00001 1 2 CITY OF MILWAUKEE 3 COMMON COUNCIL 4 5 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 6 In the Matter of: Class "B" Tavern and Record Spin 7 application for: 8 OLIVA A. ARIAS PABLO De La CRUZ 9 "La ESPANOLA" 2237 West Forest Home Avenue 10 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 11 12 13 14 Proceedings had and testimony given in 15 the above-entitled matter, before the COMMON 16 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, on 17 the 3rd day of March, 2009. 18 00002 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 PRESIDENT HINES: Alderman Jim Bohl 3 will present the report of the Licenses 4 Committee. For this report we'll use the 5 services of the Court Reporter. 6 CITY CLERK: The Licenses Committee 7 recommends approval of item one, file number 8 081063. Motion to approve recommendations of the 9 Licenses Committee relative to various licenses. 10 Included in the file are the following 11 recommendations. Renewal with a 15 day 12 suspension based on a police report of the Class 13 "B" tavern and video game center licenses of 14 David Schulist for the premises at 2539 West 15 Mitchell Street known as Schulist, in the 8th 16 Alderman District. No written objections have 17 been filed. Renewal with a 60 day suspension 18 based on a police report and neighborhood 19 testimony of the Class "B" Tavern and Record Spin 20 licenses of Pablo De La Cruz and Oliva A. Arias 21 for the premise at 2237 West Forest Home Avenue 22 known as La Espanola in the 8th Aldermanic 23 District. Written objections have been filed. 24 Denial based on a police report and neighborhood 25 objections of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern 00003 1 Dance licenses of Shamika M. Evans, for the 2 premises at 3762 North Martin - - North Dr. 3 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive known as "Marjani" 4 in the 6th Alderman District. Written objections 5 have been filed. 6 PRESIDENT HINES: Have the members of 7 the Common Council read the recommendations of 8 the Licenses Committee, and any report or 9 information relative to this file? Roll call, 10 please. 11 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 12 Hamilton? 13 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 14 CITY CLERK: Davis? 15 PRESIDENT HINES: Excused. 16 CITY CLERK: Kovac? 17 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Aye. 18 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 19 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 20 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 21 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 22 CITY CLERK: Coggs? 23 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Aye. 24 CITY CLERK: Wade? 25 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 00004 1 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 2 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 3 CITY CLERK: Puente? 4 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 5 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 6 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 7 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 8 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 9 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 10 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 11 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 12 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 14 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 16 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 17 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one excused. 18 PRESIDENT HINES: 14 ayes, one excused. 19 CITY CLERK: Are either - - any of the 20 following or their counsel present, and if so, do 21 they wish to address the Common Council? Pablo 22 De La Cruz or Oliva A. Arias? Counsel is 23 present. Shamika M. Evans? 24 PRESIDENT HINES: Alderman Bohl moves 25 that the Common Council resolve itself into a 00005 1 Committee of the Whole for the purpose of hearing 2 oral arguments on behalf of the licenses in 3 opposition to the recommendations put forth by 4 the Licenses Committee. Persons will have three 5 minutes to make their presentation. Is there any 6 objection? I'm sorry. Five minutes. Is there 7 any objection? Hearing none, we are now in 8 Committee of the Whole. Again, we will now hear 9 from the - - the attorney for, I believe, it's 10 Pablo De La Cruz or Oliva Ar - - Oliva A. Arias. 11 MR. ARENA: Good morning. Thank you, 12 Mr. President, honorable members of the Common 13 Council. My name is Andrew Arena. I'm the 14 attorney. I'm here representing La Espanola. I 15 have filed a - - a timely objection and a motion 16 that I think that this body needs to consider. 17 First off, I do want to thank the 18 committee for putting in great effort and - - and 19 listening to this matter once again. It was sent 20 back before the committee. It was sent back to 21 the committee after some court - - some court 22 intervention, and I think that that action was 23 appropriate. And in my estimation the reason 24 that it was sent back to committee is that there 25 was information that was heard by the committee 00006 1 in its first hearing that was probably not in any 2 - - I'm not pointing blame to anybody. It's 3 nobody's fault. But not all the information was 4 available, not all the information was provided 5 to the committee, and eventually it was. 6 I believe that the 8th District was 7 very well represented by Alderman Donovan. I 8 believe he took his position, and I have respect 9 for his position and the job that he did. He 10 represented the 8th District before the - - the 11 court, and he represented the 8th District before 12 the committee. At this point in time, I'm going 13 to go into some of the - - some of the facts 14 briefly, and I - - I want to point out that the 15 location has been closed due to the non-renewal 16 since January 22nd. That is 40 days. Today is 17 the 40th day. And I think that that is part and 18 parcel a great penalty that should be considered. 19 This - - This matter is still before the court on 20 a judicial review. The court retains 21 jurisdiction, and it is watching this process. 22 And what we're interested in is a fair process, a 23 process that's based on a decision by this body 24 that looks at all of the evidence and doesn't act 25 arbitrarily or capriciously, or in other words, 00007 1 there isn't a knee-jerk reaction. 2 In sum, the event that occurred for 3 this location was one isolated event. It was 4 June 1st. Prior to that event there was never a 5 police call, an arrest, a citation, no record, 6 whatsoever, for this location. Subsequent to 7 that one event, there was no record for this 8 location. There were no police calls. And I 9 think that's a testament to the operators not 10 desiring similar incidents occurring, by 11 employing a private security company, investing 12 3,000 dollars right off the bat on digital video 13 cameras, a state of the art system, and 14 diligently paying attention to ensure that such 15 an event wouldn't occur again. 16 My clients are older people. They have 17 - - They serve a niche in a community that - - 18 that is important to serve. They are homeowners. 19 They reside in the City of Milwaukee. They pay 20 their taxes. They pay their bills. Their 21 mortgage is current. And being closed now for 40 22 days has been a struggle. 23 When I say that this is an isolated 24 incident, there are some facts that you need to 25 be aware of. The perpetrator that was charged 00008 1 with the crime was from Connecticut and he's 2 moved back to Connecticut. The perpetrator that 3 was charged with the crime eventually had the 4 crime dismissed because the victim failed to 5 appear in court and testify against the victim. 6 Other than some event occurring in this location 7 that gave rise to this event, the victim of this 8 event was culpable. He was culpable in that he 9 got into it with a guy, and we provided eye 10 witness testimony that he was warned to quit 11 throwing bottles and quit throwing bottles at 12 somebody that had a gun. I don't know how much 13 more stupid somebody can be, but he was warned, 14 and, in fact, the guy pulled the gun out and 15 said, quit throwing the bottles, and he kept 16 throwing bottles. 17 PRESIDENT HINES: One minute. 18 MR. ARENA: Unfortunately, threat meant 19 threat, and the person was injured. He did not 20 die. And I - - I think it's just so non-sensical 21 and so isolated that to completely punish this 22 location with now a 60 day on top of 40 days of 23 closure would really be unfair. The object here 24 is to be consistent. We all know that there is 25 locations where there's been homicides and 00009 1 incidents that have had less punishment. 2 PRESIDENT HINES: 30 seconds. 3 MR. ARENA: Consider all of those other 4 locations where there's been suspensions and 5 punishments, and ask yourself, is this really 6 fair at this point to take this isolated incident 7 and say now it's worthy of 100 days. I point out 8 that the maximum is 90 days. 9 I'd also request that you'd consider my 10 motion. I think it's important. The motion 11 basically is under a case called Maris versus 12 City of Cedarburg. It basically states that my 13 client is entitled to a fair and impartial 14 hearing - - 15 PRESIDENT HINES: Please close. 16 MR. ARENA: I think that he's denied of 17 that right if Alderman Donovan participates 18 further in this matter at this point. He 19 represented his constituency at the committee 20 meeting twice. He represented his constituency 21 very ably before court. I will be available for 22 any questions. Thank you. 23 PRESIDENT HINES: I will speak to the 24 last moment relative to Alderman Donovan's 25 participation. But I'll do so when we come out 00010 1 of the question and answer session. Are there 2 any questions of the attorney at this time? If 3 not, thank you. We will now hear from the 4 Assistant City Attorney. Assistant City Attorney 5 Bruce Schrimpf, who will also be given five 6 minutes. 7 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you, Mr. 8 President. Bruce Schrimpf from the City 9 Attorney's office. Members. 10 You will recall that this matter was 11 before the Council some weeks ago. There was an 12 appeal into the Circuit Court of Milwaukee 13 County. This Council voted to non-renew the 14 license. The assigned judge to the case was 15 Judge Kahn. There was a request to keep the 16 tavern open, pending these proceedings. Judge 17 Kahn denied that request. And the tavern has 18 been closed since January 22nd. The court has 19 retained jurisdiction over the case, and whatever 20 is the outcome this morning, the court will 21 automatically review it, because we are under an 22 obligation to file all the papers with Judge Kahn 23 when this process is over. And, in fact, we've 24 been filing the papers as things have been going 25 on. 00011 1 Whether or not you renew this license, 2 whether or not you renew it with a suspension or 3 the length of that suspension, is always reposed 4 to your sound discretion. Judge Kahn in 5 remanding this matter to the committee and to the 6 Council put no holds on it at all. He said - - 7 He was very frank about the fact that he wanted 8 the committee and the Council to look at the case 9 again and come to whatever decision you were 10 going to come to. He put absolutely no limits on 11 it, and no limits upon the evidence that could be 12 considered by the committee and this Council. 13 As I am reading the findings of fact in 14 this matter it is apparent that there was the 15 shooting, you know, nobody is denying that. But 16 the fact was, and I think it's clear from the 17 findings, that the licensee failed to cooperate 18 with the police department. The licensee 19 originally had indicated that they saw nothing 20 and heard nothing, which was countered, in fact, 21 by the security guard and - - and the individual 22 that did the shooting, to the effect that there 23 was a fight that had started in the place. They 24 were taken out, and then, the episode happened 25 with the shooting. So in addition to the 00012 1 shooting, I think you have to consider the fact 2 that there is ample evidence here, and the 3 committee specifically centered on the fact that 4 the licensee did not cooperate with the police 5 department. 6 Beyond that, if there's any further 7 questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them. I 8 had to leave the hearing midway, and so that's 9 why I was not the - - the individual who actually 10 drafted these findings of fact for the committee, 11 because of another commitment that I had. But I 12 certainly handled the case while we were going 13 through the court system. I handled the case 14 initially, and I will be handling the case as we 15 proceed forward. So if there's any questions, 16 I'll be happy to try to answer them. 17 PRESIDENT HINES: Yes. Are there any 18 questions of the Assistant City Attorney Bruce 19 Schrimpf. Chair recognizes Alderman Puente. 20 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Thank you, Mr. 21 President. Did the judge order that the first 22 case in this hearing not be considered in 23 discipline, or can we consider what happened the 24 first time and the second time? 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, the - - the judge 00013 1 vacated what had happened the first time, and the 2 reason why he vacated it was the judge was 3 satisfied, the judge undertook a careful detailed 4 and exhaustive review of the facts that were 5 beyond the police department. He even went to 6 the point of getting the DA's files and the 7 prosecutorial files, and it - - it was quite 8 apparent that the information that had been 9 provided by the Milwaukee Police Department, 10 i.e., that the security guard was the individual 11 who did the shooting, was just plain wrong. It 12 was - - It was determined that the - - the 13 security guard helped the shooter get away, drove 14 him away, but the security guard was not 15 responsible for the actual shooting. In 16 addition, although the judge didn't - - didn't 17 concentrate on the second point, in addition, 18 there was a concern raised by the licensee that 19 the - - the translation that had been occurring 20 at the first hearing in front of the committee 21 was probably not a good translation, and, indeed, 22 I believe it was Alderman - - Alderwoman Coggs 23 pointed that out, twice, I believe, during the 24 course of the first hearing, that she was not 25 trusting the translation that was taking place. 00014 1 So there was a concern over that, as well. In 2 light of that, the judge sent it all back for a 3 new hearing. And vacated, there had been an 4 earlier effort to try to keep the place open, 5 pending. The judge vacated that. 6 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Thank you. 7 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you, Alderman. 8 Chair recognizes Alderman Nic Kovac. 9 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 10 We have - - The committee took action to suspend 11 for 60 days. We - - Do we have discretion to 12 make that longer or take more adverse action at 13 Council? 14 MR. SCHRIMPF: Oh, yes, absolutely. 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Is there an issue of 16 notice to the applicant? 17 MR. SCHRIMPF: No. I mean, that's what 18 the law provides for. No. The judge put no 19 limits on you and - - and I'm certain that when 20 the judge remanded it back and said there are no 21 limits on what the Common Council may do, 22 consistent with the law, of course, I'm certain 23 he was aware of the fact that the place is closed 24 at the present time, because, after all, he 25 vacated the order keeping them open. 00015 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: So we could make a 2 motion to - - at Council level to go further than 3 what the committee did. 4 MR. SCHRIMPF: Yes. 5 PRESIDENT HINES: Are there any 6 additional questions of Assistant Attorney Bruce 7 Schrimpf? If not, thank you. 8 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you. 9 PRESIDENT HINES: Before we go into - - 10 go back into convening into the Body of the 11 Whole, I do want to speak to the issue that was 12 brought up by Attorney Arena relative to the - - 13 the local alderman's participation and - - and 14 this process. 15 We've received consultation from the 16 City Attorney's office and been advised that the 17 local alderman can participate in the decision 18 process, as well as in discussion, and there, 19 well can vote without any concerns relative to 20 exposure to the City of Milwaukee. So with that 21 caveat I wanted to at least communicate that to 22 this body. 23 Seeing there are no additional 24 questions of Assistant Attorney Bruce Schrimpf, I 25 think we want to just make certain that Shamika 00016 1 M. Evans is not here or is here or a 2 representative? Okay. That sounds fine. With 3 that being the case, Alderman Bohl moves that the 4 committee now rises. Hear no objections, so 5 ordered. Are there any motions relative to these 6 matters? Are there any motions relative to these 7 two items? Shamika M. Evans, Pablo De La Cruz or 8 Oliva A. Arias? If not, I do understand that 9 motions can be made in this file if members have 10 them relative to the actions put forth by - - by 11 the - - by the committee, and it appears as if 12 there is a motion to be put forth by Alderman 13 Witkowiak. The Chair recognizes Alderman 14 Witkowiak. 15 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. On file number 081063, I move to 17 remove the following from the denial list and 18 return to committee. That's a Class "B" Tavern 19 and Tavern Dance application for Raphael Molinari 20 for the premises at 2000 South 6th Street in the 21 12th District. And if I may, Mr. President, the 22 reason that I want this sent back to committee is 23 the - - the applicant intends to withdraw this 24 application. At some point in the not too 25 distant future I hope there is a - - a proposal 00017 1 to do a restaurant there, which would be - - 2 which would be more fitting for the location. 3 And we don't want to - - We don't want to tarnish 4 the record because it was denied - - it was 5 recommended for denial due to concentration. 6 PRESIDENT HINES: Thank you. That's an 7 appropriate motion. Are there any additional 8 questions relative to the motion that's been put 9 forth, proffered by Alderman Witkowiak? Are 10 there any objections to the motion put forth? 11 Seeing and hearing none, the motion carries. It 12 will be referred back to committee. 13 Are there any additional motions to be 14 made at this time? Is there any further 15 discussion on this file? Chair recognizes 16 Alderwoman Coggs. 17 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: My apologies. It's 18 - - It's on the licensing committee file, but not 19 on the particular one that - - So is it okay for 20 me to address it now? To be consistent with my 21 vote at Council, I just want to be recorded as a 22 no vote for file 081063. 23 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. That's an - - 24 Is there a specific license or the entire file 25 itself? 00018 1 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Oh, the license for 2 La Espanola. 3 PRESIDENT HINES: Okay. Yes, ma'am. 4 Let the record reflect her consistency for that 5 item, please. Thank you. Are there any 6 additional discussions? Any additional motions 7 relative to the file? If not, I request a vote 8 of those Council present members are present to 9 approve the recommendations of the Licenses 10 Committee contained in file number 081063. Will 11 the City Clerk please call the roll? 12 CITY CLERK: Alderman Hamilton? 13 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Aye. 14 CITY CLERK: Kovac? 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Aye. 16 CITY CLERK: Bauman? 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Aye. 18 CITY CLERK: Bohl? 19 ALDERMAN BOHL: Aye. 20 CITY CLERK: Coggs? 21 ALDERWOMAN COGGS: Aye. 22 CITY CLERK: Wade? 23 ALDERMAN WADE: Aye. 24 CITY CLERK: Donovan? 25 ALDERMAN DONOVAN: Aye. 00019 1 CITY CLERK: Puente? 2 ALDERMAN PUENTE: Aye. 3 CITY CLERK: Murphy? 4 ALDERMAN MURPHY: Aye. 5 CITY CLERK: Dudzik? 6 ALDERMAN DUDZIK: Aye. 7 CITY CLERK: Witkowiak? 8 ALDERMAN WITKOWIAK: Aye. 9 CITY CLERK: Witkowski? 10 ALDERMAN WITKOWSKI: Aye. 11 CITY CLERK: Zielinski? 12 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Aye. 13 CITY CLERK: Mr. President? 14 PRESIDENT HINES: Aye. 15 CITY CLERK: 14 ayes, one excused. 16 PRESIDENT HINES: 14 ayes, one excused. 17 The committee report - - The report of the 18 Licenses Committee is - - is approved. The Court 19 Reporter is dismissed. Thank you for your 20 services. 21 * * * * * 00020 1 2 3 STATE OF WISCONSIN ) 4 ) 5 MILWAUKEE COUNTY ) 6 7 I, JEAN M. BARINA, of Milwaukee Reporters 8 Associated, Inc., 5124 West Blue Mound Road, 9 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208, certify that the foregoing 10 proceedings is a full and complete transcript of the 11 Commom Council Licenses Committee Recommendations 12 taken in the foregoing proceedings. 13 14 15 16 17 18 JEAN M. BARINA 19 Court Reporter 20 21 22 Dated this day of March, 2009. 23