mr. Miller? Ms. Grill is not here. 2 MR. MILLER: My review of the complaint 3 indicated that the license was renewed with a 4 warning letter on February 5, 2008. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: February - - February 6 5th of 2008. 7 MR. MILLER: Yeah. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. What - - What 9 I'm going to have to state in advance is that 10 there is substantial documentation which precedes 11 that particular date that is part of the 12 complaint. This body cannot consider materials 13 that precede that date. That is - - That would 14 be the equivalent of providing double jeopardy, 15 and that is something that we cannot legally do. 16 So whatever documentation, whatever testimony is 17 provided must relate to items that have not 18 previously been - - been utilized where the 19 individual entity has received a renewal. It 20 must be after that particular date. There may be 21 a couple of items that were before, that preceded 22 a short time before that were not brought forward 23 before the committee. There's always times where 24 there are items that occurred perhaps weeks 25 before but were not on a police report. If those 00004 1 items were standardly not noticed or considered, 2 there could be a few items that preceded that 3 February 5th date that may be brought forward. 4 But we'll wait and see as to whether or not that 5 was considered if and when such evidence is 6 presented. That being said here, the - - the 7 police department is the complainant here. I'm 8 going to guess here that, Captain Gaglione, that 9 you are serving instead of the - - the Chief of 10 Police here in this. Do you want to just take a 11 seat here, as well, too, and we'll - - we'll at 12 least move forward here, and let me - - let me 13 ask the applicant, is - - is Vickey Mendez, 14 counsel, you - - she is represented here. If you 15 want to, for your - - for your applicant's - - or 16 for your - - your client's sake, state your 17 appearance here for the record, please. 18 MR. ALEMAN: Good afternoon, Mr. 19 Chairman, members of the committee. Ms. Mendez 20 appears in person and by Attorney Narciso Aleman. 21 And, also present is Mr. Mendez, as well as a 22 significant numbers of the neighbors that wanted 23 to come and speak before this committee this 24 evening. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Aleman. 00005 1 MR. MILLER: Counsel, could you just 2 spell your name for the record? 3 MR. ALEMAN: It's N-A-R-C-I-S-O, and 4 the last name is A-L-E-M-A-N. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Aleman. 6 Okay. The - - For the - - the edification of the 7 members, a revocation does not proceed entirely 8 like a standard renewal license. In a standard 9 renewal we allow for great latitude based on 10 items contained within a notice, such as a 11 neighborhood objection. If a neighborhood 12 objection lists generically items, individuals 13 can come and testify to that. The - - In a 14 revocation the burden is on those who are seeking 15 to revoke a license, and it also has a higher 16 stipulation of there must be listed specifically 17 within the complaint, items that are testified 18 to. You don't have latitude, if something is not 19 specifically in the complaint. You can't bring 20 up items that are not listed there, the, oh, yes, 21 I remembered and/or we missed that or this 22 occurred, subsequent to our making the complaint. 23 So it must be items that are directly within the 24 complaint and ultimately it also should comb the 25 - - the issue of the, theoretically items that 00006 1 were not tried before. So again, items that 2 would be roughly from around the last renewal on 3 February 5th or shortly before through items that 4 are listed in this particular complaint. Are 5 there - - Is there an understanding of the ground 6 rules that we have here? Okay. With that, 7 because unlike a standard hearing the burden 8 should fall on the complainant, the police 9 department here now serving as the complainant, 10 I'm going to ask you to identify yourself here 11 for the record, Captain, and we'll - - you can 12 proceed to make whatever case you so decide here 13 at this point or before with your case - - or 14 your petition for - - for revocation, based on 15 whatever evidence you seek to provide in terms of 16 additional testimony. 17 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Thank you, sir. My 18 name is Captain Donald Gaglione. Last name is 19 spelled G-A-G-L-I-O-N-E. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You know what? I'm 21 sorry. I am remiss in one other thing. What I 22 will need from all individuals, Alderman - - 23 Alderman Donovan, you are already sworn in yet 24 today. Including the two applicants, any other 25 neighbors, Captain, you yourself, and any - - any 00007 1 officers or others who are here to provide 2 testimony, we will need to swear you in. So if 3 you could all raise your right hand. As I said, 4 Alderman Donovan, you are already under oath here 5 from earlier today. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If you intend to 7 provide testimony, we'll need - - we'll need 8 individuals to raise their right hand. Thank 9 you. Please, swear them in. As the applicants, 10 you would need to, as well, too. 11 (Whereupon those present were sworn.) 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. We'll need 13 - - We'll need your - - your name and your 14 position here in the City for the - - for the 15 record here, Captain. 16 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Donald Gaglione, G- 17 A-G-L-I-O-N-E. Captain of Police, and I'm the 18 District Commander for District No. 6. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Captain. We 20 will - - Captain, we'll - - At this point what I 21 just will say is that we have a number of 22 materials. Mr. Aleman - - Mr. Aleman, you should 23 have received copies of these documents, as well, 24 too, as part of the complaint that would have 25 been forwarded to you. I'm going to at this 00008 1 point entertain a motion to - - to make these 2 documents part of the official record in this 3 proceeding. 4 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: So moved. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Motion by Alderman 6 Hamilton is to admit all of the documents that 7 are - - that were provided in the file for this 8 particular item. They encompass a number of 9 police reports, CAD reports, summons, MPD 10 submitted revocation papers, previous license 11 police reports, notices to neighbors, and other 12 assorted documents, including a letter from the 13 applicant herself, and Alderman Hamilton will 14 move to make all of these items part of our 15 official record in this proceeding, and hearing 16 no objections to that, so ordered. Please 17 proceed. 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Thank you, sir. On 19 behalf of the Milwaukee Police Department I am 20 here to request a revocation of the license for 21 the Last Chance tavern located at 3235 West Scott 22 Street in the City of Milwaukee, State of 23 Wisconsin. And we charge that the licensee, 24 Vickey Men - - Mendez, is a holder of a Class "B" 25 Tavern, Tavern Dance, Amusement Machine Premise, 00009 1 Billiard Hall, Cigarette and Tobacco, Pool Table, 2 and Phonograph/Jukebox Premise licenses for the 3 premises known as the Last Chance tavern located 4 at 3235 West Scott Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 5 Upon information, we believe this premise has a 6 posted occupancy of 80 persons. 7 Paragraph two of the complaint. The 8 Last Chance tavern is the scene of chronic 9 nuisance activities such as shootings, delivery 10 of controlled substances, possession of 11 controlled substances, and fights among patrons 12 at the tavern. The Last Chance tavern has also 13 had a substantially adverse effect upon the 14 surrounding neighborhood due to loud music coming 15 from the tavern. This activity has led in part 16 to the Common Council reviewing the Class "B" 17 Tavern, Tavern Dance, Amusement Machine Premise, 18 Billiard Hall, Cigarette and Tobacco, Pool Table 19 and Phonograph/Jukebox Premise licenses of the 20 Last Chance with a warning letter on February 21 5th, 2008 that required that the licensee, Vickey 22 Mendez, to ensure that the incidents addressed 23 did not reoccur. 24 Paragraph three, that according to a 25 Milwaukee Police Department license premise 00010 1 report dated April 18th, 2008, Milwaukee police 2 officers were dispatched to complaints of loud 3 music at the Last Chance tavern, 3235 West Scott 4 Street. Officers could hear music approximately 5 one block away from the tavern, and they spoke to 6 the licensee, Vickey Mendez. Mendez stated that 7 the music was not loud, despite being told the 8 music level was unacceptable by the police 9 officers, and she was advised to keep the music 10 level down so it did not disturb the 11 neighborhood. Officers were again dispatched to 12 the location for another loud music complaint 13 approximately an hour later the same night. 14 Officers could hear music from over 50 feet again 15 as they approached the Last Chance tavern. 16 Officers, again, spoke to the licensee, Vickey 17 Mendez, and she was cited for noise, nuisance, 18 for sound level measurements are not practical. 19 We have with us today, a citizen who resides from 20 across the street, Valdemar Gonzalez, who states 21 - - stated to me that he is the caller regarding 22 this incident. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll - - We'll 24 actually get into that testimony in a little bit, 25 Captain Gaglione, and they can corroborate that 00011 1 at that time. 2 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. Paragraph 3 four, according to the Milwaukee Police 4 Department incident report 081050243, Milwaukee 5 police officers conducted an undercover 6 investigation into drug sales being conducted 7 inside the Last Chance tavern, and that between 8 March 8, 2008 and March 14th, 2008 an undercover 9 Milwaukee police officer was able to purchase a 10 total of .90 grams of cocaine at the Last Chance 11 tavern from a bartender, later identified as 12 Joseph Mendez, who is the son of Vickey Mendez. 13 Undercover Milwaukee police officer purchased the 14 cocaine at the Last Chance tavern three times 15 during this time period from Joseph Mendez, while 16 he was acting as the bartender. An undercover 17 Milwaukee police officer was also able to 18 purchase an additional 12.08 grams of cocaine 19 from another bartender, later identified as 20 Santiago Valdez Gomez, on April 4th, 2008 at the 21 Last Chance tavern. Surveillance was done on the 22 tavern during the late afternoon and evening 23 hours during the months of March and April in 24 2008, and Milwaukee police officers observed 25 several known gang members entering and exiting - 00012 1 - exiting the tavern on a daily basis. The gang 2 members were identified as members of the Latin 3 Kings and the C-14 street gangs. Officers have 4 arrested Valdez Gomez for manufacturing and 5 delivery of cocaine. And they have made several 6 attempts to locate and arrest Joseph Mendez, but 7 he is still at large at this time, and he has 8 felony warrants out for him. Officers have also 9 attempted to notify Vickey Mendez about the case 10 several times, but they found the bar closed each 11 time that they - - they went to the tavern. 12 To note, I actually talked to Mr. 13 Mendez on May 12th, and at that time I advised 14 him regarding the delivery charges that took 15 place in the tavern on behalf of the Milwaukee 16 Police Department. 17 Paragraph five, that according to 18 Milwaukee Police Department incident report 19 080610153, that on March 1st, 2008 at 9:37 p.m. 20 Milwaukee police squads conducted a tavern 21 investigation at the tavern, 3235 West Scott 22 Street. Officers from the anti-gang Unit 23 received information from a confidential 24 information and information from the Intelligence 25 Division that the Last Chance tavern was known to 00013 1 have a high volume of gang members from the C-14 2 street gang conducting gang activity at the 3 tavern. During the investigation a patron, later 4 identified as Santiago Valdez Gomez, was arrested 5 for possession of cocaine, and another patron of 6 the tavern was cited for disorderly conduct after 7 he became disorderly and started to yell 8 profanities. Police officers also found 26 9 bottles of liquor that were contaminated, and one 10 bottle of Crown Royal that was refilled during 11 the investigation. 12 Paragraph six, that according to 13 Milwaukee Police Department incident report - - 14 MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Stop. 16 MR. MILLER: Just to save some time, 17 yeah, these - - that's a pre-renewal incident. 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: That's what I was 19 going to say, that's why I stopped. That's a pre 20 - - pre-February 5th, 2008. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Miller. 22 MR. MILLER: And maybe what I would 23 just say is if you jumped to paragraph eight, if 24 you could just highlight those portions that are, 25 you know - - 00014 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That are pertinent to 2 the time frame. 3 MR. MILLER: - - that haven't been 4 considered. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah. Thank you, Mr. 6 Miller. 7 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Paragraph eight, the 8 Milwaukee Police Department license premise 9 incident reports that pertain, that are after the 10 date that we have discussed is a noise nuisance 11 that occurred on July 28th of 2008. And then 12 paragraph nine on May 14th, 2008, Manuel Mendez 13 came to District No. 6 and spoke with me. He 14 stated he was - - he's the husband of Vickey 15 Mendez. He stated that on - - Well, during our 16 conversations he stated that on two occasions 17 inside the tavern he has - - he had found eight 18 individually packaged bags that he suspected to 19 be cocaine inside dollar bills on the floor of 20 the tavern, which he washed down the - - the sink 21 drain. 22 Paragraph ten, on behalf and belief the 23 complainant is aware that the Alderman of the 24 district in which the Last Chance tavern resides 25 has received frequent complaints about shootings, 00015 1 drug activity, fights, public drinking, loud 2 noise, littering, public urination and graffiti 3 about the Last Chance tavern located at 3235 West 4 Scott Street. On further information and belief 5 the Alderman has also corresponded with the 6 licensee, Vickey Mendez, of the Last Chance 7 tavern. That the license premise is operated in 8 such a manner that it constitutes a public 9 nuisance, and that the above described conduct on 10 the licensed premise has a substantially adverse 11 effect on the health, safety, convenience and 12 prosperity of the immediate neighborhood. 13 Therefore, the Chief of Police by and through 14 myself, Captain Gaglione, District No. 6, 15 respectfully requests the Class "B" Tavern, 16 Tavern Dance, Amusement Machine Premise, Billiard 17 Hall, Cigarette and Tobacco, Pool Table and 18 Phonograph/Jukebox Premise licenses of Vickey 19 Mendez for the premises known as the Last Chance 20 tavern located at 3235 West Scott Street, 21 Milwaukee, Wisconsin immediately be revoked. And 22 it's signed by me, and notarized on August 13th, 23 2008. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Captain 25 Gaglione. In terms of your opening here, I 00016 1 appreciate that. We do have, as part of this, a 2 police report. Some of it may be duplicative. 3 Some of it is not necessarily duplicative. 4 Sergeant Ulickey, I know that on our computer 5 version it's on page 459 and 460 of the program. 6 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Program. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Of the agenda, I should 8 say. 9 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I do have a paper 10 copy of that, if you'd like me to read it? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If you could, yeah, 12 please. 13 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I will get to it, 14 though, just - - 15 MR. MILLER: There are several license 16 investigation unit reports, so if you could just 17 also give the date. 18 SERGEANT ULICKEY: As indicated here, 19 item number six was previously reported. 20 Disposition was now added. And on 3/13 of '07 at 21 11:41 p.m. Milwaukee police were dispatched to a 22 fight at the Last Chance bar. Investigation - - 23 MR. ALEMAN: Objection. That was in 24 '07? 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - The - - The one 00017 1 thing that I'll ask is - - 2 MR. ALEMAN: I'm sorry. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - if this was - - 4 Because of the cut-off line, we probably want to 5 go 3/1 of - - of '08. Unless there was a 6 disposition added, and I don't know that - - 7 SERGEANT ULICKEY: That was my mistake, 8 Mr. Chairman. I started too soon. I could start 9 from number eight. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please. 11 SERGEANT ULICKEY: It could - - 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please. 13 SERGEANT ULICKEY: - - be pertinent. 14 On 3/1 of '08 at 9:37 p.m. Milwaukee police 15 conducted a tavern investigation at 3235 West 16 Scott Street. And, again, this is going to be 17 somewhat duplicative to what the Captain said. 18 The officers from the anti-gang unit received 19 information from a confidential informant that 20 the Last Chance tavern, which was known to have a 21 high volume of gang members from the C-14s, 22 conducting gang activity. The informant also 23 stated that the tavern owner's son operates the 24 tavern and is also a known gang members. 25 Officers entered the tavern, advised the 00018 1 bartender that they would be conducting a tavern 2 investigation, and the bartender stated she 3 understood. Officers were then approached by a 4 subject who identified himself as Joseph Mendez. 5 Officers requested to see the tavern licenses. 6 Investigation found a patron to be in possession 7 of cocaine. He was arrested and charged with 8 possession of cocaine. Another patron became 9 disorderly and started to yell profanities, and 10 the subject was issued a citation for disorderly 11 conduct. During the investigation police found 12 26 bottles of liquor that were contaminated, one 13 bottle of Crown Royal that was observed to be 14 refilled. 15 And number nine, the following 16 incidents were reported during an undercover 17 investigation into drug sales being conducted 18 inside the Last Chance tavern. On 3/8 of '08 at 19 6:25 p.m. an undercover Milwaukee police officer 20 was able to purchase .43 grams of cocaine from 21 the bartender at the Last Chance bar located at 22 3235 West Scott Street. The bartender was 23 identified as Joseph Mendez. This transaction 24 took place while Mendez was bartending at the 25 bar. 00019 1 On 3/12/08 at 9:15 p.m., undercover 2 Milwaukee police officer was able to purchase two 3 eight grams of cocaine from the bartender at the 4 Last Chance bar located at 3235 West Scott 5 Street. The bartender was identified as Joseph 6 Mendez, and the buy was conducted while Mendez 7 was bartending. It was learned that Mendez lives 8 in the upper residence above the bar with his 9 mother, Vickey Mendez, who is the tavern's 10 licensee. 11 On 3/14/08 at 6:25 p.m., Joseph Mendez, 12 while bartending, again, delivered .19 grams of 13 cocaine to an undercover officer who was inside 14 the Last Chance tavern. 15 On 4/4 of '08 at 7:05 p.m., a bartender 16 identified as Santiago Valdez Gomez offered to 17 sell undercover officers, eight ounces of cocaine 18 for 120 dollars and told officers to call him 19 back later to make the drug deal. This verbal 20 drug deal took place while Valdez Gomez was 21 bartending at the Last Chance tavern. At 8:40 22 p.m. Valdez Gomez instructed another subject who 23 was in the tavern to sell 1.67 grams of cocaine 24 for 120 dollars to the undercover officer. 25 It should be noted that during the 00020 1 months of March and April on several occasions 2 surveillance was done at this - - at - - of this 3 bar during the late afternoon and evening hours, 4 and officers observed on a daily basis several 5 known gang members entering and exiting the 6 tavern. Gang members were identified as members 7 from the Latin Kings and C-14s. Officers have 8 made several attempts to locate and arrest Joseph 9 Mendez, Santiago Valdez Gomez, and to notify 10 Vickey Mendez about the case, but found the bar 11 to be closed. 12 On 4/18 of '08 at 9:44 p.m., Milwaukee 13 police were dispatched to complaints of loud 14 music at 3235 West Scott Street. Officers were 15 about one block away and could hear loud music. 16 Officers found the music to be coming from the 17 Last Chance bar and spoke to the licensee, Vickey 18 Mendez. Mendez stated there was a wedding 19 reception in the back bar - - or back room and 20 that the music was not loud. Officers found the 21 level to be an unacceptable level and advised 22 Mendez that it should not - - that it does not 23 disturb her area neighbors. Mendez was 24 instructed to tell the DJ to lower the music 25 level and keep it at an acceptable level for the 00021 1 rest of the night. At 10:50 p.m. officers were 2 again dispatched to 3235 West Scott for a loud 3 music complaint. Police could hear the music 4 playing - - being played from over 50 feet away. 5 Officers spoke to Vickey Mendez, again, and cited 6 her for the noise nuisances. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant, do you have 8 - - It had a court date of 6/13. I don't know if 9 - - if you have any update on that? 10 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I do not have a 11 disposition. I will find that and let you know. 12 I apologize for that. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. No problem. 14 Mr. Aleman, you - - you've heard the complaint as 15 it was read, and the police report of items since 16 this has last - - has last appeared before us. 17 At this time I will allow you an opportunity if - 18 - if you have any questions that you want to 19 raise, in terms of items that were relayed in the 20 police report or in the complaint, and also, to 21 make any particular opening statements that you 22 so wish. 23 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, 24 members of the committee. Sergeant, were there 25 - - were there four different incidents reporting 00022 1 the presence of - - of cocaine in - - in the 2 report that you - - that you just finished 3 reading? 4 SERGEANT ULICKEY: There were four 5 different dates that I - - that I indicated 6 regarding observations that were made. I will 7 - - I will tell you that we do have an officer 8 here that was present at the time of these 9 observations. 10 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. Thank you. Does 11 your reading correspond to paragraph four of the 12 complaint that was read by Captain Gaglione? 13 SERGEANT ULICKEY: In most - - I can't 14 say that there - - it's all inclusive, my reading 15 was. Again, we have the officer here that - - 16 that was present at this time. And if I compare 17 it date for date, I couldn't tell you that at 18 this point. 19 MR. ALEMAN: My question, Sergeant, was 20 related to why do you have two different 21 quantities of cocaine in paragraph four, and yet 22 you read four of them. 23 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I believe that the 24 - - the paragraph that I read is a total. If I 25 could explain to you, the - - the information 00023 1 that I have on our report or on this report from 2 the license investigation unit is a culmination 3 of reports that were submitted and are placed on 4 a PA-33. The added totals are what I read, or 5 what the Captain has. The totals that I have 6 were separated at the different times. 7 MR. ALEMAN: Is there some reason why 8 those totals were not charged in the complaint? 9 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I believe they were 10 in totality. There's - - There's a mention of 11 .90 grams, and there's another mention of 12.8 12 grams. 13 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 14 SERGEANT ULICKEY: In paragraph four. 15 MR. ALEMAN: And you also cited a 1.6 16 and a .19. 17 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Again, these were on 18 the PA-33. There is substantially more 19 information on the police department offense 20 report. I - - I don't have something to add this 21 up right now, what this would all come to. 22 MR. ALEMAN: I see. Now, you made 23 reference to a Mr. Santiago. Is that right? No, 24 Valdez Gomez. Santiago Valdez Gomez. Is that 25 right? 00024 1 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Yes. 2 MR. ALEMAN: And was Mr. Santiago 3 Valdez Gomez an employee of - - of the Last 4 chance? 5 SERGEANT ULICKEY: The information that 6 I have from the reports from the officers 7 indicates that he was tending bar. 8 MR. ALEMAN: So he was an employee. 9 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Well, that's 10 subjective. 11 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. How much cocaine 12 did Mr. Valdez Gomez have when he was arrested, 13 if you know? 14 SERGEANT ULICKEY: That information, 15 what he had on his person, that I couldn't 16 answer. 17 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. 18 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Well, again, keep in 19 mind that - - that the information that I have is 20 not a total picture of the arrest as portrayed by 21 the Milwaukee police offense report. 22 MR. ALEMAN: What - - What was Mr. 23 Valdez Gomez charged with? 24 SERGEANT ULICKEY: That information I 25 do not have, as far as the exact charges. I 00025 1 don't know that that was part of my information 2 that I received. 3 MR. ALEMAN: Do you know - - 4 SERGEANT ULICKEY: The Captain may have 5 the answer to that. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Captain - - Captain 7 Gaglione, do you have an answer to that? 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Sure. On the PA-33, 9 Mr. Valdez Gomez on the incident that occurred on 10 March 1st, 2008, he was charged with possession 11 of controlled substance, cocaine. And on the 12 other PA-33 that was filed by Officer Bohlen on 13 April 25th from the incidents that occurred over 14 that time frame which I referenced, Santiago 15 Valdez Gomez was charged with Statute 96141(1)cm, 16 which is delivery of controlled substance, 17 cocaine. 18 MR. ALEMAN: On the March 1st, 2008 19 incident how much cocaine did he have? 20 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: According to the PA- 21 33 on that date the total weight of the cocaine 22 that was recovered that was placed on inventory 23 number 389259 was .02 grams. 24 MR. ALEMAN: Point? 25 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: .02 grams, which 00026 1 tested positive for cocaine. 2 MR. ALEMAN: And on the incident on the 3 25th of April. 4 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The PA-33 was 5 actually filed on the 25th of April after the 6 undercover investigation took place. The PA-33 7 report states the following, that on April 4th at 8 7:05 p.m. bartender positively identified as 9 Santiago Valdez Gomez, date of birth, 11/9 of 10 '76, offered to sell to the undercover police 11 officer, an eighth of an ounce of cocaine for 120 12 dollars, and told the officer to call him back 13 later to make the deal. Note that this verbal 14 drug deal was done when Valdez Gomez was 15 bartending at the Last Chance tavern. Later, at 16 8:40 p.m. Valdez Gomez, exited the Last Chance 17 bar and instructed another subject, later 18 identified as Jorge Sandoval Rodriguez, to sell 19 the undercover officer the quantity of cocaine, 20 the PA-33 says 1.67 grams for 120 dollars. 21 MR. ALEMAN: 1.0? 22 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The PA-33 is - - 23 MR. MILLER: I mean, the document does 24 speak for itself. It's 1.67 is what's listed in 25 the PA-33. 00027 1 MR. ALEMAN: 1.67. 2 MR. MILLER: 1.67 grams. 3 MR. ALEMAN: Do you know what the 4 disposition of the charges against Mr. Gomez 5 were? 6 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Officer Bohlen was 7 one of the investigating officers, has a 8 disposition for that, if I can call him to - - 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sure, that's fine. 10 We'll have to have you use the microphone here. 11 THE WITNESS: Case was dismissed on one 12 - - 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And, Officer, you'll 14 have to identify yourself for the record, and you 15 can just list the - - the district or the 16 division that you're in without - - We don't need 17 an address from you, but you will need - - We'll 18 need your name, please? 19 THE WITNESS: Todd Bohlen, B-O-H-L-E-N, 20 assigned to Neighborhood Task Force. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Thank you. 22 Please. 23 THE WITNESS: Mr. Gomez, the case was 24 dismissed in court, and he was deported by 25 Immigration. 00028 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: He was - - 2 THE WITNESS: Deported. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - deported? 4 THE WITNESS: Yes. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you know if there - 6 - if - - if the dismissal came as part of a plea 7 agreement in terms of the deportation and - - 8 THE WITNESS: Yes, I believe so. 9 MR. MILLER: I'm going to have to take 10 judicial notice of a CCAP print-out, just - - 11 just to complete the record. The - - The CCAP 12 indicates, which is the court record of 13 events - - 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Miller, if you 15 could pull forward. 16 MR. MILLER: Oh, I'm sorry. The CCAP 17 report on the disposition of the charges 18 indicates that on August 25th the case was 19 dismissed. The defendant was not in court. He 20 was in custody. The - - The INS had made the 21 decision to deport the defendant upon resolution 22 of the - - the case, and so, therefore, on motion 23 of the Assistant District Attorney, the case was 24 dismissed. There wasn't - - It wasn't heard on 25 the merits. 00029 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, that's - - and 2 that's why I raised the issue, at times you find 3 sort of a - - a deal. You either stay and go to 4 prison, we try you and you go to prison, 5 essentially if we got you dead to rights. Or you 6 agree to go back, and don't come back, and that 7 sketch kind of thing. 8 MR. MILLER: I - - I don't think you 9 want to make any inference about - - 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, I - - I was just 11 saying that - - 12 MR. MILLER: I understand, but on the - 13 - about the defendant's agreement or anything. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - I will tell you 15 probably what I anticipate, at least, is - - is 16 as being dangled out there by prosecution. And I 17 don't think that we are foolish to make that 18 inference. I'm not saying that - - that there 19 was any admission of guilt because obviously 20 there was a non-guilty finding. But I - - I'm - 21 - What I'm going to say is that ultimately it's - 22 - I'm going to leave for my reasonableness as to 23 how sometimes these things go down. Okay. 24 Officer, is there anything else that you wanted 25 to add then? 00030 1 THE WITNESS: No. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Mr. Aleman, the 3 floor is still yours here, if you have other 4 questions. 5 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. So ultimately the 6 investigation and the arrests and the detentions 7 of, at least, Mr. Valdez Gomez was dismissed. Is 8 that right, Captain? 9 MR. MILLER: That's - - That's really, 10 that's asked and answered. We have the evidence 11 in the record. I - - I think that's misleading. 12 MR. ALEMAN: What is - - What is 13 misleading? 14 MR. MILLER: I just want - - I just 15 want to clarify for the record. 16 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. And I'm also trying 17 to clarify for the record, Counsel, that an 18 allegation is being made against the Mendez', 19 that they both possess, they traded in drugs, 20 they had drugs, and the people who were arrested 21 that had the drugs and the case was dismissed. 22 It's - - It's misleading, Counsel, to leave on 23 the table that - - that the Mendez family were 24 involved in the drug traffic, and that's the 25 reason, and that's the reason or one of the 00031 1 reasons that's being considered to - - to remove 2 their license. 3 MR. MILLER: Just to clear for the 4 record, the allegations, if you read the sworn 5 complaint, the allegations are that undercover 6 officers purchased cocaine from a bartender, who 7 is the son of the licensee, on three occasions. 8 That a second bartender employed by the licensee 9 arranged a deal at the bar. The sale may have 10 occurred right outside, but if you take the - - 11 the sworn - - the allegations in the complaint, 12 that's what we're talking about. So your 13 statement is argument, but I want to clear the 14 record. 15 MR. ALEMAN: And - - And I, too, want 16 to - - want to clear the record, that those were 17 allegations. The only - - The only conclusion 18 that we have is on Mr. Valdez Gomez. We don't 19 know what the conclusion may be regarding Mr. 20 Mendez, because he has not been found, he has not 21 been arrested. So we don't have that as evidence 22 before us, other than the statements, you know, 23 by police officers. If you're saying that the 24 statement of one party is - - is valid and 25 sufficient to be considered, then certainly the 00032 1 statement or non-statement of other parties can 2 also be considered, unless you're saying that 3 police officers have some degree, some degree of 4 credibility above and beyond what can be 5 substantiated in court. And - - And in the case 6 of Valdez Gomez, that was not substantiated in 7 court. That was dismissed. 8 MR. MILLER: Well, that's argument. I 9 won't get in for a tit for tat here, but the 10 record should reflect that there was no hearing 11 on the merits on Valdez Gomez' charges. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's fine. That's - 13 - It's - - It's Mr. Aleman's job to raise 14 reasonable questions, and he's attempting to do 15 that, so. Mr. Aleman, the floor is still yours 16 here. 17 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. Mr. Chairman, 18 members of the committee, what - - what I would 19 do at this point is defer to Mrs. Mendez, because 20 she has done an extensive reference to the 21 complaints that have been made against the tavern 22 and against her family. And the only thing that 23 I would ask for her is to keep her comments to 24 the timeline that the Chair has decided. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And, Mr. Aleman, what I 00033 1 - - what I want to just relay at this point is I 2 want to provide you an opening to address the - - 3 the issues of the complaint here initially. And 4 to raise any questions with regard to the police 5 report as it was read into the record here by - - 6 by Sergeant Ulickey. What - - What we will do in 7 terms of the course of - - of this hearing is I 8 want to hear any additional testimony from 9 opposition first. Certainly, with - - with any 10 testimony that's provided, you - - you will be 11 able to raise questions to that testimony. At 12 that point I will hear from Ms. Mendez and any 13 others as to what testimony she has to provide, 14 any additional supporters that you have here 15 before us, and then, allow for a closing on - - 16 on both sides here. So what I - - If - - If you 17 are finished with raising questions about the 18 complaint and the police report and/or have 19 provided any other sufficient opening, I do want 20 to provide additional - - hear from additional 21 testimony of those in support of the complaint. 22 MR. ALEMAN: That would be fine, sir. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Thank you. At 24 this point, Captain Gaglione, I don't know if you 25 have additional officers that you want to come 00034 1 forward and provide statements as to what they 2 individually have witnessed at this particular 3 location. We can take that - - take that 4 testimony right now. I imagine that there are a 5 couple of other neighbors that we may be able to 6 hear from, as well, too. But I just want to 7 provide that opportunity for you to - - to call 8 forward any officers that you so wish here at 9 this point. 10 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: The officers' 11 statements will reflect about basically what I 12 stated in the complaint, in my opening complaint. 13 I would save them for the attorney for the Last 14 Chance for any questions for them regarding the 15 complaint. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Well, what - - 17 what I will just - - what I'm - - what I'm just 18 going to say here then is that the - - He may not 19 raise any questions. He may say that, you know, 20 we - - we don't have a factual basis of - - of a 21 guilty adjudication, at least, in the case of one 22 of the individuals here, I'm raising questions. 23 He may not have specific questions. So, I mean, 24 if there's anything else in terms of 25 investigation that you want to have individuals 00035 1 testify to that they themselves personally 2 witnessed, I - - I - - We do have the 3 documentation, but I do want to hear from 4 individual officers if they, themselves, have 5 additional testimony or specific testimony beyond 6 what is in - - what is in the reported documents 7 that you keep. 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I have Officer 9 Bohlen, that's my first, regarding the undercover 10 investigation, his knowledge regarding the gang 11 members that he is aware of that frequent the 12 tavern, and information that he's received from a 13 confidential informant. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Officer Bohlen. 15 THE WITNESS: Yes. During that month 16 of March I conducted quite a few hours of 17 surveillance of that tavern. A confidential 18 informant told me that a Latin King gang member, 19 known as Gotto, who is Mr. Joseph Mendez, was a 20 bartender there, lived upstairs with his parents, 21 was selling quantities of cocaine from the bar 22 from behind the bar. That's what started off the 23 whole investigation. At the time I was assigned 24 to the gang squad, plain clothes. So that became 25 my investigation, being I worked on the south 00036 1 side. So the investigation, an informant then - 2 that introduced an undercover officer to Mr. 3 Mendez, and the buying of drugs ensued. I passed 4 along information to other officers, then, 5 regarding activities at the bar and how they were 6 done. And that's where the investigation had 7 gone, pretty much had started and gone to. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Questions by 9 committee? Mr. Aleman, any - - any questions you 10 have of - - 11 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - this officer? 13 MR. ALEMAN: And this undercover 14 informant, was he a member of the gang? 15 THE WITNESS: A member of a gang, yes. 16 MR. ALEMAN: Which gang was that? 17 THE WITNESS: I'd rather not say for 18 the informant's safety. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Miller? 20 MR. MILLER: Yeah, I think testimony 21 about the statements that were made by - - or 22 alleged to be made by a confidential informant 23 have to be treated like hearsay. And I would - - 24 I would say that is different than statements 25 that appear in the reports that are attributed to 00037 1 Joseph Mendez, the licensee's son. He is an 2 employee. That's an admission of a party 3 opponent agent, as well as - - And concerning 4 statements that he made in the reports that are 5 before you about his - - this - - activities 6 undertaken in his scope of work. I would add 7 that you can consider the statements that are 8 attributed to Joseph Mendez in the police reports 9 as an exception to hearsay. I think it is 10 reasonable to conclude that Joseph Mendez is 11 unavailable, that this is a person - - the 12 testimony is by the police department is that 13 arrest warrants are outstanding. So I would say 14 that he is - - he is an unavailable declarant. 15 And in that case, you can use the statements made 16 by him that are statements against interest, 17 statements that would tend to expose, that a 18 reasonable person would believe would expose him 19 to civil or criminal liability. That's an 20 exception to the hearsay rule, and I would say 21 that it would also be reasonable to apply that 22 same hearsay exception to statements by - - that 23 are attributed to Mr. Sandoval Guzman, given that 24 he also is unavailable, given that court records 25 show that he is - - is either in custody of the 00038 1 INS or - - or has been deported. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. And - - And I 3 will rule at this point here to - - to strike 4 testimony that was provided here by Officer 5 Bohlen related to the allegations of an informant 6 specifically. And we'll - - we'll go forward on 7 - - on other things that were taken as part of 8 the investigation, follow-up investigation, the 9 allegation of - - of the specific testimony about 10 gang-related activities based on an allegation of 11 another drug member should be stricken from - - 12 from the record here. And for members here, that 13 will not be part of the record. 14 MR. ALEMAN: For - - 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Aleman. 16 MR. ALEMAN: For the record, Mr. 17 Chairman, I would object to the interpretation of 18 the exception of a hearsay evidence rule 19 regarding Mr. Mendez or regarding Mr. Guzman. 20 If, Mr. Chairman, if Mr. Mendez were present, if 21 he - - if he were arrested, he could exclude 22 whatever statement he made if he had not been 23 advised of his Miranda Rights. That would be for 24 a court to decide for the trier of fact. Not for 25 this committee and not for the police department. 00039 1 The police department can do whatever they want, 2 as long as at some point it is subject to a court 3 of law deciding whether or not statements made by 4 individuals accused of having violated the law 5 are taken into consideration. And what 6 interpretation is being presented to this 7 committee goes beyond what the law is, unless - - 8 unless what we have here is a Star Chamber and 9 that is then that anybody can say anything 10 against anybody, as long as they don't defend 11 themselves, and that, Mr. Chairman, I would 12 object to. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Mr. Aleman, your 14 - - your objection will be duly noted, and at 15 this point I will just go based on the advice 16 that is being provided to the committee by the 17 City Attorney's office here and - - and render 18 that - - that the committee can consider that 19 particular evidence here. But your - - your 20 objection will be duly noted for the record. 21 Officer Bohlen, did - - Mr. Aleman, any 22 additional questions you want to raise regarding 23 testimony provided by Officer Bohlen? 24 MR. ALEMAN: Yeah. You stated that Mr. 25 Joseph Mendez was a member of which gang? 00040 1 THE WITNESS: The Latin Kings. 2 MR. ALEMAN: And what as his rank? 3 THE WITNESS: Just a street soldier. 4 MR. ALEMAN: And your informant was 5 what rank? 6 THE WITNESS: A street soldier, also. 7 MR. ALEMAN: And what is the 8 relationship between the Latin Kings and the C- 9 14s? 10 THE WITNESS: They're a friendly gang. 11 They - - They get along at this time. 12 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. And did you have 13 personal contact with Mr. Joseph Mendez? 14 THE WITNESS: No, I did not, other than 15 surveillance and seeing him, no. Verbal contact, 16 no. 17 MR. ALEMAN: Did any of the officers 18 have contact with Mr. Joseph Mendez? 19 THE WITNESS: Yes, the undercover 20 officer who purchased the drugs from him. 21 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. And who was that? 22 THE WITNESS: I'd rather not say his 23 name, if you - - 24 MR. MILLER: Maybe - - Maybe we can 25 back up. Officer Bohlen, can you describe your 00041 1 personal knowledge from - - do you have - - Did 2 you observe any of the - - Did you observe any of 3 the drug transactions, any of the three drug 4 transactions involving Joseph Mendez? 5 THE WITNESS: I observed the officer 6 walking into the bar, the undercover officer 7 walking into the bar. 8 MR. MILLER: Okay. Can you state - - I 9 don't need to take it step by step here, but then 10 I guess, what is your basis for your conclusion 11 that he purchased the cocaine from Joseph Mendez? 12 THE WITNESS: Based on his statement to 13 me, and from reading the police reports, that he 14 had purchased the drugs from him. And he 15 identified Mr. Mendez through a photo that I - - 16 a picture - - colored picture that I had shown 17 him, booking photo. 18 MR. MILLER: Okay. So you reviewed - - 19 you reviewed police reports. 20 THE WITNESS: Yes. 21 MR. MILLER: In an investigation in 22 which you were a part of? 23 THE WITNESS: Yes. 24 MR. MILLER: And were those reports 25 made in the regular course of conduct? 00042 1 THE WITNESS: Yes. 2 MR. MILLER: And did those reports 3 describe activity that were - - activities that 4 were undertaken by members of the Milwaukee 5 Police Department pursuant to their law 6 enforcement duties? 7 THE WITNESS: Yes. 8 MR. MILLER: I guess I would ask the 9 same of the Captain. Did you do that same review 10 and can you answer those same questions 11 affirmatively for the PA-33s and the incident 12 reports that were provided to the License 13 Committee? 14 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Based on review of 15 the reports and after review of the reports - - 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Captain, when - - when 17 you answer that, you're going to have to - - 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Sorry, sir. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - swing that around. 20 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: My testimony is 21 based on review of the reports filed in a normal 22 course of action of the Milwaukee Police 23 Department. 24 MR. MILLER: I'm just trying to create 25 a full record - - 00043 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I understand. 2 MR. MILLER: - - here for the 3 committee. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I understand. And - - 5 And I perceive what Mr. Aleman is doing. 6 THE WITNESS: To clarify, I could say 7 the undercover officer's name to answer his 8 question. Police Officer Rudy Ayala. Rudolph 9 Ayala. 10 MR. MILLER: Okay. 11 MR. ALEMAN: Was Mr. Ayala posing as a 12 member of the gang? 13 THE WITNESS: No, he was not. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Did he ask for the - - for 15 the drugs? 16 THE WITNESS: Initially, the initial 17 time in, he went with my informant and was 18 introduced to Mr. Mendez. 19 MR. ALEMAN: Did - - Did you see this? 20 THE WITNESS: No, I did not. 21 MR. ALEMAN: So what you just finished 22 telling us is based on what? 23 THE WITNESS: Based on information that 24 Officer Ayala told me. 25 MR. ALEMAN: Is Mr. Ayala available for 00044 1 testifying before this committee? 2 THE WITNESS: I don't - - I don't know. 3 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman, I - - I ask 4 that - - 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, we can ask that 6 perhaps - - Captain Gaglione - - Captain 7 Gaglione, do you - - 8 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: He's not here - - 9 He's not here today, sir. 10 MR. MILLER: Has his report been provi 11 - - Has his incident report been provided to the 12 committee? 13 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. It's part 14 of the 248 pages that Alderman Bohl referenced 15 earlier. It's incident report number 081050243. 16 MR. MILLER: Is that the incident 17 report that you identified in your complaint? 18 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. 19 MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, do you want me 20 to locate that here? 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. 22 MR. MILLER: Okay. 23 MR. ALEMAN: Was that information 24 provided to us? 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That information should 00045 1 have been sent to you as part of the complaint, 2 the sworn complaint. 3 MR. ALEMAN: What I received is a sworn 4 complaint, just for the record, Mr. Chairman, is 5 two, three, four, five - - a six page sworn 6 charges by Chief of Police for revocation of 7 license, signed by Captain Donald Gaglione, and 8 notarized. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant, did - - I'm 10 assuming that the accompanying police documents 11 that were made part of our record should have 12 been sent as part of the - - as part of the 13 notice. Is that - - 14 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Yes, and I 15 personally delivered that - - the documents that 16 you're referencing to Mr. Mendez, and I believe 17 Ms. Mendez may have those documents in front of 18 her. 19 THE APPLICANT: This is what I got from 20 the - - the chairman - - that I got from you? 21 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Yes, ma'am, that 22 packet is a packet I delivered to your - - to 23 your home. 24 MR. ALEMAN: All right. 25 MR. MILLER: Just for the record, the 00046 1 report, the incident report is located on page 2 463 of your E-book. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant, do you - - do 4 you have a date on which that was delivered to 5 the applicant? 6 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Yes, that was served 7 on Tuesday, August 26th at 11:30 a.m. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 9 MR. MILLER: Is the Sergeant referring 10 to an Affidavit of Service? 11 SERGEANT ULICKEY: That is correct. 12 MR. MILLER: Did you sign the Affidavit 13 of Service? 14 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Yes, I did. 15 MR. MILLER: Okay. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Other 17 questions, Mr. Aleman? 18 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. We would request the 19 opportunity to - - to ask Officer Ayala about 20 this, since he's the one that - - that indicates 21 that Mr. Mendez was - - 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I appreciate that. 23 He's not available. The committee can weigh that 24 how they will in terms of the unavailability of 25 - - of that particular officer. You know, I'm 00047 1 not trying to be difficult. My retort would be, 2 where's Mr. Mendez? You know. You want to 3 produce one body for me, I'll produce another 4 here. You know, it - - Ultimately, you had the 5 ability, as well, too, and I - - and I don't know 6 that you would have known one way or another, but 7 given - - given the notice you were sent, if you 8 wanted to raise questions about documents, you 9 had the ability to - - to literally seek to have 10 that individual here, and - - and to do so 11 through the - - the Chairman of the committee, 12 and I could have actually provided for - - 13 provided for, you know, producing him here for 14 that testimony. 15 MR. ALEMAN: I appreciate that, Mr. 16 Chairman. I would also point out that up until a 17 few minutes ago, none of us knew who the 18 undercover officer was, until, you know, we asked 19 the question. So we could not have asked for 20 that particular officer. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - I understand. I 22 understand. But ultimately, I - - I think that 23 even among other things, it seemed to me that you 24 may not even have seen that packet that was 25 provided here to your client, you know, 00048 1 thereabouts a good month ago. So, you know, I 2 don't know what you want me to do about that 3 either. 4 MR. ALEMAN: I'm making a record for 5 the purpose of appeal. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I appreciate that. 7 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Mr. Chair? 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sergeant. 9 SERGEANT ULICKEY: I believe that that 10 information was given to the applicant in the 11 form of the discovery material I - - I delivered 12 to her home, and that - - 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Thank you. 14 MR. MILLER: Not the name of the 15 undercover officer, though. 16 SERGEANT ULICKEY: The report, was it 17 signed by - - 18 MR. MILLER: The officer. 19 SERGEANT ULICKEY: - - by the officer. 20 His name is on there. 21 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: It was on the 22 report. His investigation - - I'd have to grab 23 that and look at it, but if he has a copy of 24 incident number 081050243, the officer's report 25 is in there with the undercover officer's name on 00049 1 the report. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. So, I mean, it 3 was provided as part of the due process notice to 4 the - - to Ms. Mendez. Other - - 5 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chairman. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are you finished in 7 terms of your questions, Mr. Aleman? 8 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. The - - The 9 testimony that you were providing was in 10 reference to - - to which purchase was that? 11 THE WITNESS: Which purchase? 12 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 13 THE WITNESS: The three at the bar. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. 15 THE WITNESS: The one involving - - 16 ones involving Mr. Mendez. 17 MR. ALEMAN: And what dates were those? 18 THE WITNESS: I don't recall, offhand. 19 The reports are written. 20 MR. ALEMAN: But you didn't see any of 21 the three purchases. 22 THE WITNESS: Personally, no. 23 MR. ALEMAN: Did there come a time that 24 a squad of police officers went into the bar? 25 THE WITNESS: Yes. 00050 1 MR. ALEMAN: When was that? 2 THE WITNESS: I was not there that day. 3 I don't recall. 4 MR. ALEMAN: Was this your 5 investigation or not? 6 THE WITNESS: Yes. 7 MR. ALEMAN: But on the day of the 8 assault you were not there? 9 THE WITNESS: Assault? No, I was not. 10 I was there for the delivery part of the 11 investigation, was mine. The undercover purchase 12 was my part of the investigation. 13 MR. ALEMAN: All right. Who was there 14 on the day that the - - the the bar was occupied 15 by police? Is there any officer here that was 16 there? 17 THE WITNESS: Yes, I believe so. 18 MR. ALEMAN: Who was that? 19 THE WITNESS: Officer Evelyn Lazo. 20 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, 21 we would call Ms. Evelyn Lazo if - - if the 22 committee permits. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's - - That's fine, 24 and I'll - - We'll - - We'll have her come 25 forward. Is she - - 00051 1 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: She stepped out. 2 The officer is getting her. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Captain, are there any 4 other officers who have direct - - as part of the 5 complaint, any of the - - any of the officers 6 that you have here have had any direct 7 interactions with any of the actions alleged in 8 the complaint? 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Officer Lazo had 10 interaction with Santiago Valdez Gomez. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Because ultimately, I'm 12 only going to - - The reports are part of the 13 record. We've made them part of the record, and 14 - - and they are - - we're able to take them into 15 consideration. But in terms of the personal 16 testimony, I - - I don't want to bring an officer 17 who will corroborate and wasn't present to say, 18 yes, that is a correct document that Joe Blow 19 made. I'm wanting to hear individually in terms 20 of individual testimony from those officers who 21 had direct interaction with this establishment or 22 the individuals who are alleged to have been 23 involved in this establishment, if we could do 24 that here. So, Officer Lazo, any - - we'll need 25 your name and - - and your interaction with 00052 1 Milwaukee Police Department here first, and then 2 any - - any direct evidence you have here in the 3 last year with this particular place. 4 THE WITNESS: Officer Lazo, Evelyn 5 Lazo. Lazo, L-A-Z-O. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And you are - - You are 7 affiliated with the 6th Police District here? 8 THE WITNESS: District 2. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: District 2? 10 THE WITNESS: I was in the anti-gang 11 unit. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Please 13 proceed with any direct testimony. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You have. 16 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What I want to hear, 18 Mr. Aleman, is her testimony first, and then you 19 can raise questions. 20 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is it - - Whatever 22 interactions you've had here since - - since late 23 winter here. 24 THE WITNESS: My information was given 25 to me by Officer Bohlen, and then we went in 00053 1 there the day in question to do the tavern 2 investigation. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And which - - which day 4 in question are you speaking of? 5 THE WITNESS: The one you said, when 6 the officers went into the tavern, I believe 7 that's what he's asking about. Correct? 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you - - Do you have 9 a date even with the police report? I mean, I'll 10 let you - - 11 THE WITNESS: Yes, I do. It's actually 12 March 1st of 2008, and we went in there at - - 13 sometime at nine. It's actually kind of cut off, 14 so I don't know the exact time. It's somewhat - 15 - Nine p.m. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And what was your 17 involvement at - - on that particular date? 18 THE WITNESS: We went in there to do 19 tavern investigation. I - - My sergeant actually 20 had spoke to the bartender at the time, and 21 stated that we were there to look at the license. 22 I believe it was Mr. Mendez, which later revealed 23 it was Mr. Mendez, stated that he was the 24 bartender there. He was in charge that night. 25 He wanted to know what was going on. I then 00054 1 spoke to him and told - - and advised him that we 2 were doing the tavern investigation. 3 MR. MILLER: Okay. I just need to stop 4 you for a minute. You said, Mr. Mendez. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Which one? 6 MR. MILLER: Are you referring to 7 Joseph Mendez? 8 THE WITNESS: Correct, Joseph Mendez. 9 MR. MILLER: Okay. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Anything else? 11 THE WITNESS: We actually arrested 12 Santiago Valdez Gomez. That's the night that we 13 arrested him for possession of cocaine. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Was there - - Was there 15 any purchase that was done on that evening? 16 THE WITNESS: There was no purchase 17 done that evening, but he was arrested for being 18 in possession of cocaine. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And this was based on 20 the ongoing investigation that had been 21 conducted? 22 THE WITNESS: I believe, actually, Todd 23 Bohlen would know this. We - - This is - - We 24 went in there first, and then after that, the 25 investigation started with the narcotics - - with 00055 1 the purchase of the narcotics. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Anything 3 - - Any other interactions that you've had 4 directly with the - - with the establishment, the 5 bar? 6 THE WITNESS: That was my only time I 7 went into the bar. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by committee 9 of Officer Lazo? Mr. Aleman, questions? 10 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 11 Officer Lazo, how long have you been a police 12 officer? 13 THE WITNESS: A little over six years. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Do you speak any language 15 other than English? 16 THE WITNESS: I speak Spanish. 17 MR. ALEMAN: And is that as a native 18 speaker or as a student of Spanish? 19 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry? 20 MR. ALEMAN: I said, is that as a 21 native speaker or as a student of Spanish? 22 THE WITNESS: That's my first language. 23 MR. ALEMAN: And on March the 1st, you 24 were assigned to the 2nd District? 25 THE WITNESS: Correct. 00056 1 MR. ALEMAN: And the tavern is in the 2 6th District. 3 THE WITNESS: Correct. 4 MR. ALEMAN: How did that happen? 5 THE WITNESS: With information that was 6 given to me. 7 MR. ALEMAN: You say, given to you. 8 Was it given to you alone, or were you part of a 9 squad or team or what? 10 THE WITNESS: I was assigned to the 11 anti-gang unit. 12 MR. ALEMAN: And how many were in the 13 unit? 14 THE WITNESS: That night, working? 15 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 16 THE WITNESS: I would have to look. I 17 don't remember. 18 MR. ALEMAN: It was you and one other 19 person. 20 THE WITNESS: No, it was several of us. 21 MR. ALEMAN: You and three, four? 22 THE WITNESS: From District 2 - - We 23 had District 2, District 6, and members from the 24 Intelligence Division. 25 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. So your approach to 00057 1 the bar was done, you said, your - - your 2 Sergeant spoke to the - - 3 THE WITNESS: The bartender who was 4 working that night. 5 MR. ALEMAN: - - bartender. And who - 6 - who was the Sergeant? 7 THE WITNESS: Sergeant Kowalski. 8 MR. ALEMAN: Kowalski. And he's also 9 from the 2nd District? 10 THE WITNESS: Yes. 11 MR. ALEMAN: Was he the officer in 12 command of the unit that night? 13 THE WITNESS: Of my unit, yes. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Were there other officers 15 besides your - - your anti-gang squad? 16 THE WITNESS: Yes. 17 MR. ALEMAN: How many more officers 18 were there? 19 THE WITNESS: Members from District 6 20 and members from the Intelligence Division. 21 MR. ALEMAN: How many squad cars did 22 you have? 23 THE WITNESS: I don't recall. 24 MR. ALEMAN: Did you enter the bar all 25 at once? 00058 1 THE WITNESS: Yes. 2 MR. ALEMAN: And were you armed? 3 THE WITNESS: Yes. 4 MR. ALEMAN: Were you armed with 5 sidearms or automatic weapons or what? 6 THE WITNESS: With our duty weapon. 7 MR. ALEMAN: And which is? 8 THE WITNESS: We were in full uniform. 9 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. Please continue. 10 THE WITNESS: We were - - We were all 11 dressed in full uniform, except the two people 12 that were assigned to Intelligence Division, 13 because they were plain clothes. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Did - - Did you have a 15 search warrant? 16 THE WITNESS: No, we did not. 17 MR. ALEMAN: You said you were doing a 18 tavern investigation. Is that it? Or a bar 19 investigation? 20 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry? 21 MR. ALEMAN: You said you were doing a 22 tavern investigation or a bar investigation? 23 Which was it? 24 THE WITNESS: Tavern investigation, bar 25 investigation would be the same, depending on how 00059 1 you word it. 2 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. So what does that 3 consist of? 4 THE WITNESS: We go in there, we check 5 for licenses, and make sure that they're up - - 6 up to code. 7 MR. ALEMAN: And was the tavern up to 8 code? 9 THE WITNESS: Besides, I believe, 10 besides the liquor, which they found it to be 11 contaminated. 12 MR. ALEMAN: And that contamination was 13 determined how? 14 THE WITNESS: By Sergeant Kowalski. 15 MR. ALEMAN: And Sergeant Kowalski is a 16 chemist? 17 THE WITNESS: No, he is not. 18 MR. ALEMAN: Is Sergeant Kowalski here? 19 THE WITNESS: No, he is not. 20 MR. ALEMAN: When you say 21 "contamination," what - - if you know, what does 22 that mean? I realize it may be the Sergeant that 23 knows this. 24 THE WITNESS: We can look at bottles, 25 and we can tell if they're contaminated by seeing 00060 1 that there's bugs in it, fruit flies, and if it 2 is, it's con - - it's considered contaminated. 3 MR. ALEMAN: Did you look at any of 4 these bottles yourself? 5 THE WITNESS: Not personally. 6 MR. ALEMAN: What - - What was your - - 7 your role in - - in the assault or the entrance, 8 the entrance into the bar? 9 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry. I don't 10 understand. 11 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. Did you lead the 12 charge? Did you - - 13 THE WITNESS: You mean, what I did that 14 night? 15 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 16 THE WITNESS: Well, I went in there, 17 and I - - I advised Joseph Mendez we were - - 18 they were to do a tavern investigation. 19 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 20 THE WITNESS: And I asked him for the 21 license. 22 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. And did he show you 23 the license? 24 THE WITNESS: I believe the bartender 25 showed it to my Sergeant, Sergeant Kowalski. 00061 1 MR. ALEMAN: And once you examined the 2 license, what happened? 3 THE WITNESS: Once I looked at the 4 license or? 5 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. Did you look at the 6 license? 7 THE WITNESS: Sergeant Kowalski looked 8 at the license. 9 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. And then what 10 happened? 11 THE WITNESS: I can only speak of what 12 happened with when I was sitting - - standing 13 there. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Yes, ma'am. 15 THE WITNESS: Santiago Valdez, who was 16 sitting next to me - - Well, actually stand - - I 17 was standing. He was sitting on one of the 18 stools. He had his pocket - - his hands in his 19 pocket, and he seemed like he was trying to get 20 up. When he was trying to get up, he looked like 21 he was going to fall forward, because he had both 22 hands in his pocket. I turned around, saw that 23 he had both pockets - - both hands inside his 24 pockets, so I told him to move his hands out of 25 his pockets. 00062 1 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. And did he do so? 2 THE WITNESS: After several times of 3 trying to make him understand that I was telling 4 him to move his hands out of his pockets. 5 MR. ALEMAN: And you indicated that he 6 was arrested for possession of cocaine? 7 THE WITNESS: Correct. 8 MR. ALEMAN: How much did he have? 9 THE WITNESS: .02 grams. 10 MR. ALEMAN: Was that in powder form or 11 what? 12 THE WITNESS: It was powder. 13 MR. ALEMAN: And where was the powder? 14 THE WITNESS: In a dollar bill. 15 MR. ALEMAN: Was the dollar bill, to 16 your knowledge, used to hold the - - the cocaine 17 or - - 18 THE WITNESS: Yes, it was folded, as to 19 hold the content of the cocaine. 20 MR. ALEMAN: Is it possible it could 21 have been used to sniff it? 22 THE WITNESS: I can't state what he had 23 it for. 24 MR. ALEMAN: Was the dollar bill folded 25 or rolled, if you remember? 00063 1 THE WITNESS: Folded. 2 MR. ALEMAN: It was folded. You were 3 here when we asked the Captain what - - and the 4 Sergeant, what the disposition of that case was? 5 THE WITNESS: It was related to the 6 same incident number that they said - - They 7 actually put it all together. 8 MR. ALEMAN: Um-hnh. When you say, 9 "they put it all together," who is they and 10 what's "all"? 11 THE WITNESS: They put all the 12 incidents together, regarding the possession, and 13 regarding the delivery. So it was - - It was the 14 same case they were trying all at the same time. 15 MR. ALEMAN: I see. And do you know 16 what happened with Mr. Santiago - - or Mr. Valdez 17 Gomez? 18 THE WITNESS: Supposedly he got 19 deported. 20 MR. ALEMAN: And what happened to the 21 charge of possession? 22 THE WITNESS: I'm not quite sure. I 23 guess from what they stated earlier it was 24 dismissed. 25 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. Did anything else 00064 1 happen that - - that evening? 2 THE WITNESS: There was one customer 3 that was in the tavern that was stating profanity 4 and causing a disturbance while we were 5 conducting our investigation who was arrested. 6 MR. ALEMAN: Did you go upstairs to the 7 second floor? 8 THE WITNESS: No, I did not. 9 MR. ALEMAN: Did officers go up to the 10 second floor? 11 THE WITNESS: I don't recall. 12 MR. ALEMAN: You don't know whether - - 13 Excuse me. I'm sorry. You don't know whether 14 officers went up to the second floor? 15 THE WITNESS: On my report it doesn't 16 state anything about the second floor. 17 MR. ALEMAN: Did you see any of them go 18 up to the second floor? 19 THE WITNESS: I personally did not see 20 nobody going up - - upstairs. I was by the bar. 21 I believe to go up the stairs there's a common 22 hallway that leads to the bar and go - - and goes 23 directly upstairs. If I recall, I don't remember 24 exactly the details, so I don't want to comment 25 too much in detail about it. Someone did speak 00065 1 to the licensee. 2 MR. ALEMAN: And the licensee was Mrs. 3 Mendez? 4 THE WITNESS: Correct. 5 MR. ALEMAN: And was she at the bar 6 when you went in? 7 THE WITNESS: Not when I went in. 8 MR. ALEMAN: Was she downstairs 9 anywhere in the bar when you were in the bar? 10 THE WITNESS: I did not observe her. 11 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. 12 THE WITNESS: From - - From where I was 13 standing, because there was - - Obviously, 14 there's a back part of the bar. I never went to 15 that back part. 16 MR. ALEMAN: Were there a lot of people 17 in the bar? 18 THE WITNESS: There were several 19 patrons. I don't recall how many. 20 MR. ALEMAN: I have no further 21 questions of this witness. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Aleman. 23 Captain, any - - any other officers with direct 24 knowledge, direct interaction of anything that is 25 alleged in the complaint who is present? 00066 1 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: No, sir. But I 2 would like to make a comment regarding Santiago 3 Valdez Gomez, based on the reports that were part 4 of discovery that were provided to the tavern 5 owner. That on April 20th at 4:10 p.m. a police 6 officer, Jose' Viera, assigned to the Vice 7 Control Division, conducted a recorded statement 8 of Santiago Valdez Gomez in room 618 of the Vice 9 Control Division at the Milwaukee Police 10 Department. He advised Valdez Gomez of his 11 Constitutional Rights, which he stated that he 12 understood them and was willing to talk to him 13 regarding. Valdez Gomez stated that on March 4th 14 he had contact with the person that he knew as 15 Ramone, while he, Valdez Gomez, was bartending at 16 the Last Chance tavern. Valdez Gomez stated that 17 Ramone was looking to buy 120 dollars worth of 18 cocaine. Valdez Gomez then stated that he told 19 Ramone that he knew someone that could get - - 20 get Ramone the cocaine. 21 MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, I do need just 22 point of order. You know, I - - I gave my advice 23 about the statements of Sandoval Guzman in 24 custody and INS or deported. His statements can 25 be used. His statements about what somebody else 00067 1 told him who is not in this room can't be used. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 3 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Was that can or 4 cannot? 5 MR. MILLER: Cannot be used. 6 SERGEANT ULICKEY: Even if these 7 statements were taken in the normal course of 8 police business and reported on a Milwaukee 9 Police Department report? 10 MR. MILLER: It is statements that are 11 - - Statements that would be inadmissible as 12 hearsay contained in a police report, even if 13 other items in the police report can be used, the 14 inadmissible items or statements can't be used. 15 THE WITNESS: What if it was recorded? 16 MR. MILLER: It's an out of court - - 17 It's an out of court statement - - out of hearing 18 statement in this case. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I appreciate that. 20 We'll ask that that previous comments that were 21 read - - read into the record here by the - - the 22 Captain here would then be stricken, as well, 23 too. Captain, I'm assuming that - - that other 24 than the - - the police reports we have read in 25 and the - - the testimony provided by Officers 00068 1 Bohlen and Lazo, that is what you have here? 2 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Yes, sir. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Are there 4 any other neighbors here to testify in opposition 5 - - opposition? What we will do is we will ask 6 if you - - if you are able to do this. If you're 7 not able, you may let me know. If you could take 8 the standing microphone, stand in front of the 9 standing microphone. We will need your name and 10 your address for the record, as well as any 11 pertinent testimony that you would be able to 12 provide here that would be subject to the date of 13 - - of February 5th, 2008 or later. So, ma'am, 14 sir, one of you want to choose? Thank you. You 15 can - - And you can - - That's fine, if you want 16 a seat. I try to - - I try to discourage that 17 unless people are capable of doing it. 18 Oftentimes, when we have big crowds, people try 19 to get a little comfy when they're seating, and 20 then they start to stray more as opposed to being 21 more concise if they're at the - - if they have 22 to stand. This is just absolutely true. Ma'am, 23 your name and address for the record. 24 THE WITNESS: My name is Claire 25 Zellner, and I live at 3224 West Scott Street, 00069 1 across the street from the Last Chance. And - - 2 Z-E-L-L-N, as in Nancy, E-R. 3 I've lived across the street for 17 4 years, and as being a single mother, I haven't 5 always been able to get off of work to come to 6 the hearings. So shortening it up until their 7 last hearing, is kind of giving me a very short 8 time frame. The document, I have read through 9 all 200 pages, and all I'm saying is - - is 10 thanks for having the hearing. Thanks for your 11 patience. It's been a long day. I appreciate 12 that. Some of the problems that I've witnessed 13 outside the neighborhood are loud music, traffic 14 problems, trash, car alarms. The music is so 15 loud that the patrons inside can't hear the car 16 alarms or even the owners of the bar have a car 17 alarm next to the bar, and it just goes on and on 18 and on for the neighborhood to hear. And I know 19 how annoying that can be. These are only small 20 pieces of the troubles going on in this family 21 neighborhood. I've witnessed bartenders pushing 22 fighting patrons out the door and locking the 23 door, so the neighborhood has to put up with the 24 noise, as well as squealing of tires, and 25 screeching of pa - - 00070 1 MR. ALEMAN: With all due respect, Mr. 2 Chairman, are these incidents as of the date that 3 the Chair has indicated? 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are these - - 5 THE WITNESS: This is this summer. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. But - - 7 THE WITNESS: This is this summer. I 8 don't have the exact date of these happenings. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What - - What I'm going 10 to say is that there are two ways to put together 11 a sworn - - a sworn charge for revocation. 12 THE WITNESS: Correct. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And one is to, if you 14 list specific dates. 15 THE WITNESS: I have been - - 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hold on. Hold on. 17 THE WITNESS: Yes, sir. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What - - What we - - 19 What I can and will accept here at this point is 20 - - is that the - - the complaint does state that 21 the Last Chance tavern is the scene of chronic 22 nuisance activity, such as shootings, delivery of 23 controlled substance, possession of controlled 24 substances and fights. So you - - You spoke of 25 fights. It does indicate here that, according to 00071 1 the report dated April 18th, the police were 2 dispatched to complaints of loud music at the 3 Last Chance. That officers were all again 4 dispatched for another loud music complaint the 5 same night. Unless your complaint is specific to 6 that night, and/or noise nuisance of July 28th, 7 2008, you have to be specific to that. 8 THE WITNESS: Right. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's - - That's the 10 issue of when you make this complaint, and I 11 don't - - 12 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Mister - - Mister 13 Chairman. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. No. 15 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Mr. Chairman, if I 16 may. Okay. This poor woman has sat down here 17 for three and a - - from three o'clock on. She 18 has lived across the street. She has given, from 19 what I have heard, pertinent information, talking 20 about the issues that have brought this to this 21 hearing. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yes. 23 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: I see no problem 24 with hearing her testimony. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman, and I - - 00072 1 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: And I appeal to this 2 committee the use of common sense. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. If I may respond 4 to that here, holding the gavel. It has nothing 5 to do with common sense. What it has to do - - 6 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Apparently it 7 doesn't. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. Alderman. Mr. 9 Miller, if I may - - 10 MR. MILLER: Fair enough. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: As the Chairman of this 12 committee. 13 MR. MILLER: Just trying to help. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: There are two levels of 15 this committee responding. There is a low bar 16 called a renewal, and there is a high bar called 17 a revocation. 18 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: You don't have to 19 give me a lecture, Mr. Chairman. I understand. 20 I'm simply asking that my constituent - - 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Cannot do so. 22 ALDERMAN DONOVAN - - be given an 23 opportunity to testify. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Cannot do so. Cannot 25 do so, Alderman. Her - - Her complaints must be 00073 1 specific to items that are rendered in the 2 complaint with specific dates. If a complaint is 3 generically worded in as much that it states that 4 there are numerous neighborhood objections to 5 occasions of noise, that is one thing. If it is 6 specific to the date saying - - If the complaint 7 says the - - the noise is specific to dates A and 8 B, I know this from multiple occasions of having 9 dealt with this, then her testimony either must 10 be specific to noise on cases A and B, or it 11 cannot be taken. That's why it is generically 12 written in terms of violence, but it is not - - 13 It is very specific with the two cases in the 14 complaint about noise. She can provide 15 corroborating evidence to that. That is the high 16 bar, Alderman, that comes into the place when you 17 have a revocation. Either the complaint is 18 drafted correctly, or you leave yourself with a 19 very narrow nitch of being able to only argue 20 items to that specific, or you're going to get 21 injunctive relief, and you're going to get the 22 darn thing tossed out by any good attorney. And, 23 Mr. Miller, there's no questions that I have on 24 this, because I've gone through this multiple 25 times. 00074 1 MR. MILLER: I agree. I agree. I just 2 would just like to point out for the committee 3 that paragraph - - I totally agree with your 4 statement in the second paragraph, I believe, of 5 the complaint, and the litany that we do see in 6 paragraph eight. But I just need to point out 7 for the committee, paragraph ten is that general 8 paragraph that you're talking about. That 9 neighbors have complained to the Alderman. 10 That's the hook for a neighbor to be able to - - 11 to talk about the complaints that - - that led - 12 - So I just - - 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. I - - I 14 appreciate that. Thank you. 15 MR. MILLER: But I still agree with 16 your overall statement on the law. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I did - - I do - - I 18 will stand corrected, and please proceed forward 19 here with what you have. I appreciate that, but 20 that is - - But it - - it must be specific to 21 that. And that's fine. It does indicate 22 neighborhood issues regarding that, so please 23 proceed forward. 24 THE WITNESS: Okay. I have been e- 25 mailing my Alderman. There is a letter in the 00075 1 documents for that support of that April 18th, 2 and it was sent to my Alderman on April 22nd. 3 Could I - - Could I go ahead and read my e-mail 4 that is in the documents or - - 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If - - If you could 6 just explain it in brevity. It is part of the 7 record here. 8 THE WITNESS: Okay. It's - - Of 9 course, it's about the noise, and they are so 10 loud on that Friday night, April 18th, that the 11 police came twice and ticketed the bar owners. 12 Saturday night they actually had a band playing 13 outside the bar, and patrons were drinking on the 14 sidewalk on the 19th. Okay. I don't think they 15 have a license for doing that outside and their 16 patrons drinking. And this is unacceptable in a 17 residential neighborhood. My children go to bed, 18 and you - - you hear the loud music. And I was 19 just asking for some peace and quiet. And that's 20 what my e-mail was all about. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Ms. 22 Zellner, any other - - any other comments on 23 items that you've experienced here since 24 February? 25 THE WITNESS: Well, as I - - as I 00076 1 started to say, apparently there is - - These are 2 smaller outside problems that are part of the 3 puzzle. The complaint addresses inside problems 4 that is affecting our residential neighborhood. 5 And I see it every day. I live across the street 6 from it. It's - - It's just - - just shaking. 7 I'm also afraid for my safety, for the gang stuff 8 and - - and that's going on right now. I've had 9 my garages graffitied up by - - I can't give you 10 specific - - 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Again - - Again, it has 12 to be specifically attributed to this. And you 13 may have reasonable - - reason to believe, but 14 unless you know with certainty, we can't accept 15 that. 16 THE WITNESS: I understand that. Thank 17 you. I thank you for saying my piece today. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I appreciate your - - 19 your taking time to contact the Alderman, relay 20 your concerns and for showing up, as well, today. 21 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by committee 23 of - - of this witness, Ms. Zellner? 24 MR. MILLER: May I ask a question, Mr. 25 Chair? 00077 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Miller, please. 2 MR. MILLER: You had mentioned fighting 3 and bar employees pushing fighting patrons 4 outside the door. Can - - Can you tell me how 5 many instances you recall since February 5th, 6 2008? 7 THE WITNESS: I've seen it once this 8 summer. But that just pushes the noise outside 9 for the neighborhood. Thank you. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions, Mr. 11 Miller? 12 MR. MILLER: That's all I have, thanks. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is there another 14 question by committee? One moment here, Mr. 15 Aleman. 16 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 17 Ms. Zellner, you mentioned chil - - How many 18 children do you have? 19 THE WITNESS: I have a daughter that 20 just graduated from UW-LaCrosse, and I have a 21 high schooler now, and I have a granddaughter 22 that visits quite often and stays overnight that 23 is 11. 24 MR. ALEMAN: So you have a - - an adult 25 daughter and a teenager? 00078 1 THE WITNESS: Yes. 2 MR. ALEMAN: Does your daughter live 3 with you? 4 THE WITNESS: Both do. 5 MR. ALEMAN: They both do? 6 THE WITNESS: Yes. 7 MR. ALEMAN: And your grandchild? 8 THE WITNESS: She does not live with 9 me. She stays occasionally. 10 MR. ALEMAN: You mentioned that there 11 was a pushing of fighting patrons outside. Did 12 you - - Did you see them push the patrons 13 outside? 14 THE WITNESS: I did witness that 15 someone inside the bar - - I don't know if it was 16 an employee - - employee. I don't see any 17 security on the grounds. But the patrons were 18 pushed out the door. The door was closed. And 19 it was locked, because one of the people in the 20 fight was banging on the front door to have it 21 reopened, and that's what I witnessed. 22 MR. ALEMAN: And you saw them come out 23 of the - - out of the bar? 24 THE WITNESS: Out of the front door, 25 yes. 00079 1 MR. ALEMAN: You mentioned an e-mail 2 dated April the 18th. 3 THE WITNESS: April 22nd. 4 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. April the 22nd. Do 5 you have that with you? 6 THE WITNESS: It's part of the packet. 7 MR. ALEMAN: May I see that, Captain? 8 Thank you. When you say they had a band playing 9 outside, where outside? 10 THE WITNESS: Right outside the front 11 door on Scott Street. 12 MR. ALEMAN: I have no further 13 questions of this witness, Mr. Chairman. Thank 14 you so much. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Aleman. 16 THE WITNESS: Thank you. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Sir. 18 Again, your name and address for the record, 19 please, first. 20 THE WITNESS: My name is Valdemar 21 Gonzalez, Jr. V-A-L-D-E-M-A-R. My last name is 22 Gonzalez, G-O-N-Z-A-L-E-Z, Jr. My address is 23 3234 West Scott Street. I reside directly across 24 the street from the Last Chance. 25 Given the amount of hours that everyone 00080 1 has been here, I will try and keep this brief. 2 I'm going to make a number of statements, so I 3 would ask Mr. and Mrs. Mendez' attorney to try 4 and keep up. Also, given the fact that the 5 officers have provided their counsel with all the 6 documents, I will not be handing anything to him 7 or providing him with anything. He should have 8 all these documents. 9 Given the fact that we are limited to 10 items and issues that occurred after a certain 11 date, which I would ask the City Attorney to 12 clarify. You said February - - 13 MR. MILLER: I believe the license was 14 renewed on February 5th with a warning letter. 15 THE WITNESS: I did have an opportunity 16 to review the 200 plus pages that are dealing 17 with this complaint for my own self. I prepared 18 a summary detailing every incident, every 19 individual every piece of information. Because 20 I'm only allowed to discuss things after a 21 certain date, let me be brief. First of all, the 22 sworn charges by the Chief of Police, item number 23 two - - 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Gonzalez? 25 THE WITNESS: Yes. 00081 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You, as a witness, are 2 only able to testify to things that you have 3 personally witnessed. 4 THE WITNESS: And I'm going to, sir. 5 Give me a moment. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. I just want 7 to make sure you - - you know that. 8 THE WITNESS: Item number two of the 9 sworn charges that states that the Last Chance is 10 a scene of chronic nuisance activity, shootings, 11 delivery, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. As a 12 resident of the neighborhood, having witnessed 13 all of those items, I totally agree with the 14 allegations contained in that paragraph. 15 As to paragraph number three. 16 MR. MILLER: Do you agree because 17 you've witnessed these things personally? 18 THE WITNESS: I have witnessed, yes, 19 personally witnessed. 20 MR. MILLER: Okay. I - - I - - 21 THE WITNESS: Because - - 22 MR. MILLER: I'll let you go, unless 23 the Chair would like me to ask some more specific 24 questions. 25 THE WITNESS: Let me - - Let me go on. 00082 1 Because - - Because of the - - Because of the - - 2 Because of the vagueness of the paragraph, I am 3 just stating that I agree with the statements. 4 I'm going to continue with specifics. 5 Paragraph number three specifically 6 deals with me. On April 18th, I did call the 7 police. The music was so loud, it's 8 unconscionable the level of noise that was coming 9 from that bar. The police officers did come. 10 You could hear the music well over a block away, 11 which was observed by the officers. They did, in 12 fact, go to the bar. I did ask the officers to 13 come back to my home to report to me. I did tell 14 the officers that given the nature of the 15 flippant attitude of the owners, do me a favor, 16 officer, come back in an hour. Come back in an 17 hour. They'll turn it down, but come back in an 18 hour, and see that it's right back up there. And 19 sure enough, the officers came back, once again 20 observed the music being at an unacceptable 21 level, and they did, in fact, issue a citation to 22 Mrs. Mendez. 23 Paragraph number seven of the 24 complaint, again, deals with me. That was me, 25 but it's again, a period that's not - - that I 00083 1 can't talk about. 2 Paragraph number eight, I agree with 3 that. I specifically agree with the graffiti on 4 the tavern on March 14th of 2008 and April 4th, 5 2008. It's disgusting. It's because the bar is 6 a known gang hangout. It's the only piece of 7 property in the neighborhood that is repeatedly 8 tagged with graffiti, gang signs. I'm sick of 9 looking at it. It's gross. They leave it up for 10 days and days and days, because, hey, you know, 11 it's just going to get painted again. So I 12 specifically agree with the allegations contained 13 in number eight, specifically the dates listed of 14 March 14th and April 4th dealing with the 15 graffiti. 16 The burglary on the tavern on April 17 6th, I was disturbed by the police who came to my 18 home asking me if I had heard any alarms or 19 anything like that at all. So having me become 20 aware of the fact that the bar is being targeted 21 with crime on many different levels is very 22 disturbing to me. 23 And lastly, the date of sale of alcohol 24 to underage persons. Excuse me. Noise 25 nuisances. On July 28th of 2008. Again, I 00084 1 observed that noise. I totally agree with it. 2 And it's indisputable. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I have a follow-up 4 question for you here. 5 THE WITNESS: Yes. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Anything privy to any 7 knowledge of a fight that was - - 8 THE WITNESS: Sure. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - alleged on 1/31 of 10 2008? 11 THE WITNESS: Sure. On - - 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I'll let you know, 13 Mr. Aleman, my reason for saying that, that may 14 precede the 2000 - - the February 5th, 2008 - - 15 MR. ALEMAN: Um-hnh. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - renewal. I will 17 assure you that that would not have been 18 considered prior to that, because the committee 19 would have met two weeks prior to this. It would 20 have had to have been in a police report which 21 would have been done probably at least a month or 22 so before that. It would be something noticed to 23 you here that would not have been heard before. 24 So it would be new. And that's why I question 25 that. Ms. Grill? 00085 1 MS. GRILL: The committee meeting was 2 actually held on January 22nd, 2008. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Correct. And that's 4 why I say that. And that would have been - - 5 MS. GRILL: The police report was 6 completed on December 7th, 2007. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: So, essentially they 8 would have only had items that would have been, 9 unless there was personal testimony that was 10 provided at the committee, there would have only 11 been items theoretically on a police report that 12 would have been from December 7th. Anything 13 after that would be new. So I - - 14 THE WITNESS: I'm - - I'm speaking 15 right now regarding an incident - - Am I allowed 16 to mention an incident that occurred on January 17 23rd involving the Mendez family, regarding a 18 call to the police regarding family trouble, 19 regarding the fact that Manuel Mendez was drunk 20 and threatening his wife, Vickey, and his son. 21 That was on January 23rd of 2008. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Now - - Now are you - - 23 THE WITNESS: The fight. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hold on. Are you privy 25 to that? 00086 1 THE WITNESS: Excuse me? 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Were you - - Did you 3 personally witness that? 4 THE WITNESS: I heard the yelling and 5 screaming, sure did. But she already called the 6 police, so why should I have to. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And you, yourself, 8 witnessed the police show up then after the - - 9 the yelling and screaming? 10 THE WITNESS: Yeah. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 12 THE WITNESS: On January 31st, the 13 fight that my neighbor was referring to, it was 14 terrible. It was a very large fight, and they 15 literally shoved people out of the bar. I have 16 noticed that on so many occasions, that on 17 January 31st, there was also a police call. I 18 called the police. There were six people 19 fighting in the bar, and the bartender stated 20 himself that they could not break it up. They 21 could not control the fight. The police came to 22 the bar. It was a melee out on the street. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And this was 24 fisticuffs? This was - - 25 THE WITNESS: A fight. 00087 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 2 THE WITNESS: Fight, you know. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I mean, because there 4 are times where there are weapons that are - - or 5 whatever else, sticks - - 6 THE WITNESS: There were no gunshots. 7 Just, you know, a fight is a fight. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 9 THE WITNESS: Paragraph number 11 - - 10 Paragraph number ten and paragraph number 11, I 11 believe that the City Attorney stated earlier 12 that due to the vague nature of paragraph ten, 13 I'm stating that I totally agree with the 14 statements contained in that regarding the 15 fights, the public drinking, the loud noise, the 16 littering, the public urination, which happens on 17 my porch, in my yard. And paragraph number 11, I 18 totally agree that that bar does constitute a 19 public nuisance, and it does have an adverse 20 effect on the health, safety and convenience of 21 our neighborhood. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Now I want to - - I 23 want you to establish one thing here now. You 24 have witnessed public urination on your 25 property - - 00088 1 THE WITNESS: Yes, I have. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - since February - - 3 or - - 4 THE WITNESS: Yes, I have, on three 5 occasions. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And - - And you have 7 full knowledge that these individuals - - 8 THE WITNESS: Come right out of the 9 bar. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. And - - And 11 since - - In this last calendar year, that has 12 taken - - 13 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. All right. 15 THE WITNESS: Aside from all of the 16 other police calls to the bar involving 17 everything, it's - - it's a plethora. You'd have 18 to see the listing of all the police calls to 19 this bar. They're all contained in the documents 20 before you, ladies and gentlemen. Specifically 21 there was a call on March 14th about the graffiti 22 from Vickey Mendez. Again, I've already stated 23 my objections to the graffiti, which is 24 repeatedly - - repeatedly appearing on the bar. 25 On April 4th, again, another police 00089 1 call by Vickey Mendez, for again, graffiti. 2 April 6th, a police call by Manuel Mendez, again, 3 for graffiti. April 18th - - 4 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman, I wonder how 5 this witness knows that the Mendez called the 6 police. Was he there to hear it? 7 THE WITNESS: Because it's all 8 contained in the report. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah, but - - but the 10 problem is, and I'll ask that those items be 11 stricken. Unless you, yourself - - It's not even 12 - - You must be privy, not just that they're - - 13 THE WITNESS: I ob - - Okay, on those 14 dates I observed the graffiti myself there. 15 MR. ALEMAN: The calling, Mr. Chairman. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The - - Yeah, you have 17 to be privy to the - - the knowledge of 18 calling - - 19 THE WITNESS: Okay. Then skip my 20 knowledge about the calls. I am privy to 21 knowledge of the fact that on March 14th, April 22 4th and April 6th there was gang graffiti all 23 over the building, which is continually being 24 replaced. As soon as it's painted, there's more 25 there. 00090 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 2 THE WITNESS: Okay. On April 18th, 3 I've already discussed that. She was issued a 4 citation for the loud music. Her court date was 5 on June 13th of 2008. The disposition of that, 6 this is what upsets me the most, is she was, in 7 fact, issued a citation on June 13th - - or her 8 court date was on June 13th, and the case was 9 dismissed with prejudice. I know that some of 10 these items - - I won't go into details, but the 11 fact of the matter is, is that back in April of 12 2003 there was underage drinking. The case was 13 dismissed with prejudice. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman. 15 THE WITNESS: The case was dismissed 16 with prejudice. 17 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: One - - One second, 19 sir. 20 THE WITNESS: On February 3rd, 2006. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir. Sir. 22 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir. Sir. 24 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir, please. My - - My 00091 1 gavel is up, and I'm going to cut you off. And 2 I'm - - I'm asking you with due respect here. 3 Okay. I'm not - - I'm not saying that I won't 4 let you resume. Just please, if you may, hold 5 on. Mr. Aleman. 6 MR. ALEMAN: That was it, Mr. Chairman. 7 THE WITNESS: I apologize for 8 discussing things that occurred in the past, but 9 even though they occurred in the past and were 10 dismissed with prejudice - - 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - You - - 12 THE WITNESS: My point is this. On 13 April 18th from my call - - 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, hold on. Hold on. 15 THE WITNESS: From my call. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If I just may make a 17 comment, because I - - I do want to try to, as 18 much as it looks like and I am losing control of 19 this meeting here, the one thing that you have to 20 think of from your perspective is, you want one 21 objective, don't you? 22 THE WITNESS: That's right. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. And you're 24 angry. Right? 25 THE WITNESS: I certainly am. 00092 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - I see that. But 2 here's the thing. You want to do what's in your 3 best interest. 4 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I'm telling you 6 what's in your best interest. So you're going to 7 listen to me. Right? 8 THE WITNESS: Fine. Yes, sir, 9 absolutely. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. You, sir, must - 11 - This is not a time for you to provide a 12 recitation of items. It is - - It is time for 13 you to provide specific testimony of - - 14 THE WITNESS: Fine. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And you're - - you're 16 blending. And that's - - 17 THE WITNESS: Okay. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. And what I'm 19 going to ask it that you - - you relegate it 20 specifically to what you - - It doesn't even have 21 to correspond. You have through the nature of 22 - - of the statement in paragraph ten, carte 23 blanche as far as items that are listed there. I 24 have generally seen on a multitude of occasions, 25 urination on the lawn. It has occurred in this 00093 1 last year. I know the individuals came out. You 2 don't need to - - to sit there and dwell. 3 THE WITNESS: But, sir, Mr. Chairman. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. No. 5 THE WITNESS: I have sat here - - 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I know how to run this 7 committee. I know how this committee works. 8 THE WITNESS: I have sat here and had 9 you call out the other witness and other 10 individuals over being specific with dates. So 11 let me - - let me - - let me apologize for 12 referencing items in the past where citations 13 were issued but they were dismissed without 14 prejudice. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 16 THE WITNESS: I apologize. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And - - And, yes, and 18 those - - that's an example of something that we 19 frankly don't need. 20 THE WITNESS: Okay. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Unless you want to help 22 make his case over the fact of letting us know 23 that there's - - 24 THE WITNESS: Well, I do have a point. 25 The point is is that the last ticket that she 00094 1 received over a police call from me about the 2 noise, and she went to court, and the ticket was 3 dismissed with prejudice. Okay. First of all, I 4 didn't receive any subpoena from the City. Okay. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 6 THE WITNESS: Had I known, I would have 7 been in court on June 13th, and I would have 8 objected to any dismissal of that case. I would 9 have objected. But the point is is that she has 10 gotten break after break after break after break. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Gonzalez, I - - I 12 can appreciate that. That, unfortunately, with 13 all due respect is not - - This is not the time 14 for that forum. And I understand your 15 frustration over that. 16 THE WITNESS: Um-hnh. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You know, I appreciate 18 that you've been waiting. We've been here since 19 eight a.m., since eight a.m. And what I will say 20 is, your diatribe about the court system, your 21 Alderman is doing something about that, with a 22 court watch. I - - I'm not going to ask you to - 23 - to literally - - Keep it specific and I don't 24 want you to delve into your frustrations about 25 the court system. 00095 1 THE WITNESS: I know. Let me just - - 2 I'm done. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 4 THE WITNESS: Obviously, you're trying 5 to cut me off. I believe you're cutting me off. 6 So what I'm going to do is just I'm going to say 7 what I have to say. Nothing has changed with 8 this bar since the last time the applicant was 9 here for her renewal hearing. But as a matter of 10 fact - - fact, things have gotten progressively 11 worse. The burden is on the applicant to prove 12 that things have gotten better, but they haven't. 13 They've gotten worse since the last time she was 14 here. They have. Look at the police reports. 15 It's all right there in black and white before 16 all of the committee members. I really don't 17 have to say anything, other than the fact that 18 I'm here. I live across the street. I agree 19 what the police are doing. You've limited the 20 police to a certain amount of time, saying 21 anything before that shouldn't be considered, and 22 I agree. That's the way that it is. 23 But the fact of the matter is that all 24 of the previous complaints against the Last 25 Chance pale against the recent series of events, 00096 1 all of which occurred after Vickey Mendez 2 received her license renewal and after she was 3 issued a warning letter. Now I've sat in these 4 hearings. I've listened to the other bar owners. 5 I know about this warning letter. It meant 6 nothing. The 148 pages, 200 plus pages that all 7 of you received, demonstrate a clear inability of 8 the Mendez to be able to control what occurs in 9 their business. That is a fact. The Mendez have 10 - - They have gone around to - - 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir - - Sir. You're 12 providing opinion. This is not an opportunity 13 for opinion, and I respect the opinion. Trust 14 me. You want to call me tomorrow. I'll listen 15 to your opinion. I'll give my direct line. 16 THE WITNESS: So I'm not even able to 17 make a statement. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's correct. 19 THE WITNESS: I'm not men - - I'm not 20 mentioning any dates. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That is correct. 22 THE WITNESS: I object to your 23 objection then. I'm not - - Wait, I'm here as a 24 citizen testifying. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And your testimony is 00097 1 not - - 2 THE WITNESS: You've - - You've called 3 me out. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Otherwise, I will have 5 you removed. 6 THE WITNESS: You've called me out. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I will have you 8 removed. 9 THE WITNESS: Can I speak, sir? 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. No, you may not. 11 No, you may - - With all due respect, no, you may 12 not. You - - You, at this point here, Mr. 13 Aleman, if you have questions for this witness, 14 this witness is done in terms of raising 15 statements. 16 THE WITNESS: You're violating my civil 17 liberties. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - I - - You know 19 what? 20 THE WITNESS: You are. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Great. I'm - - You 22 know, what I - - I appreciate - - 23 THE WITNESS: You're not even letting 24 me make a statement. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir, through your 00098 1 ignorance, I appreciate your lack of 2 understanding of a process. You, sir, 3 unfortunately, you - - you have probably some 4 rightful gripe about a legitimate problem in a 5 business. However, you want to attack a process 6 that you don't understand. We are required to 7 abide by a legal process. It's not what I like 8 sometimes. It's what I am required legally to 9 do. And that's what the fact is. You may not 10 appreciate that, sir. But that's a reality. 11 We are - - We are going to have to take 12 a five minute recess. We are required by law to 13 have three members present. And right now, we're 14 losing a member here for a moment. So we'll be 15 in recess for five minutes. 16 (Whereupon a recess was taken.) 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We're going to resume 18 our meeting here. It's approximately 8:10 p.m. 19 We have Mr. Gonzalez testimony here. I'm going 20 to, at this point, allow you opportunity to - - 21 to raise - - First off, I want to see if there 22 are committee members who have questions of Mr. 23 Gonzalez. Any - - Any questions by committee of 24 this witness? Mr. Aleman, any questions that you 25 may have? 00099 1 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman, I do have 2 - - I do have some questions. However, I would 3 with permission of the Chair and - - and the 4 members of the committee raise a procedural 5 question and - - and request - - request an 6 adjournment, both in view of the fact that - - 7 that this committee has been sitting since this 8 morning, and also, in view of the fact that we 9 have lost some of our witnesses because they came 10 home from work and had to - - to leave, either to 11 attend to family or - - or to get food for 12 themselves. On a personal level, Mr. Chairman, I 13 - - I have a medical situation that I need to 14 take care of, and for that reason I would request 15 of the committee, an adjournment, and - - and 16 that we may continue at - - at another date when 17 - - when we are perhaps more refreshed and - - 18 and in a better mental state to - - to deal with 19 these issues. We - - We, on behalf of my clients 20 and myself, appreciate and respect the - - the 21 complexity of the issues that - - that are before 22 the committee, and - - and the ramifications of 23 the - - of the decisions the committee has to 24 make, and for that reason, we would ask an 25 adjournment, and I would hope that the counsel of 00100 1 the City does not object. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, I don't know that 3 the counsel has any say in - - in this in terms 4 of the City Attorney's office. 5 MR. MILLER: Right. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What I will say is this 7 much. I - - I can appreciate that individuals 8 have come and gone. I don't know that there were 9 individuals who are opposed to the license that 10 didn't have to leave, as well, too. I mean, 11 that's sort of the nature of the beast. 12 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: When we have this. 14 What I will say is, is that I - - My own 15 preference is to move forward. It is - - You 16 know, that would be my ruling. There - - There 17 is the ability, if there are majority members of 18 the committee, that the committee can supersede 19 the Chairman if - - if there is such a desire and 20 a motion that is made to do that. And that's up 21 to the discretion of the committee. And - - And 22 that's where I will stand on that. 23 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair, if - - 24 if we have - - 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If I just may, Alderman 00101 1 - - Alderman Hamilton, one moment. The only 2 other issue that I will say, as well, too, is we 3 have a shortened cycle. This - - Normally, we - 4 - we generally run three weeks for Council 5 cycles. Because of our coming off of an August 6 recess, I - - You know, we are meeting here on 7 the 2nd, and we have a Council meeting on the 8 16th, is that - - So we actually here are - - are 9 a two week cycle as opposed to a three week cycle 10 that we normally - - that we normally have 11 between Council meetings. In that shortened 12 Council cycle there is - - there is a one, issue 13 of notice, where if there was a subsequent 14 meeting, there would have to be sufficient 15 notice, first off. Secondly, there would have to 16 be as much time prior to that Council meeting 17 that if there is adjudicative action taken on the 18 part of this particular body, that there would 19 have to be sufficient time for the issuance of 20 findings of fact and conclusions of law that 21 would be submitted to you to provide you adequate 22 time by that Council meeting to - - to have 23 redress. And literally, it blows us out of this 24 cycle. I'm - - I can tell you and allow you to 25 rest assured that if you think Alderman Donovan 00102 1 was unhappy with me over the issue of - - of, you 2 know, ensuring that we were raising proper notice 3 and the testimony, he will raise holy cain over - 4 - and I would certainly ask his input in - - in 5 doing that, as well, too. And because I'm going 6 to guess that he doesn't want to prolong this any 7 - - any longer. 8 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Well, Mr. Chairman, 9 if you're allowing me the opportunity to speak, I 10 certainly, yeah, it's going on 8:30 at night, and 11 you've been here, and we've all been here since 12 eight o'clock. Common sense would tell us, yeah, 13 let's go home. I think tempers have flared here 14 tonight. Even during the day today. This is a 15 very difficult proceeding. However, I would have 16 to bow to what the - - the request of the police 17 department, they're coming with the action, and I 18 don't want to do anything that jeopardizes that 19 case, and goes against what their wishes are, so. 20 So I'm going to pass the buck to the Captain, I 21 guess. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, and the only - - 23 and the only thing is is ultimately you can do it 24 one of two ways. I mean, you could actually 25 provide - - There is - - There is literally a - - 00103 1 the ability where we could finish the - - the 2 question or testimony of - - of the witnesses, 3 whereby the only witnesses that we would hear 4 from here would be supporters. That would make a 5 clear break. Where - - Where we wouldn't 6 necessarily have to have all the witnesses that 7 are here in the future. The one thing that I 8 will say is it would provide an opportunity, if 9 the committee so desire, to have additional 10 police officers come forward and provide 11 additional testimony. Or - - 12 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: One thing, Mr. 13 Chairman, if I would. If - - If a separate 14 meeting date is picked, I - - I would hope that 15 it would be a separate day, not in conjunction 16 with any other activities, so that we have a 17 absolutely definite start time and go from there. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Right. 19 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Thank you. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. That - - 21 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I - - I'll - - I don't 23 know that it's - - 24 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Mr. Chairman, the 25 people who have already testified do not have to 00104 1 re-testify. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Correct. 3 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Correct. Alderman 5 Hamilton? 6 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Yeah, I was going 7 to say, I didn't want to spend the next 15 8 minutes debating on whether we were going to 9 adjourn or not. So I was just going to make the 10 motion for us to adjourn with the suggestions 11 that were - - that were given. I think we - - I 12 think we do have, you know, the ability to set - 13 - set aside a date to deal with some of these 14 issues, and we can probably do it pretty quickly, 15 if we were all kind of fresh. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Can I - - Can I make 17 this request - - 18 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Sure. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - Alderman Hamilton, 20 before we take up that motion? I don't have a 21 problem with your doing so. I would prefer to 22 have Mr. Gonzalez cross-examined here, where he 23 would not have to show up here again. I think 24 that it would be more appropriate to have a clean 25 break, where - - where, Mr. Aleman, if you have 00105 1 questions of this particular witness, that you 2 make those questions known. Because as much as 3 we may be respecting time of individuals to come 4 forward, we ought to be able to respect his time 5 if he does have other obligations, that he would 6 not be required to be - - to return, unless he so 7 desired. 8 THE WITNESS: I would appreciate that, 9 Mr. Chairman. 10 MR.MILLER: And, Mr. Chairman, if I 11 could just point out for the record that we make 12 it clear, because this is the Milwaukee Police 13 Department complaint, that the complaint - - that 14 the police department hasn't rested its case. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And - - And that would 16 be a stipulation, as well, too, sir, Mr. Aleman, 17 that - - that we would have a clean break after 18 this witness, but that there would be other 19 potential time. And just as though you would 20 acknowledge that you, as you've already done so, 21 that there are individuals who have left that 22 would not otherwise be afforded the ability to 23 test - - to testify who are supporters, I think 24 that it would only be fair to say that if the 25 police department had the ability to bring 00106 1 forward an additional officer who was not pres - 2 - is not present here today, that they be - - 3 that they would be able to do so, as well, too. 4 MR. ALEMAN: I agree, Mr. Chairman. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Well, I - - 6 I'll just ask, are there any additional, and - - 7 and, Mr. Gonzalez, I'm going to afford you the 8 opportunity, but I'm going to ask as opposed to - 9 - to going into the personal opinion, and I know 10 where you stand personally. I think we all do. 11 Is there anything else that you want to testify 12 to that you have - - that you haven't done so 13 already, that you've personally witnessed in 14 terms of - - of what you believe are violations 15 or - - or other quality of life issues since the 16 time at the beginning of the year here? 17 THE WITNESS: Other than a fight that 18 happened on July 18th, outside the bar where 19 someone was arrested, and I called the police. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 21 THE WITNESS: All the other incidents, 22 or my call - - my call to the police about the 23 loud noise and the complaint was limited to 24 paragraph number three. That's me. The level of 25 noise where the police came back. They went and 00107 1 they came back, and it was just as loud as 2 before. That's my one paragraph that that's me. 3 That, and the other incidents involving fights 4 with the family and the fight on July 18th. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: So my follow-up 6 question to you is, is you have - - you haven't 7 - - You've called the police on a - - on a couple 8 of occasions here in the - - in the last year? 9 THE WITNESS: Many occasions. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Many occasions. 11 THE WITNESS: Yes. Over at least ten 12 times. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: On at least ten 14 occasions since you would estimate February 5th. 15 THE WITNESS: Since - - That's correct 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. All right. And 17 have you made additional efforts to contact your 18 Alderman regarding this, as well, too, or? 19 THE WITNESS: Actually, on many 20 occasions, Mr. Chairman, I actually made attempts 21 to call the bar first, to ask them to please turn 22 the music down, please pick up the trash. I, on 23 many occasions, and Mr. and Mrs. Mendez cannot 24 deny this, that I have reached out to them first. 25 I hate bothering our fine police officers over 00108 1 things that should be able to be resolved between 2 the bar and the patrons. If I have a problem 3 with them, I have gone to them. But it reached a 4 point where it didn't matter anymore. So then I 5 started to call the police. 6 MR. MILLER: Mr. Chair, may I ask a 7 question. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Follow-up. 9 MR. MILLER: How many times did you 10 talk to the licensee since February, 2008 about 11 noise, roughly? 12 THE WITNESS: Two dozen. 13 MR. MILLER: And did you speak directly 14 with the licensee on all of those occasions? 15 THE WITNESS: Only on - - Actually, 16 only on two occasions did I speak directly with 17 Vickey. All the other times was with Mr. Mendez, 18 because he's the one who is in the bar. He's the 19 one who runs the bar. 20 MR. MILLER: Okay. Mr. Mendez is 21 Manuel Mendez? 22 THE WITNESS: Manuel, that's correct. 23 MR. MILLER: Manuel? 24 THE WITNESS: Yes. 25 MR. MILLER: What sort of response did 00109 1 you get from Mr. Mendez when you complained? 2 THE WITNESS: Insulate your house, it's 3 not loud, you're crazy, okay, junior, okay. 4 We'll try to do better. We'll try to do better. 5 It's always the same response, but nothing has 6 ever changed. I like Mr. and Mrs. Mendez 7 personally. They're - - They're nice people, but 8 on a business level, I can't stand it. I just 9 can't. So many of my neighbors have moved. 10 MR. MILLER: That's all I have. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other follow-up 12 questions by committee. Mr. Aleman, your 13 opportunity now here. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Now my comment, you see 16 the difference between you providing direct 17 testimony to items that you've incurred as 18 opposed to opinion, which you've just stated. 19 THE WITNESS: Oh, yes, Mr. Chairman. I 20 sure do. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Don't question my 22 ability to run this committee, sir. Thank you. 23 Mr. Aleman. 24 MR. ALEMAN: No question who is the 25 Chair, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Mr. Gonzalez, 00110 1 did you say you talked with - - with Mr. Mendez? 2 THE WITNESS: Yes. 3 MR. ALEMAN: Did you talk with him 4 yesterday? 5 THE WITNESS: Yes, I did. 6 MR. ALEMAN: Was there anybody with Mr. 7 Mendez when you talked with him? 8 THE WITNESS: A property owner, sure. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And, Mr. Aleman, you'll 10 have to speak in the microphone. If you could 11 just - - he will answer, but you - - you are to 12 direct your questions to the Chair in relation to 13 him answering. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Yes, sir. I apologize. 15 You - - You talked with Mr. Mendez yesterday? 16 THE WITNESS: Yes. 17 MR. ALEMAN: And was there anybody with 18 Mr. Mendez when you talked with him? 19 THE WITNESS: Another property owner 20 across the street. 21 MR. ALEMAN: And who was that? 22 THE WITNESS: Mr. Cardines. 23 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Cardines. And at that 24 time, did you initiate the conversation or - - or 25 did Mr. Mendez? 00111 1 THE WITNESS: I initiated the 2 conversation, because they were standing directly 3 in front of my property. 4 MR. ALEMAN: So they came over to talk 5 to you? 6 THE WITNESS: No, they were standing in 7 front of my property. 8 MR. ALEMAN: And did Mr. Mendez 9 indicate that he wanted to talk with you? 10 THE WITNESS: No, he did not. He 11 stated that his wife, Vickey, had tried to talk 12 to me in the past. And I replied there's nothing 13 to talk about anymore. 14 MR. ALEMAN: Did you say anything else 15 to Mr. Mendez? 16 THE WITNESS: Yes, I certainly did. 17 MR. ALEMAN: What was that? 18 THE WITNESS: I told him that I 19 witnessed at the time, the other property owner, 20 Mr. Cardines, was handing Mr. Mendez a letter, 21 which I assumed to be some sort of a letter 22 perhaps in support. And I volunteered the 23 information to Mr. Mendez and Mr. Cardines, I'll 24 have you know that unless you show up in person, 25 Mr. Cardines, that letter is going to have no 00112 1 significance. You need to be there in person, 2 and if you're not there in person, and any letter 3 is - - is presented, I will object to any 4 letters. I was actually helping him out by 5 telling him that. You need to have people there. 6 You just can't have letters. I could have went 7 around and collected tons of letters from 8 neighbors who were afraid to come today. 9 MR. ALEMAN: Do you live by yourself at 10 this - - What was your address? 11 THE WITNESS: 3234 West Scott Street. 12 MR. ALEMAN: Do you live by yourself 13 there? 14 THE WITNESS: No, I do not. 15 MR. ALEMAN: You live with your 16 parents? 17 THE WITNESS: No, I live by myself, and 18 my little niece and my little nephew, ages five 19 and three. 20 MR. ALEMAN: Are those all the people 21 that live there? 22 THE WITNESS: In my house, yes. 23 MR. ALEMAN: Do you have a sister? 24 THE WITNESS: I have several sisters. 25 MR. ALEMAN: Do you have a sister that 00113 1 lives with you? 2 THE WITNESS: No, I do not. 3 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. All right. Do you 4 drink, Mr. Gonzalez? 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The relevance - - 6 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Mr. Chairman, what 7 kind of a question is that? 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Hold on. 9 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Drink what, 10 Counselor? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Aleman, the 12 relevance of that. Your - - Your testimony - - 13 Your questions have to really be relegated to the 14 testimony that he provided here, as opposed to 15 sort of the general fishing. So I'm going to ask 16 you to hone that in. 17 MR. ALEMAN: That - - That was a 18 question, and I'll - - I'll lay a foundation for 19 that, to the relatedness of it. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm going to - - 21 MR. ALEMAN: Mr. Chairman, I will not 22 argue with the Chair. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. I'm going to 24 still allow you to ask the questions. I'm going 25 to ask you to - - to not go in that direction 00114 1 here, because I - - I don't - - I don't know that 2 there is any relevance in terms of his testimony 3 that's been provided here. 4 MR. ALEMAN: The testimony that has 5 been provided is in terms of - - 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And if you could use 7 the microphone, Mr. Aleman, please. 8 MR. ALEMAN: Is in terms of trash, in 9 terms of the mess and the noise that is there, 10 okay. My question to him was whether or not he 11 drinks, whether or not he goes to that bar, 12 whether or not, you know, there's any other 13 source of - - of noise or of litter anywhere 14 in - - 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, the question - - 16 I'll allow the question if there's any other 17 source of noise or litter in the immediate area 18 that he - - that he's aware of. 19 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. Can you answer the 20 question. 21 THE WITNESS: Could you be a little bit 22 more specific, sir? 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'll - - I'll phrase it 24 for you, and I - - I'm going to guess here at 25 this point, that the question is being asked as 00115 1 opposed to the Last Chance, is there - - is there 2 the potential of any other source in the area 3 that could be leading to litter and other noise 4 problems that - - that you testified to as coming 5 from this bar? 6 THE WITNESS: No. 7 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. I have no further 8 questions of this witness at this time, Mr. 9 Chairman. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 11 MR. MILLER: Just a follow-up question. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You may. Mr. Miller, 13 please. 14 MR. MILLER: Do you know of any other 15 taverns on your block? 16 THE WITNESS: No. 17 MR. MILLER: That's all I have. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: At this point here, is 19 there - - Alderman Donovan, you want to reserve 20 the right to speak here at the next meeting if 21 you wanted to provide - - 22 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Yes, Mr. Chairman, 23 I'll - - I'll hold my comments until - - until 24 the end, yeah. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Great. 00116 1 THE WITNESS: May I make one statement, 2 based on personal knowledge? 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Go ahead. 4 THE WITNESS: It's on - - based on 5 observation of documents and the business and the 6 license application that was completed by Mendez, 7 Inc. The application for renewal was signed by 8 Vickey Mendez on behalf of Mendez, Inc. on 9 December 6th of 2007. But whatever it matters, 10 Mendez, Inc. was administratively dissolved on 11 November 29th of 2007. So when she signed the 12 application for renewal, the business was 13 dissolved. So whatever matter that has or 14 ramifications that has, I just thought I'd throw 15 that in there. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Appreciate 17 - - Appreciate that, and that's something that, 18 Ms. Grill, is that something that - - and, 19 Sergeant Ulickey, that we may be able to do some 20 follow-up on. 21 MR. MILLER: Maybe we can truncate 22 that. I looked on - - 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: This is an aside to the 24 complaint, but - - 25 MR. MILLER: This is a - - Yeah, very 00117 1 much an aside. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: This is an aside to the 3 complaint, but it is something that if we're 4 provided that information, it ought to be looked 5 into. 6 MR. MILLER: I would just say that 7 there is a Mendez, Inc. on the Department of 8 Financial Institutions listing. It's just 9 something I'll check on that. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What I'll just say is 11 in light - - 12 MR. MILLER: But I did check, and I did 13 see that. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: As an aside, but it is 15 - - it is - - 16 MR. MILLER: It is a corporate 17 standing. That's all I'm - - 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 19 MR. MILLER: Maybe save some time. 20 MR. ALEMAN: Thank you, Counsel. 21 THE WITNESS: It was restored after the 22 application process, not before. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Oh - - And I'll rely on 24 whatever information gets provided to us as 25 follow-up as to what's legal. 00118 1 THE WITNESS: It's all - - It's all on 2 the computer. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. All right. 4 Is there - - Was there any other testimony that 5 was going to be provided by those who are here in 6 opposition at this time? Captain. 7 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: I can have an 8 officer come back, but there is some testimony 9 I'd like to have Officer Felix provide, regarding 10 one of the graffiti complaints that was referred 11 to, 21 graffiti. There is some significance 12 between the 21 graffiti on that building and the 13 known gang members that frequent that location, 14 C-14s and Latin Kings. I know it's late in the 15 hour. You can either take it now if you'd like 16 to, or I can have - - I'll have Officer Felix 17 come back on the next date. Your decision. I 18 know your guys are - - have been here all day. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm inclined to take 20 it, but I'll abide by - - 21 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: It should - - I 22 would think it would take less than five minutes. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: - - the will of - - 24 whatever the will of the two others are here. 25 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I - - I don't have 00119 1 any objection to that. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Why don't 3 we - - Why don't we bring him forward here? 4 MR. ALEMAN: Am I going to be permitted 5 time to cross-examine? 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yes, absolutely. And I 7 don't want to delay this any further for you, as 8 well, too, but if we do have the opportunity, I'd 9 rather have that officer on the street next time 10 as opposed to here, as well, too. And I think 11 that even probably the neighbors would, as well, 12 too. So, thank you. Officer, if you would just 13 provide us your name and your - - if you are in - 14 - what district or what division that you are in 15 the police department here. 16 THE WITNESS: Officer Carlos Felix, F- 17 E-L-I-X. And I'm assigned to the CPU unit at 18 District 6. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And your - - your 20 testimony relating to this establishment. 21 THE WITNESS: April 4, 2008 I was 22 advised by my Captain to go speak to Mr. Mendez, 23 Manuel Mendez, regarding graffiti damage to his 24 property, the Last Chance tavern. I responded 25 over there and talked to Mr. Mendez, and observed 00120 1 the 21 graffiti spray-painted on the - - the side 2 of his building, which 21 in graffiti is a rival 3 gang to the C-14s and the Latin Kings, and 4 knowing that this graffiti is on there, that's a 5 sign of disrespect to these gang members that 6 visit this bar here. So other than that, I 7 believe that there would be retaliation or some 8 type of gang violence. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Anything 10 else, Officer Felix, related to that, or anything 11 else that directly relates to this establishment 12 here that you've personally witnessed? 13 THE WITNESS: No, just the sign of 14 disrespect to these gang members. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions - - Questions 16 by committee? 17 MR. MILLER: Just a follow-up. What's 18 your - - 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Miller. 20 MR. MILLER: What - - What is your 21 basis for your conclusion that it is a sign of 22 disrespect? 23 THE WITNESS: Usually gang members tag 24 up their territory. Other gang members tag up 25 their rival gang members' territories as a sign 00121 1 of disrespect. 2 MR. MILLER: And you've come to that 3 knowledge through your duties as a police 4 officer? 5 THE WITNESS: Yes, I do. 6 MR. MILLER: What is the CPU unit? 7 THE WITNESS: Community Prosecution 8 Unit, sorry. 9 MR. MILLER: Do you have, in that role, 10 a specialized knowledge about gangs, gang 11 graffiti? 12 THE WITNESS: Prior to that, I was 13 assigned to the anti-gang unit at District 6. I 14 worked with the Intelligence unit and assisted 15 them with some investigations, along with Officer 16 - - Officer Todd Bohlen and other officers from 17 the Intel unit. 18 MR. MILLER: Did you have any 19 discussions with Manuel Mendez about the 20 graffiti? 21 THE WITNESS: Yes, I have. 22 MR. MILLER: Can you describe those 23 conversations? 24 THE WITNESS: Basically, I just went 25 there and got his complaint. Asked him when he 00122 1 noticed the time period when the graffiti wasn't 2 there and was there, and if he had seen anybody. 3 And I spoke to the neighbors in the neighborhood, 4 one guy that approached me, and pretty much gave 5 me a description of a person that he seen with 6 spray-paint, and Mr. Mendez advised me that his 7 neighbor across the street might have seen the 8 person that did this. And I went and interviewed 9 that lady. 10 MR. MILLER: And did you write up an 11 incident report about this April 4th, 2008 12 incident? 13 THE WITNESS: Yes, I did. 14 MR. MILLER: And is that, to your 15 knowledge, included in the materials that was - - 16 THE WITNESS: Yes, it is. 17 MR. MILLER: - - served on the 18 licensee? 19 THE WITNESS: Yes, it is. 20 MR. MILLER: That's all I have. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Miller. 22 Are there other questions by committee members? 23 Mr. Aleman? 24 MR. ALEMAN: Yes. Yes, Mr. Chairman. 25 Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Officer Felix, did 00123 1 - - did Mr. Mendez file a complaint on the 2 graffiti? 3 THE WITNESS: Yes, he did. 4 MR. ALEMAN: So it wasn't that Mr. 5 Mendez who painted the graffiti. 6 THE WITNESS: No, it wasn't. 7 MR. ALEMAN: He was complaining that it 8 was painted on his property. 9 THE WITNESS: Yes. 10 MR. ALEMAN: Because that's - - I'm 11 sorry. I apologize. I'm sorry. Was that the 12 only time that he complained about graffiti, to 13 your knowledge? 14 THE WITNESS: To my knowledge, yes, it 15 is. 16 MR. ALEMAN: And so, was - - was there 17 another officer, Gloria, with you? 18 THE WITNESS: No, there isn't. 19 MR. ALEMAN: So there is not an officer 20 who is named Gloria. 21 THE WITNESS: There is. He's a 22 community liaison officer at District 6. 23 MR. ALEMAN: Oh. 24 THE WITNESS: I'm the - - part of the 25 Community Prosecution Unit. 00124 1 MR. ALEMAN: Was Mr. Mendez cooperative 2 with you in - - in conducting your investigation? 3 THE WITNESS: Yes, he was. 4 MR. ALEMAN: Has Mr. Mendez - - Has Mr. 5 Mendez ever been uncooperative with you in the 6 investigations that you have engaged in? 7 THE WITNESS: Yes, he has, but I 8 believe I can't mention that, because that's 9 prior to the date they gave us. 10 MR. ALEMAN: Okay. All right. I have 11 no further questions of this witness at this 12 time, Mr. Chairman. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Officer 14 Felix. Captain, anything - - anything else? 15 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Not tonight, sir. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. At this 17 point, I will be happy to entertain a motion if 18 you want to still provide it. What I will - - 19 What I'll just say here, Mr. Aleman, is that we 20 will have to assure that we have the two other 21 members here, that we find a date that mutually 22 works for these other two members, because the 23 other - - the - - we need to maintain the quorum, 24 and two of the members did not take the testimony 25 here. It will be the reliance of these three 00125 1 members. So I will have to work with them on a 2 date that works with - - within their schedule. 3 We have the ability, because there is one other 4 Council date that is not listed here. I know 5 that there is a date in which, I'm not sure if 6 it's the 22nd, in which the Mayor is going to be 7 providing his budget testimony to the Common 8 Council. 9 MS. GRILL: The 24th. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The 24th. I mean, 11 there's a potential of doing it in that - - in 12 that time frame prior to that. Whatever time 13 frame we would - - we would do it on, it would 14 have to work with the - - with the other members 15 who are present here and their schedules, and it 16 would have to allow for enough time for the City 17 Attorney's office with - - if there is the 18 potential to provide the issuance of a timely 19 basis of completing and getting to you findings 20 of fact and conclusions of law. We just have to 21 build that in, so that being said, if you want to 22 contact my office tomorrow, I will try to work 23 with these two aldermen to see, and Alderman 24 Donovan, to see that we can work on a mutual date 25 that - - that works for us, and we'll notice that 00126 1 to you then. Okay? 2 MR. ALEMAN: To the extent possible, 3 we'll accommodate that, Mr. Chairman. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. But do you have 5 my office number? If not, you want to stick 6 around here for just one moment, I'll - - As soon 7 as we adjourn, I'll get you my business card and 8 you can follow up with me then? 9 MR. ALEMAN: Yes, sir. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If you would like to do 11 it, that's - - I'll entertain a motion here at 12 this time. 13 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I move to adjourn, 14 Mr. Chair. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. The - - At this 16 point here - - And then, to dispose it before our 17 adjournment here, you want to hold this matter at 18 the Call of the Chair, because this is all a 19 separate file. 20 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Sure. I'll move. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We have item number 22 two, which is file number 080451, a motion 23 relating to the revocation of the Class "B" 24 Tavern, Tavern Dance, Amusement Machine Premise, 25 Billiard Hall, Cigarette and Tobacco, Pool Table 00127 1 and Phonograph/Jukebox Premise license of Vickey 2 Mendez for "Last Chance" at 3235 West Scott 3 Street. Alderman Hamilton would move to hold 4 this matter at the Call of the Chair, and hearing 5 no objections to that, so ordered. Captain, we 6 will - - we will notice you then, as well, too, 7 through the License Division as soon as we - - we 8 do have that particular meeting date set. 9 CAPTAIN GAGLIONE: Thank you, sir. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you all for your 11 patience and your time here, as well, too, this 12 evening. And we'll do it all again on a 13 different date and a different channel here. So 14 with that, there being no further business before 15 this committee we will stand adjourned. 16 (Proceedings ended at 8:49 p.m.) 17 * * * * * 00128 1 2 3 4 STATE OF WISCONSIN ) 5 ) 6 MILWAUKEE COUNTY ) 7 8 I, JEAN M. BARINA, of Milwaukee Reporters 9 Associated, Inc., 5124 West Blue Mound Road, 10 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208, certify that the foregoing 11 proceedings is a full and complete transcript of the 12 revocation hearing for "Last Chance" taken at the 13 Licenses Hearing for the City of Milwaukee. 14 15 16 17 18 19 JEAN M. BARINA 20 Court Reporter 21 22 23 Dated this day of September, 2008. 24