1 CITY OF MILWAUKEE LICENSES COMMITTEE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the Matter of the Class "B" Tavern and Tavern Amusement Cabaret/Nite Club Renewal Application as Agent for: "LADY BUG CLUB/618 LIVE ON WATER" HABIB MANJEE Agent for "LADY BUG CLUB, LLC," 622 North Water Street * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2 1 COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2 Chairman James A. Bohl, Jr.; 3 Vice Chairwoman Milele A. Coggs; Alderman Tony Zielinski; 4 Alderman Nik Kovac; Alderman Ashanti Hamilton. 5 Representing The 4th District: 6 Alderman Robert Bauman. 7 LICENSE DIVISION by REBECCA GRILL POLICE DEPARTMENT by P.O. TRACY TABIANDON 8 OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY by ATTORNEY BRUCE SCHRIMPF 9 MAISTELMAN & ASSOCIATES, by MR. DAVID R. HALBROOKS, 10 MR. MATTHEW D. LERNER, 5027 West North Avenue, 11 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208, appeared on behalf of Lady Bug Club, LLC. 12 13 14 Proceedings had and testimony given in the above-entitled matter, before the LICENSES 15 COMMITTEE OF THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, on the 17th of November, 2009. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: This is the resumption 3 of the Common Council Licenses Committee. It's 4 coming up on 5:30 p.m. We have our last item on 5 the agenda here. I just want to say that we are 6 anticipating a very lengthy schedule here. I'm 7 going to be limiting the testimony of individuals 8 when we come down to it. What I will do is, I 9 will give a couple minutes to individuals. If it 10 gets to the point where individuals become 11 substantially redundant in testimony and we start 12 to hear the same individuals say the same things 13 three, four, five times, I will say, "Thank you 14 for your testimony. Is there anything else you 15 want to add beyond the redundancy?" and if not, 16 we will get your name and your number, your 17 address, and you can say, "I substantially support 18 and I agree exactly with what has been stated 19 before." 20 Our last item is for -- and that applies 21 to entities on both sides if we get redundant. 22 Habib Manjee, agent for Lady Bug Club, 23 LLC, Class B Tavern and Tavern Amusement 24 Cabaret/Nite Club renewal application with change 25 of entertainment as agent for Lady Bug Club/618 4 1 Live On Water at 622 North Water Street. 2 Good afternoon to you. We have -- could 3 we have a stating of appearances of the 4 individuals here who represent you, Mr. Manjee, in 5 terms of counsel? 6 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm attorney David 7 Halbrooks. I am with Maistelman & Associates, and 8 with me is Matt Lerner on behalf of the applicant. 9 Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. 10 MR. MANJEE: Good afternoon. Habib 11 Manjee. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What we'll have to do 13 is, we are going to have to have to swear you in. 14 Others who are here to provide testimony, I'm 15 going to ask you at this point to raise your right 16 hand. This is the only opportunity to raise your 17 right hand to provide testimony. So if you intend 18 to provide testimony, everyone, including those in 19 the audience, right hand in the air. Now, what 20 I'll say is, I don't want the, "I didn't raise my 21 hand," later, and now you do the, "Well, I didn't 22 raise, my hand, now I want to provide something." 23 Well, if your hand is not in the air now, you are 24 not sworn in, you weren't serious about providing 25 testimony. Hands in the air. Alderman Bauman has 5 1 already been sworn in. 2 MS. BLACK: Do you solemnly affirm under 3 the pains and penalties of perjury in the State of 4 Wisconsin the testimony you are about to give is 5 the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the 6 truth? 7 ALL: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. All right, 9 for our agent, name and address for the record, 10 please. 11 MR. MANJEE: Habib Manjee, H-A-B-I-B, 12 last name Manjee, M-A-N-J-E-E, and address is 3265 13 Dartmouth Drive, Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Mr. Manjee, 15 do you acknowledge receiving notice of today's 16 meeting with the possibility that your application 17 could be denied? It is cited for an attached 18 police report that you should have been sent as 19 well as an outline of potential neighborhood 20 objections that could be used as a means for 21 possible denial. 22 MR. MANJEE: Yes, I do. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. This is a 24 renewal application so we should have no holds. 25 Officer Tabiandon, do you want to go through the 6 1 police report, please? 2 OFFICER TABIANDON: On 9/20/2008, a 3 walk-in battery complaint came into District 7. 4 The victim stated she was at Club 618 Live at 5 about 12:30 a.m. She was walking out to her car 6 and was attacked by a known suspect who pulled her 7 hair and punched her several times in the face 8 causing pain. The victim stated that her and the 9 suspect have a long history of disliking each 10 other. The known suspect stated the victim has 11 repeatedly given her trouble in the past. The 12 suspect was cited and the citation was dismissed 13 without prejudice. 14 On 9/28/2008 at 12:14 a.m., a Milwaukee 15 Police Department squad was sent to the location 16 to conduct traffic and crowd control. They were 17 there for two hours and 47 minutes. 18 On 10/4/2008 at 11:58 p.m., Milwaukee 19 police were sent to the location for traffic 20 control and crowd control. They were there for 21 three hours and ten minutes. 22 On 10/11/2008 at 11:03 p.m., Milwaukee 23 police squads were sent as well as a sergeant to 24 conduct traffic and crowd control. They were on 25 scene for two hours and 18 minutes. 7 1 On 10/19/2008 at 1:12 a.m., Milwaukee 2 Police Department squad was sent to conduct an 3 investigation. Squad was on scene for 27 minutes, 4 and it resulted in a C-10. 5 On 10/26/2008 12:38 a.m., Milwaukee 6 Police Department squad was sent to conduct 7 traffic control and crowd control. They were 8 there for two hours and 49 minutes. 9 On 11/01/2008 at 11:22 p.m., Milwaukee 10 Police Department squad was sent for traffic and 11 crowd control. They were there for two hours and 12 53 minutes. 13 On 11/02/2008 10:35, a Milwaukee Police 14 Department squads were sent for traffic and crowd 15 control. They were there for two hours and 49 16 minutes. 17 On 2/7/2009 2:10 a.m., Milwaukee Police 18 Department squads were dispatched to a battery at 19 the location. Upon squads arriving, no battery 20 was found, but instead, a large melee outside the 21 tavern. It took numerous squads to disperse the 22 crowd away from the area. This was the first 23 night the tavern was open after their suspension. 24 The applicant stated he had a private promoter 25 that night and he was insisting on letting people 8 1 in that would not have -- that he would not have. 2 He also stated he replaced many of his security 3 staff and the doorman was still learning what to 4 look for. 5 On 2/8/2009, Milwaukee Police Department 6 squads were assigned to monitor the location for 7 problems with crowd and traffic congestion. There 8 were also several NTF squads in the area that were 9 ordered down to monitor the tavern and do traffic 10 enforcement. The district squads were in the area 11 for three hours and 15 minutes. 12 On 2/15/2009 at 1:52 a.m. while on 13 patrol, Police Department squad observed a large 14 crowd gathering outside of the Lady Bug Club and 15 several subjects arguing in the street. The 16 officers observed a female lying on the ground in 17 pain, and she stated that security from the club 18 had push her to the ground. Several squads were 19 called to the scene to disperse the crowd. The 20 victim had x-rays, which revealed that her left 21 wrist and right wrist were both broken. The 22 victim was unable to identify which security guard 23 had pushed her. 24 On 2/21/2009 at 12:01 a.m., a Milwaukee 25 police officer was flagged down by a taxicab 9 1 driver for a fight at the location. The owner 2 stated that an unknown black female was escorted 3 out of the club for being disorderly. As she was 4 being escorted out of the club, she became 5 aggressive with security and was yelling at them. 6 Security stated they did not want anything to be 7 done as far as prosecution for disorderly conduct. 8 On 3/14/2009 at 2:00 a.m., a Milwaukee 9 Police Department squad observed traffic was 10 backing up due to the Lady Bug Club letting out. 11 Numerous squads and a sergeant were needed to 12 clear the traffic congestion as well as other 13 incidents. 14 On 5/31/2009 at 2:20 a.m., Milwaukee 15 Police Department squad was doing crowd control at 16 Michigan and Broadway for the tavern. The 17 officers observed security trying to escort a 18 subject out of the middle of the street who was 19 yelling, screaming and using profane language and 20 swinging his arms around towards the security 21 personnel. The security guard stated he was 22 grabbed by the subject who punched him with a 23 closed fist on his right side about four times 24 causing pain and swelling. The subject also 25 punched him in the face and chest. Officers 10 1 approached the subject and tried to conduct a 2 field interview, the subject fled and was taken 3 into custody after a brief pursuit. The subject 4 refused to be cooperative and stated an expletive. 5 The subject was very combative and had to be 6 shackled and a spit mask placed over his face due 7 to his agitated state as he was expelling spit 8 during his yelling. The subject was arrested for 9 disorderly conduct and resist for obstructing a 10 police officer. 11 On 6/14/2009 1:26 a.m., Milwaukee Police 12 squad was dispatched for a battery complaint. The 13 victim was also -- was observed bleeding from the 14 right side of her head. The victim, as well as 15 her friend, stated she was hit with a bottle. The 16 security guard had the suspect detained but did 17 not know it was her so let her go and did not get 18 a name. The video was also looked at, but it was 19 poor quality and the scene was already cleaned up. 20 The victim received two stitches to the right side 21 of her forehead. 22 On 7/3/2009 at 3:39 a.m., Milwaukee 23 Police Department squad was dispatched to 2323 24 North Lake Drive, which is St. Mary's Hospital, 25 for a battery complaint. The victim stated a 11 1 known actor struck her in the face with a martini 2 glass inside 618 North Water and caused her pain. 3 The victim received seven stitches to her left 4 cheek for the laceration. The case was reviewed 5 and was a no-process because the victim did not 6 show up. 7 On 8/1/2009 at 2:45 a.m., Milwaukee 8 Police Department detective responded to the 9 shooting investigation at 250 East Wisconsin. 10 During the investigation and interview, a witness 11 stated he was at 618 Club located at 618 North 12 Water with his friend, the victim. They were both 13 waiting outside the club to talk to women as they 14 left, and they were also walking unknown females 15 to their cars to get their phone numbers. At one 16 point, they decided to stand on the northwest 17 corner of North Broadway and East Wisconsin and 18 just observe. The witness said at one point a 19 bluish-green, medium-size, older-model, four-door 20 SUV pulled up to the corner, and one of the two 21 occupants said, "Break yourself." Both of them 22 started to run at which time the witness heard a 23 single shot. The victim said he was shot, and the 24 SUV fled in an unknown direction. The witness was 25 unable to provide a description of the occupants 12 1 of the vehicle as he was extremely intoxicated and 2 at the time, it happened so fast. The victim was 3 treated for his gunshot to his right thigh at 4 Froedtert Hospital. The owner was cited for 5 presence of underage, and the citation is not in 6 the system as of -- I checked this morning. 7 On Sunday, October 18, 2009, at 12:45 8 a.m., a squad was sent to 618 North Water. Squad 9 had been there 20 minutes earlier for trouble with 10 a subject. At that incident, club security was 11 holding an individual who they did not want cited 12 but just to leave. The subject was allowed to 13 leave. The same person then returned and punched 14 a security guard in the nose. The actor was 15 cited. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Officer. 17 Questions or comments that you have for the items 18 in the police report? 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair. Thank you. 20 First off, we just want to place a couple things 21 on the record. We filed a letter and a motion, 22 with the committee in an attempt to try to move 23 things along with regards to our, what are 24 becoming standard objections. 25 We do understand the police department 13 1 is objecting to the renewal of this license. We 2 tried to subpoena somebody from the chief's office 3 to have them come and say that. The captain who 4 is appearing has indicated that's going to be the 5 position of the police department. And as such, 6 we object to the reading in of the synopsis as if 7 it is a neutral document. It is provided to this 8 committee by an entity who is trying to close down 9 the club. So with that in mind, we object to each 10 and every one of the items that were listed except 11 for two where there really isn't a dispute as to 12 what happened for incidents inside the club. 13 And I would indicate that, obviously, 14 it's our hope that the committee will understand 15 that, that it is -- as in the past, the committee 16 is giving us the burden to prove that these things 17 didn't happen, that we are now going to go first 18 and have our opportunity to go through rather than 19 have the city present their case. If we have the 20 burden, we should get to go first and last as 21 every court in this country, and I would ask for 22 that again this time. 23 I do want to also indicate that I 24 watched the hearing from last year. I can imagine 25 that you would know that I would watch that and be 14 1 very concerned about what happened. I saw an 2 into-evidence compilation video. If you recall my 3 concern, and Mr. Schrimpf's agreement with my 4 concern the last time I was here with a 5 compilation video or a cut-up video. I put that 6 in my letter last week that I wish to -- if there 7 was going to be a video, I wish to have it 8 available so we can preview it. We will be 9 strenuously objecting, and again, I believe the 10 city attorney will back us up on this, that to put 11 in pieces of a video tape without letting us see 12 the rest of it is not something that is allowed, 13 and I definitely get the chance to see the rest of 14 it. So we will be objecting to that. 15 I do want to express a concern having 16 watched that compilation that you were -- clearly 17 had last year, the incidents that were pieced 18 together are very short bursts, and to have the 19 significant number of nights pieced into that 20 short of an event, I believe you will hear the 21 reasons for that tonight and exactly what the club 22 has done based on what you said. 23 With that in mind, I would like to tell 24 you that the applicants listened to those of you 25 who were here last year, took your advice and 15 1 tried to put that into operation. The committee 2 very clearly said, "No more teen nights." There 3 have been no more teen nights since last year's 4 hearing. 5 The committee also expressed concern 6 about the security guards. At the time, there 7 were armed security guards, and I believe there 8 was an animal in one of the vehicles. Those 9 security guards were immediately relieved of 10 service and so has the animal. And I have gone 11 through with them my concerns, as those of you who 12 know my past history, I don't ever believe armed 13 security guards are necessary, and I agree, 14 obviously, with Alderman Bauman's concerns last 15 year that if you need them, it's a problem. We 16 don't need them. The guards that have been 17 employed both by the club and as independent 18 contractors -- there are individuals available 19 here to testify about how effective they are in 20 dealing with the problem. 21 So I would indicate that my final 22 lead-in is with regard to the items that were just 23 read off, a number of the items starting in 24 September were not considered by the committee 25 last year, but occurred before the license 16 1 hearing, or the license renewal. And so I don't 2 know what the committee's preference is. Frankly, 3 most of them are duplicative, and they all have 4 one line in the report that say they are there for 5 traffic control. We would suggest that you 6 consider only the items that occurred after the 7 license renewal. I think that would greatly 8 alleviate the time pressure here, and frankly 9 wouldn't really take out much of the testimony 10 that we have here in terms of we wouldn't have to 11 go over each and every item repetitive. 12 I would suggest that -- and that was 13 part of our motion to the committee to only 14 consider the items after 12/20. It's still about 15 nine to ten items, and I believe will give the 16 committee a very clear understanding of what was 17 going on there. So if there is any preference as 18 to that, I would ask the committee, and then we 19 can -- 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you happen to have a 21 copy? I know that you sent an e-mail over at 22 approximately 10:00 last night. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Which I was fortunately 25 was clearing through my e-mails at 11:00 at night 17 1 and happened to see. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: We started out sending a 3 letter expressing our concerns, and we got a 4 response from Mr. Schrimpf, and he cited us -- 5 here is what's going on, and I don't know if you 6 have been briefed on the last time I was here. We 7 are still in court on that, still battling the 8 same issues I was battling that day since 9 February, and so there are two schools of thought: 10 One is that you make judicial review from this 11 body and all that the court can consider is what 12 happens here within the context of this action. 13 That is the position of the City of Milwaukee. 14 Our position is that we need to take into 15 consideration everything, and even the things that 16 happened before, and happened outside the context 17 of this hearing. What -- the case that Mr. 18 Schrimpf cited from -- that occurred right around 19 the attack on Pearl Harbor over somebody selling 20 eyeglasses for $3 and then asking them to have an 21 exam for a couple more bucks. The Court agreed 22 with the case, we agree with the case. It said, 23 you know, you have to do the -- you'd have to 24 challenge this within judicial review, but then 25 cites a bunch of other, says there are a bunch of 18 1 other cases you have to use if you're going to 2 make constitutional challenges outside of the 3 scope of the hearing. 4 And I want to make certain that those 5 are my claims that when you say the police can 6 appear here both neutral and objective, that we 7 have the burden of proof, but they get to just put 8 in this synopsis, and then we have to disprove it 9 without them having to -- they just get to read 10 something in. The case law is very clearly in our 11 favor on that, and I can cite the cases. I know 12 Mr. Schrimpf asked for copies, so I brought it 13 along and Mr. Lerner is prepared to explain that 14 to you, but the general idea of that, that an 15 administrative body like the City of Milwaukee can 16 make claims, not back them up, and then require 17 the applicant to disprove them, isn't going to 18 hold up in court. Now, it will hold up under 19 judicial review. The question's matter isn't 20 judicial review. We are making constitutional 21 claims for damages outside. So Mr. Schrimpf is 22 right that we -- when we indicated last week we 23 were very disturbed about the notice, and that's 24 why we subpoenaed Ms. Grill, and I want to go 25 through the claims she made in her notice with 19 1 her, but I will tell you that that is outside the 2 context of this hearing. The damage is from 3 giving us an improper notice and doing all those 4 things, Mr. Schrimpf is right on judicial review, 5 we're going to lose on that in the context of 6 constitutional claim. The city is not going to 7 have any justification. So that's why we tried to 8 make clear before we walked in the room, and 9 that's why we filed so much stuff and brought so 10 many people because the city sits back and said, 11 you can only consider what happens in this room on 12 judicial review, and, you know, most cases end up 13 in favor of the municipality. 14 So we are prepared to put on, you know, 15 all the testimony that we need to to convince you 16 what's going on, to go through that synopsis and 17 just to show you why it's not an accurate picture, 18 and to deal with the two neighbors who just 19 continue to scream and scream about this business 20 even though they are blocks away. And to deal 21 with what I think you identified as what you 22 thought was the problem: The CPS parking lot. 23 And we subpoenaed the individual that manages that 24 lot for CPS, and he is standing here today. So we 25 are ready to go all through it. 20 1 So with that, I guess what I'm asking is 2 what's the committee's pleasure? We are ready to 3 go and prove our case, but I would ask that you at 4 least take into consideration that we only have to 5 go through the items after the license renewal. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. 7 Halbrooks. The motion that he is referring to 8 here was the document that was sent out to each 9 member of the committee by e-mail, as I said, 10 about 9:00, 10:00 last evening. We have a couple 11 of hard copies here. 12 We will have Alderman Zielinski move to 13 make this motion that has been provided for by 14 Attorney Halbrooks part of our official record in 15 this proceeding. Hearing no objections to that, 16 so ordered. 17 What I'm going to do is, based on the 18 precedence of this committee, Mr. Halbrooks -- and 19 that is to hold open that when an individual 20 applies for a renewal of their license there is a 21 police report that is routinely handled. That 22 police report comes at the time in which they make 23 the application. That application precedes their 24 time before the committee and the end date of 25 their renewal cycle. So there are oftentimes 21 1 items that are missing or there is a gap period. 2 On anything that falls in that gap period of time 3 will be considered by this committee, I'm going to 4 consider open game for this committee. So 5 therefore, my ruling will be -- and I will duly 6 note your motion, it has been made part of the 7 record, so the foundation has been laid for 8 whatever legal argument you may wish to make down 9 the line. But at this point, I'm going to allow 10 for any items that were not considered, and that 11 would include items I believe from 23 on through 12 40, okay. 13 Any questions by committee members? At 14 this point, are there any additional comments that 15 you wish to make in terms of an opening Mr. 16 Halbrooks? Any -- if you want to take the 17 opportunity to address issues on the police 18 report, this would be your opportunity. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: I do want to address 20 that, but not, obviously, as a part of my opening. 21 Mr. Lerner will start that process. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, I do want 23 to say at this point here, I have had a 24 conversation with our assistant city attorney -- 25 and Mr. Schrimpf, do you want to cite the case 22 1 here where I'm going to allow one individual to 2 speak on behalf of your client, one attorney? 3 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, basically, it's 4 within the process of the Chair to control the 5 hearing. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I am going to allow for 7 one individual, and Mr. Schrimpf, do you want to 8 cite the -- 9 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, I believe it is 10 indeed part of the rules of the Circuit Court of 11 Milwaukee County where when you have multiple 12 counsel in the case, the judge can decide who's 13 going to do the speaking on the record. We have 14 multiple counsel here. Our experience has been 15 that when you have multiple counsel, we get 16 different directions and all of a sudden we get a 17 confusing record. So I think it's appropriate for 18 the parties to decide who of the multiple counsel 19 will actually speak on the record. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand that, and 21 the reason that -- I don't believe you will see 22 any different direction from Mr. Lerner. There is 23 a lot of reading and eyesight issues required in 24 this next part, and that is specifically why I'm 25 not handling it. It's my intention that this go 23 1 much faster than it will, and that's why I asked 2 Mr. Lerner to prepare this, and I would 3 compassionately ask for this ruling. I will abide 4 by it in the future, but I am not prepared to read 5 through all these documents. I don't know if the 6 committee wants to take the time for me to read 7 through them and go through them in the 8 examination. 9 I have watched these two individuals 10 prepare this examination. I have no expectation 11 that it will take on any different tact than what 12 I intend to present here. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: In the future, one 14 attorney. I'm going to ask for your brevity 15 though in that regard. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: It's him, it's not me. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I realize that, I'm -- 18 okay, Mr. Lerner. 19 MR. LERNER: Thank you, Chair. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, with 21 regard to other items other than this, you will be 22 the individual, you provide -- he can provide 23 advice or whatever else in terms of -- go ahead. 24 MR. LERNER: Thank you. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: If you just want to 24 1 identify yourself for the record because I'm 2 certain that we are going to see some judicial 3 review on this perhaps. 4 MR. LERNER: Thank you, Chairman Bohl. 5 Attorney Matthew Lerner, on behalf of the 6 applicant. We just wanted to, you know, like 7 Attorney Halbrooks said, go through some of the 8 items on the police report, have the applicant go 9 through what his position is as to those specific 10 items. So we will start with item No. 23, and 11 this is Nick Merado. He is -- can you tell the 12 committee what your title is? 13 MR. MERADO: Nicholas Merado, director 14 of operations, Lady Bug Club, LLC. 15 MR. LERNER: And Mr. Merado, can you 16 tell us about what happened on the night, Incident 17 No. 23, on the night of September 20, 2008? There 18 was a walk-in battery complaint that came into 19 District 7, person claimed that they had been 20 punched several times in the face. And what is 21 the applicant's position as to that particular 22 incident? 23 MR. MERADO: Our position in regards to 24 Item No. 23 is -- 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Merado, could you 25 1 actually just please pull the microphone a little 2 bit closer to you? Thank you. 3 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Chair, could I 4 interject an objection? Unless the applicant is 5 going to allow voir dire of this witness, we have 6 no basis to believe he has any personal knowledge 7 regarding anything he is going to testify to. He 8 is a supervisor, he is a manager. I think any 9 information he has to provide has to be based on 10 personal knowledge: what he saw; what he heard; 11 not what he was told by staff; not what was told a 12 subsequent day, the following week or yesterday 13 when they prepared this case and decided they have 14 to rebut every item in the police report, because 15 there is 18 of them. 16 So I think, we can go through this 17 exercise, but if we want to do this truly 18 properly, if they want to conduct this like a 19 full-scale trial, jury trial, I'm happy to do it, 20 but I will object then to any testimony that is 21 not first established to be based on personal 22 knowledge. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm just going to ask 24 you to clarify Alderman Bauman's role in this. 25 I'm a little confused as to why an alderman is 26 1 objecting on legal grounds when there is a raft of 2 attorneys sitting around the table. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ultimately, I think that 4 he is the alderman for the district. And I'll 5 concur if his testimony is not firsthand 6 knowledge, that I will stricken it from the 7 record. I think that you would likewise do so 8 with any additional testimony that would made by 9 others based on what they heard through the 10 neighborhood. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, you just 12 allowed quadruple hearsay. We sat and listened to 13 a woman read a report that was a synopsis of other 14 reports that were from police officers who heard 15 it from somebody else. All we're asking for is to 16 respond to that. The committee -- this is why I'm 17 telling you, the police are objecting. They just 18 got to put in uncorroborated quadruple hearsay, 19 and now we're not allowed to respond in a much 20 simpler way. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And hearsay. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: That's the ruling of the 23 chair? 24 MR. SHCRIMPF: Mr. Chairman? 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Schrimpf, you don't 27 1 need to add any more to the record. I heard it, I 2 made my ruling, and my ruling is what stands here, 3 and then you can go to court over it. The last 4 thing I need besides two attorneys is a third 5 attorney to come in, with all due respect, and a 6 fourth and a fifth. And I appreciate that 7 viewpoint, and Mr. Halbrooks, you can argue that 8 one in court. I'm certain that it's going to go 9 there on that ground, but that is the operating 10 procedure of this committee, to my knowledge, of 11 my ten years, has operated under and as operated 12 under before that. And if there is going to be a 13 point where it's going to be challenged, then so 14 be it, let it be challenged. 15 That's an official document. We have an 16 individual here who is providing personal 17 testimony. He is coming as a witness. There are 18 special -- we use and treat the police reports in 19 a way different than we treat personal testimony 20 that comes under oath. So with regards to your 21 objection, it will be duly noted. 22 Mr. Lerner, you may proceed. What I'll 23 ask, if your witness here has things that he knows 24 from firsthand, I have no problem with it. But 25 Alderman Bauman raises that objection, I'm going 28 1 to allow it the same way I will allow you to raise 2 an objection if there is somebody who is 3 testifying against this club who is not testifying 4 firsthand testimony. Please proceed. 5 MR. LERNER: Thank you Chairman. Is 6 there any firsthand knowledge you have about 7 Incident No. 23? What can you tell us about it? 8 MR. MERADO: From a firsthand account, 9 we have no evidence that this incident ever 10 happened, and from firsthand account, most all 11 incidents that happen in the club are brought to 12 ownership/management's attention where we then 13 would, you know, address it and take every 14 precaution and every method we would need to do to 15 assist a person in need. So we have no knowledge 16 of this situation. 17 MR. LERNER: Thank you. And then I'd 18 like to address Incidents 24 through 30 and 19 Incident 32 in a group. These are a whole bunch 20 of incidents listed on the synopsis for traffic 21 and crowd control issues. For the Incidents 24 22 through 30, there are actually times noting on the 23 synopsis from when the Milwaukee Police Department 24 arrived on scene, and those times are between 25 10:35 p.m. and 1:12 a.m. What can you tell us 29 1 about that work by the Milwaukee Police 2 Department? 3 MR. MERADO: Well, from firsthand 4 knowledge, we hear and we acknowledge and notice 5 when there is police presence outside, we always 6 are concerned and wondering why, or if there was a 7 certain incident or anything of that nature that 8 we would have to talk about or deal with. And on 9 many of these occasions, there was simply, in our 10 view, not too much of traffic or crowd control due 11 to the times that the police department arrived. 12 A lot of the times here are as people are either 13 inside the club or maybe on their way to the club, 14 but really some of these times are not at the end 15 of the evening. 16 And that's our firsthand knowledge of 17 the amount of time and effort that the police 18 department puts in as to this traffic, crowd 19 control. 20 MR. LERNER: So it's your position, as 21 manager of the club, being familiar with the times 22 that the club operates, that 10:35 p.m. to 1:12 23 a.m. would not be times when these kinds of issues 24 would present themselves. 25 MR. MERADO: No, as director of 30 1 operations, I would say no to all that. 2 MR. LERNER: Okay. Incident No. 31, 3 February 7, 2009, at 2:10 a.m., the synopsis 4 states that police, Milwaukee Police Department 5 squads were dispatched for a battery at the club, 6 but upon arriving, they found that there was a 7 large melee. There is further reference to 8 statements that Mr. Manjee made that was made to a 9 private promotor, which we will ask Mr. Manjee 10 about those. What can you tell us about what 11 occurred that night? 12 MR. MERADO: Well, I can tell you that 13 at 2:10 a.m. I was outside as well. People were 14 leaving the establishment. We had called last 15 call that particular night around 1:30, 1:40, so 16 it was probably the last few people coming out. 17 Two to three individuals were in the middle of 18 Water Street between Wisconsin and Michigan 19 arguing and maybe being very animated. At that 20 point, due to the fact that other people were 21 exiting the facility at the same time, it may have 22 given the impression that more people were 23 involved in this melee than two to three people. 24 But it's my, my opinion or my knowledge of seeing 25 the situation as it was, that it was -- the word 31 1 "melee" may have been a little strong, in my 2 opinion. 3 MR. LERNER: And like I said, I will get 4 to Mr. Manjee about the statements that he made, 5 but just to ask you a general question about when 6 the club has promoters on hand. When the club has 7 promoters, what are your policies? Does the 8 promoter tell you who to let in, or do you tell 9 the promoter, "These are the rules and this is 10 what you have to live by"? 11 MR. MERADO: Whenever we have a promoter 12 come in and try to place an event at 618, just 13 like Live Nation or AEG would do at the Bradley 14 Center or anywhere else, there are policies and 15 procedures that they have to follow by, and it's a 16 long drawn-out conversation and contractual 17 agreement that's put together. But in every 18 contractual agreement that we have with a 19 promoter, it always states the capacity levels 20 that we would be at, which is well below the legal 21 capacity. It always states that every person 22 coming into the club, including performers and 23 their entourage, would have to be ID'd, would have 24 to be patted down, whatever, would have to appear 25 in the dress code, everyone would have to follow 32 1 under the same rules and regulations. 2 Now, in the event that they may have 3 sold tickets in advance, a disclaimer is noted on 4 all tickets stating that if a person is denied 5 access to 618-22, any violation of the policy or 6 conduct code, dress code, that person has to get a 7 full refund immediately upon request to alleviate 8 any of the problems. Um, we can control and we 9 can identify people coming into the club who are 10 about to pay, but if people have purchased tickets 11 in advance, that disclaimer is on the back of 12 every purchased ticket. So they know if there is 13 any question as to what our rules are, that they 14 should call in and ask. 15 In addition to that, we require every 16 promoter or performer to provide liability 17 insurance for their performance that particular 18 night at our particular establishment. So even 19 though a promoter may come in and bring a show and 20 charge a fee for the event, the access to the 21 venue and everything else still falls under the 22 rules and regulations of 618. 23 MR. LERNER: So in no way, shape or form 24 does the promoter ever come to the club and tell 25 you who to let people -- or who to let in the 33 1 door, it's still up to -- your door person is 2 employed by you. 3 MR. MERADO: Absolutely. 4 MR. LERNER: Now, if I could ask some 5 questions to Mr. Manjee. Mr. Manjee, in Incident 6 No. 31, it states that you made statements to the 7 police that a private promoter had insisted on 8 letting certain people in that night. Did you 9 ever make a statement to that effect to the 10 police? 11 MR. MANJEE: No, I did not say that. 12 MR. LERNER: And would you not say 13 something like that to the police because it's at 14 your discretion as to who comes in the club and 15 not the private promoter? 16 MR. MANJEE: Exactly. 17 MR. LERNER: Okay. And there is also a 18 final statement on here, on Incident 31, that said 19 you had told the police that you had just replaced 20 many of your security staff and that the doorman 21 wasn't sure what to look for. Can you clarify 22 this at all? I mean, was the doorman simply a new 23 doorman and he was untrained, or was he new and he 24 was properly trained and knew exactly what to look 25 for? 34 1 MR. MANJEE: No, he was properly 2 trained, but we just opened, it was the first 3 night. So everything -- you know, getting 4 situated the first night so plus the crowd, 5 everybody knows we are open so they came out at 6 one time. 7 MR. LERNER: Okay. But the doorman who 8 was there, even though it was maybe his first 9 night, he was trained and you felt that he was 10 prepared to be there? 11 MR. MANJEE: Yes, he was. 12 MR. LERNER: Okay. Thank you. Moving 13 on to Incident No. 33, this occurred on February 14 15, 2009, at 1:52 a.m. An MPD squad observed a 15 large crowd outside the club, um, some people 16 arguing in the street and observed a woman lying 17 on the ground whose wrists had been fractured. 18 What can you tell us about that, Mr. Merado? 19 MR. MERADO: My firsthand knowledge of 20 this situation was, at the end of the evening as 21 we were letting out via the coat check area, a few 22 individuals got into a heated argument and 23 discussion. This young lady who at that point had 24 already been outside of the club, not ejected, she 25 walked out on her own, was trying to gain access 35 1 back into the club to retrieve her coat, which is 2 absolutely fine, but unfortunately, it's our 3 policy that once you leave the establishment, you 4 need to be re-ID'd and re-patted down, if you 5 will, or double checked, because let's face it, we 6 can't remember everyone. At that point, when she 7 was not as cooperative, I would have been happy to 8 go get her coat, and said wait a few minutes, she 9 became upset and irate. At that time, she 10 attacked one of our guards. In self-defense, he 11 put his hands up, pushed away to protect himself. 12 Due to her high heels, or loss of balance, she 13 fell backwards onto her butt and braced her fall 14 with her wrists and evidently sustained some 15 injuries. That's what happened. 16 MR. LERNER: And was this incident 17 reviewed by the DA's Office at all? 18 MR. MERADO: Yes, it was. 19 MR. LERNER: And is it correct to say 20 that the District Attorney's Office after seeing a 21 video, after seeing a surveillance tape of what 22 actually transpired, closed out their file? 23 MR. MERADO: That's correct. That is 24 exactly what happened. 25 MR. LERNER: Do we have that video tape 36 1 here today? 2 MR. MERADO: I believe so. 3 MR. LERNER: Do we -- 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Can't play it right now. 5 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: We can play it. 6 MR. LERNER: We can provide the video at 7 some point later in the hearing. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: It's on a proprietary 9 thing. 10 MR. LERNER: All right. Incident No. 11 34, do you have any objection to Incident No. 34? 12 MR. MERADO: None whatsoever. 13 MR. LERNER: Incident No. 35 on the 14 synopsis is from March 14, 2009, at 2:00 a.m. It 15 states that a Milwaukee Police Department squad 16 observed traffic backing up due to your club, and 17 it says numerous squads and a sergeant were needed 18 to clear traffic congestion as well as other 19 incidents. What are your thoughts as to that 20 particular entry? 21 MR. MERADO: Well, obviously in front of 22 the club there is a street so traffic may get 23 congested due to people using Water Street to gain 24 access to I-94 from many locations other than 25 ours. But the other incidents that are mentioned 37 1 here, I have no idea what that means. We have -- 2 we can't respond to something that's kind of 3 vague, other incidents, we don't know. 4 MR. LERNER: So based on your firsthand 5 knowledge of being there that night, you are not 6 aware of any other incidents that would merit that 7 kind of entry in the synopsis? 8 MR. MERADO: No, absolutely not. 9 MR. LERNER: Incident No. 36 on the 10 synopsis, May 31, 2009, 2:20 a.m., MPD was doing 11 crowd control at the club. Officers observed your 12 security trying to escort a subject out of the 13 middle of the street who was being disorderly. 14 The guard was hit and punched, and after a foot 15 pursuit, this individual was detained, and he was 16 still combative at that point. What can you tell 17 us about that? 18 MR. MERADO: Well, I can tell you that 19 the Milwaukee Police Department was conducting 20 their crowd control on the corner of Michigan and 21 Broadway, which was, you know, a block, 22 block-and-a-half away from our facility. And yes, 23 there was an individual, very animated, in the 24 middle of the street, flailing his arms, and we as 25 a group tried to address the individual that -- 38 1 you know, "Come on sir, get out of the street. 2 You're endangering yourself as well as others 3 possibly." And because we were trying to help him 4 not get hurt, he got extremely agitated. He did 5 attack one of our security staff. Since the MPD 6 was already there for their crowd control and 7 traffic issues, it was noted. And I believe that 8 at the time when they were trying to detain or 9 give a -- speak to the individual who was yelling 10 expletives and everything like that, he took off, 11 and as he took off, our staff tracked him down and 12 caught him while MPD was following closely behind. 13 And then we were able to help them I guess detain 14 this individual, and I believe, I believe he was 15 arrested. 16 MR. LERNER: And just as a follow-up, 17 has your club been asked to give any further 18 assistance on this matter with prosecuting this 19 individual? 20 MR. MERADO: Yes, yes. 21 MR. LERNER: And have you been assisting 22 with that as requested by the authorities? 23 MR. MERADO: We're as cooperative as we 24 can possibly be, as always. 25 MR. LERNER: Okay. Incident No. 37 39 1 on -- 2 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 4 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Was that individual, do 5 you know whether that individual had been a patron 6 at your club or not? 7 MR. MERADO: I believe he was. 8 MR. LERNER: Incident No. 37 on the 9 synopsis, June 14, 2009, at 1:26 a.m., MPD was 10 dispatched to the club for a battery complaint. 11 There was a victim who was apparently observed 12 bleeding from the right side of her head who 13 claimed she had been hit with a bottle. What can 14 you tell us about that? 15 MR. MERADO: Well, um, it seemed that 16 two females were in an altercation, and we saw one 17 of the females bleeding at the scene, which was 18 inside the club. Um, at that point, she said she 19 got hit by something. We looked around to see if 20 there was an empty bottle or glass or something. 21 There was no broken glass, nothing around. Um, 22 let's see, you know, we called the police. We 23 tried to review the video tape with the police 24 department to see if we could find who the 25 assailant was. And it was -- the altercation took 40 1 place in a not-as-well-lit area of the club as 2 others. And it wasn't clear as to who would have 3 hit her or even if there was an object used. 4 MR. LERNER: And when you went and 5 looked at the area where this incident allegedly 6 occurred after the fact, did you find any broken 7 glass or broken bottles or anything that provided 8 any evidence to you whatsoever that somebody had 9 been hit with a bottle? 10 MR. MERADO: No. 11 MR. LERNER: And does the club still 12 serve bottles like this? 13 MR. MERADO: Well, we don't know if it 14 was a bottle of beer, we don't know, if it was 15 glass. We typically -- 99 percent of the drinks 16 we serve are in plastic cups. 17 MR. LERNER: Okay. Incident No. 38 on 18 July 3, 2009, at 3:39 a.m., MPD was dispatched to 19 St. Mary's Hospital for a battery complaint. The 20 victim stated that a -- someone they knew had hit 21 them with a martini glass inside the club. Victim 22 received seven stitches to her cheek. What can 23 you tell us about this? 24 MR. MERADO: I can tell you firsthand 25 that an incident of that nature or that ferocity, 41 1 that would cause a gash to the face causing seven 2 stitches, would probably cause a little bit of 3 bloodshed as well. And typically, that person or 4 their friends would be extremely irate or asking 5 for assistance. We have no knowledge that this 6 even happened. No one came forward, no one said 7 to us we're hurt, there was no -- we have no 8 knowledge of this whatsoever. All I know is that 9 if something like this would have happened, we 10 certainly, without a shadow of a doubt, would have 11 been notified one way or another by someone, and 12 there would have certainly been remnants of debris 13 or blood or something that we would have 14 addressed. So in this particular case, we have no 15 clue as to if this even happened. 16 MR. LERNER: And is it safe to say that 17 something -- if something like this had happened 18 at that club that you would have known about it 19 almost immediately? 20 MR. MERADO: Absolutely, immediately, 21 yes. 22 MR. LERNER: So you think it's likely 23 this probably didn't occur? 24 MR. MERADO: That's probably likely. 25 MR. LERNER: Okay. Incident No. 39, on 42 1 August 1, 2009, 2:45 a.m., MPD responded to a 2 shooting investigation at 250 East Wisconsin 3 Avenue. During their investigation, one of the 4 witnesses said that he had been at the club with 5 his friend who was the victim, that they had been 6 waiting outside to talk to women, and that at one 7 point, that they were standing on the corner of 8 North Broadway and East Wisconsin. They were 9 apparently approached by individuals in a 10 four-door SUV, who fired a single shot, and the 11 victim was hit. 12 I guess my first question is, the club 13 isn't located at 250 East Wisconsin Avenue, 14 correct? 15 MR. MERADO: That's correct. 16 MR. LERNER: So how far away is 250 East 17 Wisconsin Avenue from you? 18 MR. MERADO: Two blocks. 19 MR. LERNER: Is this -- this is where 20 the club is on Water Street? 21 MR. MERADO: Yes, sir. 22 MR. LERNER: You think -- I believe this 23 is Wisconsin Avenue, maybe 250 East Wisconsin. 24 MR. MERADO: That's right, closer to the 25 corner of Broadway this happened. 43 1 MR. LERNER: So it's probably a good, 2 almost two blocks away from the club? 3 MR. MERADO: Right, and -- 4 MR. LERNER: What can you tell us about 5 this incident? 6 MR. MERADO: Well, as it's stated, this 7 incident happened at 2:45 a.m., which is a good 45 8 minutes after we closed the doors that night. As 9 part of our routine, we pick up debris. If there 10 is debris from our club or not, we circle the area 11 and patrol the area for different things. And at 12 that time, it was our people that happened to be 13 in the area when this happened to this gentleman. 14 And we assisted him after he was assaulted, and I 15 can honestly say that the ticket we got for 16 presence of underage, this gentleman was never in 17 the club that night. 18 MR. LERNER: In fact, before I go on, I 19 believe the individual, the victim is actually 20 here today. Mr. Brandon Robbins, are you here? 21 Could you stand up for the committee for a second? 22 Could you just state your name for the committee 23 and verify that this was actually you that was 24 shot in this unfortunate incident? 25 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, my name is Brandon 44 1 Robbins. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir, what we are going 3 to have to do is, we'll have to get you on the 4 microphone if you're going to respond to that. If 5 you are able to, take the standing microphone, 6 otherwise if you need to be seated, that's one 7 thing. 8 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Is there going to be 9 cross examination of this witness now? 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yes, there will be 11 opportunity for cross examination if you so 12 desire, yeah. And typically, this isn't the 13 normal order, but they are addressing items in the 14 police report, so I'm going to give them a little 15 bit of latitude to bring witnesses to that. 16 MR. LERNER: Thank you, Chair. 17 MR. ROBBINS: My name is actually 18 Brandon Robbins. I was the victim of the gunshot 19 that night. I was actually around the corner on 20 -- I was on Third and North Avenue when my brother 21 actually called me and told me to come down there 22 because he was actually too drunk to drive his 23 car. So I met him down there, which was around 24 2:40, might have been 2:30 or 2:45. His friends 25 had actually left him, because -- he knew were 45 1 they were at, but he was following girls, and it 2 was more than one girl. So I started talking to a 3 female, and he was talking to the one where 4 actually the car pulled up, and they said like, 5 "We need your money," or whatever, and we took off 6 running and they started shooting. After that, I 7 mean, when the police got there, I mean, they were 8 so more concerned about which club did I attend, 9 than helping me with even the situation, to where 10 the 618 security guard actually came over and 11 stopped the bleeding and called the police for me. 12 So my, actually ambulance ride -- my whole 13 ambulance ride there to the hospital, they kept 14 asking me, asking me, over and over, "What club 15 did you attend? What club did you attend?" So 16 when I told them I didn't attend a club, they 17 actually used my brother's statement and made 18 another statement to which I actually went down 19 there with my father to see what the statement was 20 about. They didn't let me talk to anyone about 21 that statement. So I was never in the place, in 22 the club that night. I just came down there 23 because my brother was too drunk to drive. So I 24 picked him up, and unfortunately, I ended up 25 getting shot and run into something, a situation 46 1 that I never wished I was in. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Lerner, if you could 3 even grab the microphone, I want to get you on the 4 record. 5 MR. LERNER: Sure. Just to follow up, 6 two questions: One, you understand that you're 7 under oath right now? 8 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, sir. 9 MR. LERNER: And two, again, were you 10 ever in the club that night? 11 MR. ROBBINS: No, sir. 12 MR. LERNER: Okay. Thank you. And one 13 other -- 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Go ahead. I just wanted 15 to make certain, we had not gotten an address for 16 you, so if you could provide an address for the 17 record, please. 18 MR. ROBBINS: 3147 North 45th Street. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Robbins, there may 22 be additional questions of you here. Alderman 23 Kovac. 24 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Were you drinking that 25 night? 47 1 MR. ROBBINS: No sir. 2 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Because the police 3 report says you were extremely intoxicated. 4 MR. ROBBINS: As the police report said, 5 the police never asked me anything about me 6 drinking. They was more concerned about which 7 club I attended than my health. 8 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Okay. So they never 9 asked you if you had been drinking that night? 10 MR. ROBBINS: They just took my 11 brother's statement and ran with the statement, 12 and when I tried to make a follow-up to which I 13 was actually -- I filled out -- when I went to the 14 hospital, they gave you a chance to fill out -- 15 I'm not familiar with -- what's the paper -- you 16 are like the victim of a crime. So when I needed 17 the police statement, they actually didn't give it 18 to me. 19 So they -- I actually got the letter in 20 the mail today saying that I was -- that 21 basically, I didn't get the situation to where 22 they was going to help me out with the money for 23 my, um, my being a victim of a crime. I never 24 actually read this statement they said I gave 25 until today, which I never ever gave a statement. 48 1 So the statement that they have, I'm still trying 2 to figure out where that statement come from. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are there other 4 questions by committee members of this witness? 5 Alderman Bauman? 6 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 7 MR. LERNER: Can I object, your Honor, 8 or Chairman Bohl? Obviously, the committee has a 9 right to ask Mr. Robbins whatever questions they 10 want, but I don't know if Alderman Bauman has a 11 right to cross examine him. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, I'm going to 13 determine that he does, and your objection will be 14 duly noted for the record. 15 MR. LERNER: Thank you. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Bauman. 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Robbins, you were 18 called by your brother, you observed he was 19 heavily intoxicated, is that correct? 20 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, sir. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: He told you he 22 couldn't drive home, is that -- 23 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, sir. 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay. And it was your 25 understanding, he was at the 618 Club? 49 1 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, sir. 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Was there anything 4 additional that you wanted to ask this witness, 5 Mr. Lerner? 6 MR. LERNER: No. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Robbins. 8 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? One quick 9 question, you're -- how old are you? 10 MR. ROBBINS: I'm actually 21. 11 ALDERMAN KOVAC: But at the time, you 12 were under 21? 13 MR. ROBBINS: Yes sir. 14 ALDERMAN KOVAC: How old is your -- 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Make sure he gets on -- 16 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Again, how old are you? 17 MR. ROBBINS: I'm 21. 18 ALDERMAN KOVAC: But at the time of the 19 incident, you were 20? 20 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, sir. 21 ALDERMAN KOVAC: How old is your 22 brother? 23 MR. ROBBINS: 22. 24 MR. LERNER: And just to verify, you 25 weren't at the club that night? 50 1 MR. ROBBINS: Yes, sir. 2 MR. LERNER: Thank you. Now, Incident 3 No. 39 also states that there was a 4 presence-of-underage citation that was issued to 5 Mr. Manjee, and I would like to ask Mr. Manjee, 6 could you tell us what actually happened with that 7 citation? It says that in the system, it says 8 that it was unknown or not in the system. So I 9 guess MPD doesn't know what happened to it. Could 10 you tell us what happened to that citation? 11 MR. MANJEE: We went to the district 12 attorney and it was dropped, they dropped it. 13 MR. LERNER: So it was dismissed? 14 MR. MANJEE: Yes, sir. 15 MR. LERNER: Okay. Thank you. And 16 finally, Incident No. 40 on the synopsis, do you 17 have any objection to that incident, Mr. Merado? 18 MR. MERADO: No, we don't. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Was there 20 anything additional you wanted to provide in terms 21 of an opening at this point here or addressing the 22 police report? 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, I don't -- I guess 24 I didn't envision that was an opening. I thought 25 that was part of -- 51 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I thought your opening 2 was when you went on about your synopsis and 3 providing the documented motion and other things 4 along those lines, but if you have not provided an 5 opening, please -- 6 MR. HALBROOKS: No, I'm sorry, I guess 7 what I'm saying is I thought we were way past the 8 opening and we were into our case. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I didn't know if you had 10 additional testimony that you wanted to make. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You will be given an 13 opportunity for that, Mr. Halbrooks, if you have 14 provided your opening. Are you telling me -- I 15 just want to be clear, are you telling me that you 16 have sufficiently provided your opening? A yes or 17 no would suffice here. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. What happens next, 19 is my question? 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. What happens next 21 is, it is the protocol of the committee, and in 22 code, it reads that individuals who are in 23 opposition to a license are those who will be 24 heard from in testimony first. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Can I cite a case law on 52 1 that? 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Schrimpf? 3 MR. SCHRIMPF: Yes. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Individuals who are in 5 opposition are, according to our code, those who 6 will be going first prior to those who are 7 supporters of the licenses, is that correct? 8 MR. SCHRIMPF: Yes. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: The question is, who has 10 the burden of proof here today? 11 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman, if I may 12 step in on this one. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, there's no need to. 14 I'll let the attorney handle it. Thank you. Mr. 15 Halbrooks. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Then I would also make a 17 record. If we have the burden of proof, we should 18 get to go first. If we have the burden of proof 19 and they go first -- there isn't anywhere else in 20 America where that happens, only here. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That may be, and what 22 I'll say is contact your state legislator. With 23 that, of the individuals who were here that were 24 sworn in, I'd like to see individuals who would be 25 considered neighbors or residents who wish to 53 1 testify in opposition to the license. May I see a 2 show of hands. Opposition to the license, one, 3 two individuals, three, four. What I'm going to 4 ask that you do is that, unless you indicate to me 5 otherwise, and this applies to all individuals on 6 both sides, if you are not capable of taking the 7 standing microphone and speaking to the standing 8 microphone where you may have some disability or 9 some discomfort for some -- for whatever reason, 10 if that is the case for you, can you please let me 11 know, and we will ask one of the individuals to 12 relinquish a chair at the front table here. 13 Otherwise, I will expect that you will be able to 14 take the front microphone, and what I'm going to 15 ask that we do is, with individuals that are 16 speaking now, is that while one is doing that, if 17 other individuals could start to line up here. 18 And if there is a seat, you may have a seat in the 19 front row. If not, I'm going to ask that you 20 stand, that we proceed in an orderly fashion. 21 Because I don't want to get to the point where we 22 take a lot of time when a person gets out of the 23 last row, gets up, walks around, and then the next 24 thing I know is people start looking back and 25 forth as who is going to go next, no you go next, 54 1 I get up, I sit down, I want to proceed in an 2 orderly fashion for all individuals. So I'm going 3 to ask that of those individuals who are in 4 opposition, if one could please move forward right 5 down here and immediately take the standing 6 microphone. If the others, unless you are not 7 capable, if you could at least, for the time 8 being, stand, and then we will take you in an 9 orderly fashion. 10 Sir, you're the first one up, so we will 11 be happy to take you, okay. Same rules apply as 12 was indicated earlier, name and address for the 13 record. If there is a questionable spelling of 14 your name, if you could please spell that for our 15 court reporter and for our record. Thank you. 16 And then your testimony. 17 MR. WESSON: My name is Ben Wesson, 18 W-E-S-S-O-N. I live at 514 North Water Street, 19 that's Milwaukee 53202. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, and your 21 testimony, sir. 22 MR. WESSON: From my position where I 23 live, I'm on the second floor of an apartment 24 building, and we have windows that face both the 25 rear and the front. The front faces Water Street, 55 1 the rear faces a parking lot behind us. From our 2 front windows, we see the Chase Bank parking lot, 3 and the rear windows, I don't know the company 4 that owns that lot or who runs that lot, but 5 literally, every weekend it is chaos in front of 6 our apartment and chaos to the rear of our 7 apartment. And the nonsense that happens in front 8 of our street in terms of loud music from cars 9 passing by, cars driving into the parking lot, 10 cars then parking in the parking lots, people 11 coming out of the cars and then walking north up 12 Water Street, it wakes up me and my wife every 13 weekend. Um, that noise is something that 14 continues on until well past bar time, usually 15 about half-hour to 45 minutes beyond bar time. 16 Usually around that time we then hear squad cars 17 in the street. We will see the squad cars' lights 18 as they perform traffic stops on our street, on 19 Water Street. Oftentimes we'll hear people on 20 loudspeakers. I don't know if that's MPD or 21 another law enforcement agency, or if it's 22 security guards telling people to move on, get out 23 of the street. 24 So that general noise I think is a big 25 nuisance for the neighborhood that I live in. And 56 1 the one thing I know is that noise does not exist 2 when the Club 618 is closed, and that's in the 3 beginning of the week. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 5 testimony. Questions by committee members? 6 Alderman Hamilton. 7 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: How long have you 8 lived at this apartment? 9 MR. WESSON: Mid May 2009. 10 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: 2009, mid May. And 11 the club was there when you moved there? 12 MR. WESSON: From what I know, yes. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 14 committee? Alderman Kovac. 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: When you say -- so the 16 club was there when you moved there, but there are 17 some nights when the club is closed and some when 18 it's open. So when you discriminate between -- 19 that's what you mean, when the club is not open on 20 a particular night. 21 MR. WESSON: Their operation hours, they 22 are not a seven-night-a-week club. It's on the 23 weekends when they are open. Usually it's, I 24 believe it's Wednesday through sometimes on Sunday 25 they have events. But you know, Monday, Tuesday 57 1 it's quiet. There's one bar that's next to my 2 building. That bar is consistently dead; there is 3 never anyone in there. I know there is a bar 4 nearby, The Swinging Door. That bar is pretty 5 dead. The only other bar that I know that is in 6 the area is 618. There you go. 7 ALDERMAN KOVAC: When you say it's total 8 chaos, there is noise, what do you observe in 9 these two parking lots that you can see? 10 MR. WESSON: People yelling, screaming, 11 carrying on, just, you know, 2:30 in the morning, 12 if you've been in a bar all night, usually not the 13 same frame of mind as you were when you entered 14 the bar. People are in lively moods, they are 15 ready to carry on with their night. I don't know 16 what they are doing, but they're loud, screaming, 17 yelling, blasting music, and as a resident there, 18 I don't see why I have to listen to that every 19 weekend. 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Do you observe 21 fighting? 22 MR. WESSON: No, I've never observed 23 fighting. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Any other questions? 25 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair? 58 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton. 2 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Of the club owner. 3 Do you secure -- well, not necessarily secure, but 4 do you monitor the parking lot? 5 MR. MANJEE: Which lot? 6 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: The lot that's 7 behind the building, I think you -- there is a 8 parking lot behind his apartment building, is that 9 correct? 10 MR. MANJEE: Yes. 11 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: That patrons of the 12 club park. 13 MR. MANJEE: We do walk over there and 14 will tell our patrons to leave, so we go over 15 there. Our security goes over there too. 16 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: The security goes 17 over there? 18 MR. MANJEE: Yeah. And MPD knows about 19 it. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions from the 21 attorneys representing 618? 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 23 Alderman Hamilton, through the chair, we have not 24 -- we have a significant, have made a significant 25 attempt to make a presentation regarding that 59 1 parking lot. We have the gentleman who manages 2 the parking lot for CPS. We subpoenaed him, he is 3 in the back of the room. We intend for him to 4 participate in this hearing. We had a lengthy 5 meeting with the captain and him and the owners of 6 the club, before the meeting. 7 I want to -- it's not lost to me what 8 this gentleman just testified to. He didn't say 9 anything about the club. He is talking about the 10 parking lot, and I'm going to ask him some 11 questions about that. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, would you 13 be able to at least use the microphone here and 14 address it? We do want to keep you on the record, 15 and if you need to, you can actually even pull 16 that up if you need to. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Wesson, do you see 18 the map in front of you here? 19 MR. WESSON: Yes. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Your apartment is in the 21 500 block. Is that the block here that I'm 22 pointing to? 23 MR. WESSON: Correct. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, and you 25 talked about the parking lot in front of you. 60 1 That's the Chase parking lot at the bottom of the 2 picture? 3 MR. WESSON: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And you talked about the 5 parking lot behind you when you're looking out the 6 back of your building. You are not talking about 7 the parking lot immediately adjacent, you are 8 talking about the second parking lot, correct? 9 MR. WESSON: I'm talking about both. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: This parking lot here? 11 MR. WESSON: Correct. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And who -- all right, 13 what do you observe in the parking lot that I'm 14 pointing to, the CPS parking lot on the east side 15 of Broadway? Is the activity you're describing, 16 when you say "chaos," that's the parking lot you 17 are talking about? 18 MR. WESSON: It would be parking on the 19 street, parking in the lots. Um, I wouldn't say 20 on a consistent basis either one gets filled up, 21 per se, but you will have clusters of cars in all 22 these areas. Cars will then meet in the street 23 here between the two lots and groups of cars and 24 people will get out and talk. I mean, I don't -- 25 MR. HALBROOKS: When you say "here," 61 1 you're pointing to Broadway in between Michigan 2 and -- between Clybourn and Michigan? 3 MR. WESSON: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Let me ask you something 5 else. Do you see anybody managing these parking 6 lots on behalf of the owners at all, or is it just 7 free-form at that point in the evening? 8 MR. WESSON: I have noticed at the Chase 9 lot, and I believe CPS might run that, I'm not 10 sure, but I have seen somebody at the gate there 11 before. I assume they are monitoring who goes in 12 and out. That was at the beginning of the night, 13 usually around like 10:30 or 11:00. For the rear 14 lots, I haven't noticed if anybody is back there 15 monitoring it. 16 But again, this lot that is directly 17 behind my building and several other buildings, 18 it's a large lot. The lot then on the other side 19 of the street is about, you know, twice the size. 20 So if someone is monitoring that lot, there isn't 21 a formal gate or any fencing that goes around it, 22 there is only one way in and one way out. So I 23 don't know if there is a booth or if somebody 24 monitored there. I've never noticed. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, this picture that 62 1 is provided for us here through the magic of 2 Google, the parking you observe at night isn't 3 orderly in these lines, is it? 4 MR. WESSON: No. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: It's cars parked 6 wherever they want? 7 MR. WESSON: Well, not -- the problem 8 is, right now you have rows and rows and rows, I'm 9 assuming this picture was taken during the 10 daytime, especially since the Chase lot you can 11 see the top of it. At night, you will have 12 clusters of cars, so it's not in line. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: What your testimony is 14 is that these three lots have individuals staffing 15 the parking lot, grab the cash for the cars coming 16 in, and then the people leave? 17 MR. WESSON: No, I didn't testify to 18 that. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Oh, I thought you said 20 the Chase lot, people were there and then they 21 disappear? 22 MR. WESSON: I said I have noticed at 23 around 10:30, 11:00 at night, I have noticed on 24 one occasion or two occasions a person at the 25 front. That Chase lot has a gate, so you can't 63 1 pass into the ramp without going through that 2 gate, and I have noticed somebody at that gate. I 3 assume it's an employee of the lot. Other than 4 that, that's all I know. I don't know if they are 5 collecting money. I don't know if they are taking 6 tickets, I don't know. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: But you don't see 8 anybody at bar time? 9 MR. WESSON: No, I haven't checked into 10 that. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: If you were to order the 12 three lots in terms of problems, which one of the 13 three has the least problems? 14 MR. WESSON: The least? 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Of the three. 16 MR. WESSON: Because you only -- I can't 17 see -- the Chase lot has a -- the first level 18 where there are some spots available, I can see in 19 there. Most of the cars go up into the ramp, and 20 then there is kind of a wall, an iron wall that's 21 see-through, but I can't see directly in. The 22 lots behind me though are surface lots, and I can 23 see the whole thing. 24 There was one night we were looking out 25 the back and there were people -- 64 1 MR. HALBROOKS: When you say "we," you 2 are talking -- can you just testify about 3 yourself? 4 MR. WESSON: I thought he was testifying 5 as we for you guys? For myself, I can see people 6 standing on cars, dancing, loud music and standing 7 on cars. So I can see that to the rear of my 8 building, and this is at 2:30 in the morning. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Do you know 10 what time the 618 Club closes? 11 MR. WESSON: No, I assume they have to, 12 by law, be closed by 2:00. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: But you don't know what 14 time they close? 15 MR. WESSON: No. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. I noticed in 17 your testimony you don't have an actual complaint 18 about what goes on at the club. 19 MR. WESSON: Again, I don't stand out in 20 front of 618 and watch. I don't pay attention to 21 what is happening inside the club. I have never 22 been inside. All I know is it's noisy on the 23 nights they are open, it's quiet on the nights 24 they are closed. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: So you're here against 65 1 this club being renewed, having their license 2 renewed? 3 MR. WESSON: Correct. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And yet, it seems to me 5 that you're blaming the lawless parking lots for a 6 club that you don't really know anything about 7 what goes on. 8 MR. WESSON: Do you know anything about 9 what happens in these parking lots? Do you spend 10 your nights there? 11 MR. HALBROOKS: That is what I'm saying, 12 you are blaming that activity that occurs there on 13 the bar. 14 MR. WESSON: Yep. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And you've seen the 16 people come from the bars to go to those parking 17 lots? 18 MR. WESSON: I've see people go up the 19 street two the bar -- 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you see people from 21 the bar go to -- 22 MR. WESSON: I have seen people return 23 from the bar to go to those parking lots. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And so you 25 want the bar closed because of the behavior of 66 1 people that leave and are two, three blocks away? 2 MR. WESSON: That's not two, three 3 blocks away. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, one, two, three, 5 how far is it? 6 MR. WESSON: What about this, 7 half-a-block; parking lot. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand. I asked 9 which one was the worst. And so, the point is is 10 that nothing about the club, the management of 11 these parking lots, is your problem. 12 MR. WESSON: Nothing that happens 13 outside of my apartment is my problem. The 14 problem is when you have problems outside, wakes 15 me up at night, then it becomes my problem. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Right, and I agree. 17 What you're saying is, if individuals took 18 responsibility and managed their parking lots, and 19 certainly, if that was going on in your apartment, 20 you would expect to be held responsible, right? 21 MR. WESSON: Definitely. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay, so you expect 23 those parking lot people -- what you are really 24 asking of the aldermen, is to get those parking 25 lots under control? 67 1 MR. WESSON: No, I'm asking that this 2 center for all the people -- there is an 3 attraction in this area. For some reason, a bunch 4 of people want to be in this area at night. I 5 don't care what the attraction is. The reality 6 is, I don't want that noise at night. So if that 7 attraction was gone, then there is no noise. If I 8 took the parking lots away, I think people would 9 still come. If I took the club away, why would 10 people just come to these parking lots? 11 MR. HALBROOKS: So you want to close 12 down the club because of the people that go there 13 and long after they've left -- 14 MR. WESSON: Hey, if everybody else 15 wants to park five blocks north, away from my 16 apartment, that's fine with me. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 18 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Chair, I have some 19 questions for the witness. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Bauman. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: You did indicate that 22 your apartment faces both Water Street and the 23 parking lots to the east, correct? 24 MR. WESSON: Correct. 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Have you ever looked 68 1 out the front of your apartment to the Water 2 Street? 3 MR. WESSON: Yes. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Do you ever notice 5 activity out there when the club is open? 6 MR. WESSON: Yes. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: What do you notice on 8 Water Street? 9 MR. WESSON: I notice large groups of 10 people either walking to the club in the beginning 11 of the night, or at the end of the night, 12 returning the opposite direction heading south. 13 So it's either north up Water Street between 10:00 14 and 11:00 or so, and then south usually between 15 1:30 and 2:15, 2:30. 16 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And based on your 17 personal observation, are they proceeding in 18 orderly ways down the sidewalk, or how are they 19 proceeding at night? 20 MR. WESSON: They are proceeding like 21 groups of people just getting out of the bar drunk 22 and loud and obnoxious. 23 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Are they ever in the 24 street? 25 MR. WESSON: Yes, they go in the street, 69 1 they cross the street all back and forth, they 2 hang out in the street, they walk around, they 3 park cars in the street. I hear bottles to the 4 front of my building smashing. The next day, when 5 I move my car off Water Street, there is glass 6 near my car. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And the crossing of 8 streets that you've observed, happens at the 9 crosswalks? 10 MR. WESSON: No, not at the crosswalks, 11 it's happening right in front of my apartment. 12 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And do you ever notice 13 whether traffic is able to continue moving along 14 Water Street? 15 MR. WESSON: No, the traffic gets to a 16 stop, people will wait for cars to proceed right 17 in the middle. And I'm not at -- there is 18 stoplight to the south of my apartment and then a 19 stoplights to the north, but right in the middle, 20 people will stop and wait for cars to either turn 21 into that Chase lot or continue on, or stop, 22 talking to the people who they are talking to on 23 the sidewalks. That's how it goes until 24 eventually MPD clears the street out, and I've 25 noticed that because the lights that go, the 70 1 sirens. Usually that's when we look out the 2 window and see squads trying to move people back 3 and forth. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And all of this you 5 observed on Water Street on the public 6 right-of-way? 7 MR. WESSON: On the 500 block of Water 8 Street. 9 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair, I'm going to 11 object again. Typically, the way it works is the 12 person bringing forth the evidence asks the 13 questions first, and then the person in opposition 14 cross examines. We have a situation now where the 15 committee -- I sat quietly, Mr. Robbins testified 16 before, Mr. Bauman in his capacity of representing 17 the City of Milwaukee and objecting, has cross 18 examined. I sat here and listened to his cross 19 examination. Now, I ask questions, and Mr. Bauman 20 jumps in afterwards. That is inappropriate. He 21 should go first, and I should get to cross examine 22 after he is done. If he is going to play lawyer 23 on behalf on the city in this instance, he should 24 go first. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I will concur that he 71 1 should go right after the committee. 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: I'll be happy to go 3 first. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. Thank you 5 for your testimony here. Our next witness, and 6 again, if we could, in terms of available seats, 7 if there are other objectors, if they could at 8 least come and take a seat. 9 Good evening, your name and address for 10 the record. I know you have been through this 11 before. 12 MR. ARENSON: Chairman, Committee, my 13 name is Don Arenson, A-R-E-N-S-O-N. I live at 608 14 North Broadway, Milwaukee 53202. I'm in 15 opposition to the renewal of this license. We, 16 with respect to the attorney's comment, we do have 17 a video, and I'm choosing to not show this video 18 to belabor this point. Everything that's been 19 said with respect to the police department, Mr. 20 Bauman, and of course, Benjamin here, we have 21 personally viewed every issue that -- 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Arenson, I know you 23 may be speaking of you and your significant other, 24 I want you to focus on you. 25 MR. ARENSON: All right. I have 72 1 personally seen incidents regarding this club with 2 respect to rowdiness, loud music, noise, streets 3 being blocked, police cars, as many as a dozen at 4 a time and public urination right in front of our 5 building, both female and male, and conduct that 6 is just absolutely out of line. The threshold of 7 proper behavior is way over the line in this 8 particular issue. We, as a matter of fact, we 9 have monitored this thing for so long, we are both 10 very tired and can't even understand why this is 11 even going on to this point. All the facts are 12 right on the table, everybody knows what's going 13 on here. The learned attorneys are very good at 14 what they say, and I'm not being -- 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Arenson, I do want 16 you to focus on your knowledge because otherwise 17 we are going to drag out, and I'm going to get the 18 individuals from the other side, they are going to 19 be focusing on your testimony as opposed to 20 focusing on what they know, okay. "I, Mr. 21 Arenson, have seen this in the last year." And I 22 don't want you to focus on what happened in the 23 last year, what in this year have you seen, 24 period, and that is it. Then, sir, then you judge 25 the committee to, then you trust the committee to 73 1 do the right thing based on the evidence that's 2 presented forth. That's it, okay? That applies 3 to everyone. 4 MR. ARENSON: One of the incidents that 5 I'd specifically seen -- we saw, was on Halloween 6 evening, we heard shots. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You heard shots? 8 MR. ARENSON: Yes, we -- I heard shots. 9 We say people running out there, and I tried to 10 get a hold of police, but I didn't want to go 11 outside, there was too many people on the street, 12 the whole street. 13 The most recent incident that terrifies 14 both Mary and I, on October 28th at 9:15 in the 15 evening, as I'm watching television at my house, 16 we heard footsteps on our roof. I had Mary 17 immediately call 911. I went in my drawer, took 18 out a gun I have, went up the stairs to the roof. 19 When I got to the top of the stairs and we opened 20 the door, there were two men up there. I told 21 them, "I have a gun." They put their hands up. I 22 asked them what they were doing on the roof, they 23 said, "We work for 618 Live. We're checking to 24 see if anybody is breaking into cars." I then 25 asked them for their identification, and the man 74 1 said to me -- he was courteous -- well, I had a 2 gun on him with their hands in the air, he handed 3 me his card, and he told me who he was, and the 4 police are on the phone, Mary is on phone with the 5 police right behind us, and they -- I said I -- I 6 guess I did the wrong thing, they exited. I said, 7 "How did you get up here?" He said they came up a 8 ladder on the north end of our buildings. I own 9 the two buildings on the end on Broadway and 10 Michigan where we live. And they exited. I then 11 called -- talked to the police the next day, and I 12 talked to Officer Beuto (phonetic), and as I 13 understand it, a ticket was issued to the people 14 that were on the roof. Now that I don't know for 15 sure, but he told me they were going to do that, 16 he thought it might be. But it was totally 17 terrifying, and they told us they worked for 618 18 Live. That is an inexcusable conduct, in my 19 opinion. 20 The peaceful enjoyment of our 21 neighborhood that I pay hundreds of thousands of 22 taxes collectively with some other people here, we 23 don't have to listen to that or put up with that 24 kind of nonsense. I could go on and on, and I'm 25 sorry to belabor the point, Chairman, and I do 75 1 thank you. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Are there 3 questions by committee members of this witness? 4 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 6 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Arenson, I think 7 you should get it on the record because you are 8 saying we know what's going on. We've heard from 9 another witnesses, we heard from you last year, 10 but you should tell us what you've seen, how often 11 you've seen it this year. 12 MR. ARENSON: Well, specifically, as 13 reiterated by Benjamin here, unruly behavior in 14 the street, crossing, dozens of people in the 15 streets stopping traffic, public urination. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Arenson, if I may, 17 when you say one thing, I want you to, I want you 18 to just tell me, weekly, monthly, in the last 19 year. 20 MR. ARENSON: It happens every weekend 21 they are open. There is an issue every weekend. 22 Now, the police don't come every weekend, but they 23 come extremely -- you can see by the times that 24 are there. I don't know the time, but it's always 25 late at night, 2:00, 3:00, I mean, 1:30, 2:00 in 76 1 the morning. Those incidents are almost weekly. 2 Every night they are open, there is a problem. 3 That's all I can say. I can't reiterate any 4 further. I'm not that versed at talking about 5 this stuff. It's just, it's a terrifying 6 situation we had recently with those people on the 7 roof of my building. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 9 committee? Alderman Bauman, was there anything ? 10 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Yes, thank you, Mr. 11 Chair. 12 Mr. Arenson, let's just clear up, what 13 -- did you give your address? 14 MR. ARENSON: Yes, 608 North Broadway. 15 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: That is two doors 16 north of Michigan on Broadway, correct? 17 MR. ARENSON: Correct. 18 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: On the south side of 19 the street, correct? East side of the street. 20 MR. ARENSON: East side of the street. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And you live on the 22 top floor of a three-story building? 23 MR. ARENSON: Four-story building. 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Four-story building, 25 and you also have -- the roof is usable, correct? 77 1 MR. ARENSON: I have a garden on the 2 roof and trees and all that. 3 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And your windows face 4 what direction? 5 MR. ARENSON: They face Broadway. 6 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: They face toward 7 Broadway. Can you also observe any portion of 8 Broadway south of Michigan? 9 MR. ARENSON: Oh, yes, we can observe a 10 portion of the parking lot to the south and the 11 parking lot behind Ben's building. I don't know 12 what the address is. That would be on the west 13 side of the street. We can't see all of the lot 14 directly south of us, but we can see the corner 15 and the traffic that comes in and out of there. 16 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay, now, you 17 testified to commotion and loud noise. Has that 18 ever caused you to wake up? 19 MR. ARENSON: Oh, you can't sleep. It's 20 impossible. Is it so noisy. It's so disruptive. 21 It's absolutely terrible. That's all I can say. 22 To reiterate what Ben said, same thing. We -- I 23 cannot sleep. I'm a very light sleeper. I can 24 hear it, the noise is just penetrating in the 25 buildings. It echoes in our buildings there. 78 1 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: A year ago there was a 2 hearing on this matter, correct? 3 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: You testified? 5 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 6 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And a 45-day 7 suspension was issued by this Common Council, 8 correct? 9 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 10 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So for a period of 11 late November and the entire month of December, 12 the club was closed down, is that correct? 13 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 14 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Was there any change 15 in the neighborhood that you noticed? 16 MR. ARENSON: It was delightful. It was 17 just like downtown should be. It's quiet, 18 peaceful, you could walk around. It was very 19 nice. 20 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And then the club 21 reopened on a night actually referenced in the 22 police reports which were on February 7th, is that 23 correct? 24 MR. ARENSON: Yes. I'm not sure about 25 the dates. I'm sure you're right. 79 1 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay, but at some 2 point, they did reopen. 3 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And then you noticed 5 what after the club reopened? 6 MR. ARENSON: The chaos started again. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: When you say "chaos," 8 what exactly do you observe and from where? 9 MR. ARENSON: Well, we see -- from our 10 windows, we see public urination, which is almost 11 a daily, a nightly activity that they are open. 12 We see traffic just clogged up on the corner, 13 people crossing the streets anywhere they want, no 14 crosswalks or anything. And of course, the noise 15 is just absolutely out of sight. It's noisy and 16 disruptive. 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Where is this noise 18 coming from, if you can tell? 19 MR. ARENSON: I personally have seen 20 where it comes from, it comes from 618, the 21 patrons. Because the security people escort the 22 people over to the parking lot into our area 23 because it's a prevalent parking area right to the 24 south of us. 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And the noise you 80 1 testified about, where do you -- where does the 2 noise come from, to the best of your knowledge? 3 MR. ARENSON: Well, it would come right 4 from the street area right in the front there. We 5 do hear noise as people start walking down 6 Michigan towards our buildings. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Is it people talking? 8 MR. ARENSON: Oh, screaming, hollering, 9 noise. You know, people are having -- they come 10 down from the bars late at night, they are noisy. 11 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Are people ever 12 standing in the street that you observe? 13 MR. ARENSON: Oh, all the time. It's a 14 frequent happening. 15 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay. And this goes 16 on for approximately how long each evening at Club 17 618? 18 MR. ARENSON: Well, from late evening, 19 I'd say from late, 11:30, 12:00 until closing, and 20 sometimes as late as 2:30, quarter-to-three in the 21 morning. 22 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: What do you do to get 23 to sleep? 24 MR. ARENSON: You don't. It's 25 disruptive, you know, we -- you can't sleep. All 81 1 the sudden you're sleeping and all the sudden you 2 are woken up, and you can't get back to sleep 3 again. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And what days does 5 this typically occur on? 6 MR. ARENSON: Well, typically, not so 7 much Wednesday, but Thursday, Friday and Saturday 8 pretty much the same. 9 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So Thursday evening, 10 Friday morning; Friday evening, Saturday morning; 11 Saturday evening, Sunday morning? 12 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 13 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And so roughly, three 14 days a week? 15 MR. ARENSON: I'd say three, sometimes 16 it's Sunday nights, there is some noise. 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Is your testimony that 18 this activity, the boisterous behavior, the 19 blocking of traffic, the congregating of cars, the 20 loud talking, the noise, occurs three nights every 21 week since February when the club reopened after 22 suspension? 23 MR. ARENSON: Yes, yes. 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Do you ever -- have 25 you ever noticed any violent activity? 82 1 MR. ARENSON: Oh, yeah, we've seen 2 fights in the street. They are quick because, you 3 know, nothing happens that lasted a long melee. 4 We saw somebody, I saw somebody getting 5 handcuffed. Oh, it was -- I can't remember, it 6 was in the last couple months at the latest, but 7 there are scuffles all the time. It's just 8 normal, it's just -- people are -- there is a lot 9 of bodies moving around there. It does happen. 10 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay. Thank you. 11 Nothing further. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? One other 13 question. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: You mentioned this 16 recent incident where the two security guards from 17 the club were on, were trespassing on your 18 property on your roof. 19 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: You also mentioned in 21 the e-mail that you felt that security was 22 pointing a flashlight at you. 23 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 24 ALDERMAN KOVAC: At your window. 25 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 83 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I mean, obviously -- 2 but you provided video tape last year, and you 3 continue to film all year when possible? 4 MR. ARENSON: Yes, we did. 5 ALDERMAN KOVAC: And a security guards 6 pointed flashlights at your window? 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman, I just -- I 8 want to be very careful because that was 9 provided -- 10 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Well, he's here. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: It hasn't been made part 12 of the record -- that doesn't matter, that's not 13 -- in the rules of evidence, that has not been 14 made part of the record, he didn't testify to it. 15 You are actually bringing up items that are sort 16 of side items. 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Ask him about the 18 video. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I know, but what I'm 20 going to encourage members to do is not muddy the 21 waters here in the future, okay. If they bring it 22 up, it's fair game. If he says, "Here's my 23 record," and we say, "These are the items that I 24 have," and we say, "This is part of the official 25 record." 84 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: How often have you 2 pointed your camera outside of your window this 3 past year? 4 MR. ARENSON: Most of the evenings that 5 they are open, because we're awake, we get woken 6 up. 7 ALDERMAN KOVAC: How often do you get 8 the flashlights pointed at your window? 9 MR. ARENSON: Well, that has stopped. 10 In recent months it stopped. They haven't done 11 that recently. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: So when was that 13 occurring? 14 MR. ARENSON: I would have to check with 15 Mary. I would say mostly in the summertime. 16 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Okay. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, 18 questions? 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, again, as 21 much as you can, please try to use the microphone 22 as much as possible here. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Arenson, I notice 24 there are, there's one person that testified 25 already, there is you, and there were four people 85 1 that raised their hand, one of the three was -- I 2 don't know -- Mary? 3 MS. JUNGERS: Yes. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And one other person. 5 Why do you think there are so few residents from 6 the downtown here today to object to this license 7 renewal? 8 MR. ARENSON: Well, first of all, to the 9 best of my knowledge, there is only a few 10 residents in the whole area, I being one of them, 11 and the building that Ben lives there are a couple 12 residents. But there are other property owners 13 here. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: So you, the buildings 15 you own, can you point on the map, please? 16 MR. ARENSON: Show me which streets. I 17 own these buildings right here. These two 18 buildings. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. I've noticed 20 that you don't have any direct testimony against 21 the club itself or its activities, correct? 22 MR. ARENSON: No. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: That is not correct? 24 MR. ARENSON: No. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: What is -- what do you 86 1 know about what goes on in the club? 2 MR. ARENSON: I don't know. I have 3 never been inside. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: You don't have any 5 testimony regarding any of the tavern activities 6 that take place in the club or right in front of 7 it? 8 MR. ARENSON: No, I don't. In front of 9 it I do. I have been physically outside watching 10 the melee in the street and watching people exit 11 the bar and come over to the parking lots. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, you go up on your 13 roof and video tape -- 14 MR. ARENSON: No, I don't go on my roof. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: You video tape out your 16 window? 17 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: And you heard my 19 questions for Mr. Wessel -- is it Wessel? Wesson, 20 sorry, I knew as soon as I said that it was wrong. 21 The area of the concern that you have where the 22 noise is coming from is to the south of your 23 building at closing time? 24 MR. ARENSON: No, not necessarily. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: No? 87 1 MR. ARENSON: No. It's the entire area 2 here. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: It's the entire area. 4 MR. ARENSON: Right, this whole area. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. How long 6 have you owned the buildings that you live in? 7 MR. ARENSON: I have lived in those 8 buildings, either one of my buildings since 1973. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: How long have you owned 10 them? 11 MR. ARENSON: Oh, since the late '70s. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, you haven't talked 13 to anyone from the club for quite some time. 14 MR. ARENSON: No, there is no need for 15 me to talk to them. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: You have no interest in 17 working with them at all? 18 MR. ARENSON: No. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: No. Do you recall the 20 last time you talked to Mr. Manjee? 21 MR. ARENSON: No. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Was it within the last 23 year? 24 MR. ARENSON: I don't remember. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you remember talking 88 1 to him around right after the club was closed 2 during the suspension when you had a conversation 3 with him? 4 MR. ARENSON: I had no conversation with 5 him. He had made a comment, that I remember 6 clearly. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: You didn't have a 8 conversation with him where you indicated you have 9 plans to redevelop this property and you couldn't 10 do it until you got this club closed? 11 MR. ARENSON: Absolutely not. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: You never said that? 13 MR. ARENSON: No. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: You are under oath. 15 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: You never said that? 17 MR. ARENSON: No. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: It's a made-up story? 19 MR. ARENSON: No. He made it up, he 20 said that. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: That's what I'm saying. 22 You're saying that he made it up -- 23 MR. ARENSON: I live there -- since 24 '73. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: -- that you wanted to 89 1 develop the property, and you have several hundred 2 million dollar plans there, and you can't do it 3 until his place -- 4 MR. ARENSON: That's preposterous. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: That's preposterous? 6 MR. ARENSON: Yes. I never said that. 7 I only own two buildings. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: What other neighbors, 9 what other people besides you and this Mr. Clay 10 Green are you aware of that have made complaints 11 to the city about closing this property? 12 MR. ARENSON: Well, Mr. Lavine owns 13 these buildings here all the way to the corner. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Is Mr. Lavine here? 15 MR. ARENSON: Yes, he is. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: And who else? 17 MR. ARENSON: Mr. Keith Reardon. Show 18 me Water. I think he has this building here. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: And is he here? 20 MR. ARENSON: Yes. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: But they didn't raise 22 their hands that they were going to testify. 23 MR. ARENSON: I think he did, 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: They sure did. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: I heard four. Okay. 90 1 MR. ARENSON: Yeah, I think he did. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are we finished with our 4 questions here? 5 MR. HALBROOKS: For now. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you, 7 Mr. Arenson. Next witness. 8 MS. JUNGERS: My name is Mary Jungers. 9 I live at 608 North Broadway. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And the spelling of your 11 last name, please. 12 MS. JUNGERS: J-U-N-G-E-R-S. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, and your 14 testimony. 15 MS. JUNGERS: My testimony is just to 16 give testimony of what I witness on the nights 17 when the bar is open. I witness public urination. 18 I witness racing on the street. I witness 19 cruising, cars going around and around and around 20 the block over and over. I witness dancing on the 21 sidewalk and in the streets. I witness cars 22 stopping in the middle of the street, opening 23 their doors and people getting out, blocking 24 traffic for minutes at a time. I also witness, 25 like I said, discharge of weapons at times, that's 91 1 not all the time, but there has been an occasion. 2 And in my opinion, all it takes is one stray 3 bullet to forever change someone's life, I don't 4 want it to be mine, and I don't think anyone else 5 wants it to be theirs either. 6 We also, the day after the club -- the 7 next mornings, we will walk around the streets, 8 and we'll see litter bottles and beer bottles in 9 the street. We've seen as many as six windshields 10 and car windows in the parking lots smashed. 11 We've seen car windows smashed on the street in 12 front of our building. We have never witnessed it 13 happening, but we have seen the destruction the 14 next day. 15 Again, the noise is very loud, it wakes 16 us up in the middle of the night, and then we are 17 awake until the noise ends, and then we try to 18 fall back to sleep again, which sometimes that 19 doesn't happen until 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, 20 and as a person that has to get up early, that is 21 very disruptive. I don't think the neighborhood, 22 anyone would want to live next to that type of 23 behavior or hear that night after night after 24 night. 25 Every incident in isolation may not seem 92 1 like a big deal, but when you put all these things 2 together over and over and over again, it gets to 3 be very, very disruptive. And there have been 4 times we have been fearful of activity that has 5 occurred. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 7 testimony. Questions by committee? No questions 8 by committee. Alderman Bauman. 9 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 10 You heard the testimony earlier about 11 the period of suspension, roughly December, 12 January of last year, correct? 13 MS. JUNGERS: Correct. 14 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: During the time period 15 that the club was not operating, what did you 16 notice relative to the activity you've testified 17 to? 18 MS. JUNGERS: There was none of that 19 type of activity going on, the period of the 20 suspension was active. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Would you take walks 22 outside in the mornings of Sunday mornings, 23 Saturday morning, Friday morning in your 24 neighborhood? 25 MS. JUNGERS: You mean at 2:00 in the 93 1 morning? 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No. You testified 3 that on occasion you would walk during the day and 4 notice broken bottles -- 5 MS. JUNGERS: Absolutely, yes -- we walk 6 our dog 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: -- litter -- you have 8 a dog? 9 MS. JUNGERS: Yes. 10 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So you walk the dog. 11 So you have occasion to regularly walk the 12 neighborhood as a pattern? 13 MS. JUNGERS: That's correct. 14 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And when the club is 15 open, you see remnants of broken bottles? 16 MS. JUNGERS: Liquor bottles, beer 17 bottles, windshields, other debris, cups, straws, 18 soda bottles, whatever, juice bottles. 19 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: During the period of 20 suspension, did you notice that same litter? 21 MS. JUNGERS: No, I did not. 22 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Nothing further. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks? 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. I haven't 25 heard a single written complaint or seen any 94 1 complaints regarding public urination. You 2 haven't actually complained to the government 3 about that, have you? 4 MS. JUNGERS: Are we supposed to call 5 the police department when we see someone peeing 6 on the street, and then when they get there that 7 person is gone already? 8 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: They have complained 9 to me. 10 MS. JUNGERS: If you want me to 11 complain, I certainly will call it in next time it 12 occurs. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: You agree there is no 14 complaint -- 15 MS. JUNGERS: There is no formal 16 complaint at this time, except to the Alderman. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: I heard you say you have 18 witnessed guns going off? 19 MS. JUNGERS: I said I heard guns going 20 off. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: I heard you say -- 22 MS. JUNGERS: I think I corrected myself 23 and said I heard gunshots. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, so you -- but 25 you live with somebody who keeps a gun in your 95 1 apartment? 2 MS. JUNGERS: Yes, and I don't like 3 that. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Does he have a permit 5 for that? 6 MS. JUNGERS: I do not know. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: You don't know if he has 8 a permit for the gun that is in the place that you 9 live in? 10 MS. JUNGERS: That is correct. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: You're concerned about 12 stray bullets, and you heard him testify, he -- 13 MS. JUNGERS: My gun is not in a car 14 with someone who has been drinking all night. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Hold on -- 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: How about this one, I 17 hold the gavel. I'm the one that makes the rules 18 here, okay. If I may, okay, what I'm going to ask 19 you here is if you are listening, I'm going to 20 actually rule your line of questioning, where you 21 are going at right now, out of order, and I'm 22 going to stop you, and I'm going to stop you 23 elsewhere. And I'll tell you why, and you can 24 raise your objection afterwards, and so be it. 25 You are getting to the point where you 96 1 can ask her a question about the gun, whether she 2 heard -- and I think it was a wonderful question 3 you raised, whether she witnessed the gunshots or 4 if she heard them. You start asking into 5 questions where you're delving into her opinion 6 about her significant other having a gun there and 7 personal feelings, is not eliciting more to 8 getting into the frame of what we have with the 9 license before us. You are going out on a limb, 10 and, you know what, you can object, my ruling is 11 final. My ruling is, you're line of questions are 12 out of order. I'm asking you to move on. If you 13 want to raise an objection, I'll let you say the 14 words, "I object," and that's it, and I'll 15 acknowledge it for the record. If you want to say 16 you object, I'm going to ask you to move on. If 17 not, I'm going to cut you off before your ability 18 to raise a question. I'm going to rein it in. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand. I just -- 20 by way of explanation, it appears that most of the 21 reason that we are here is because of Mr. Arenson. 22 And I sat here and listened to very shocking 23 testimony about him pointing a gun at two people 24 who were trying to stop break-ins in the guy's CPS 25 lot who is in the back here. So yes, I have some 97 1 concerns about a guy who is talking about 2 behavior, who is coming in and boldly on TV under 3 oath, and admitting he keeps a gun in his bedside 4 --. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: So be that, so be that. 6 He may also have beer in his refrigerator, and 7 there is drinking going on at the bar, so be that 8 as well too. I don't see the relevance. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: The relevance -- 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And the relevance is 11 decided -- I'm asking you to move on. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay, you may continue 14 with your questioning, but I will interrupt you if 15 I believe it goes out of the line of what I 16 believe is the frame of testimony provided and/or 17 listening, frame of mind, in terms of this 18 establishment, not personal opinions on the side. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: For personal opinions on 20 what? 21 MR. LERNER: On the side. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: On the side, okay. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: My apologies for the 24 interruption, please proceed. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Nothing further. 98 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you to the 2 witness. We have one other gentleman who is here 3 in opposition? Name and address again, please for 4 the record. 5 MR. REARDON: Kevin Reardon, 6060 South 6 92nd Street in Hales Corners. I'm just the 7 property owner next door, and I really have no -- 8 everything I'd say would just be hearsay, but I'm 9 concerned about -- I'm the property owner, and I'm 10 just concerned that if they do continue with their 11 license, that they figure out how to solve some of 12 the issues that I have heard come up. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You can add -- I just 14 want to be clear without trying to put something 15 in your mouth, you're opposed to continuation of 16 the license, but there is nothing, there is no, 17 nothing substantive that you have seen in terms of 18 testimony beyond your opposition? 19 MR. REARDON: Right. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay, fair enough. 21 Questions by committee? 22 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair? 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton. 24 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: What property do you 25 own? 99 1 MR. REARDON: 624 and 628 Water Street, 2 North Water. 3 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: North Water, 4 that's -- 5 MR. REARDON: Adjacent to Lady Bug. 6 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Right next door to 7 the -- 8 MR. REARDON: Correct. 9 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: What's in those 10 buildings? 11 MR. REARDON: Steamers Coffee, and the 12 last restaurant in there was JCs, and, McDill 13 (phonetic), and then I have one tenant living on 14 the third floor. 15 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: One tenant living 16 where? 17 MR. REARDON: Residential, living on the 18 third floor. 19 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: On the third floor? 20 MR. REARDON: Mm mm. 21 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: All right, thanks. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions from -- 23 Alderman Bauman? No. Mr. Halbrooks, when you 24 have a moment. Did you have any questions for 25 this witness? 100 1 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm sorry. I know the 2 Chair asked you this question, Mr. Reardon, I just 3 wanted to -- I thought I heard you say you wanted 4 to see the club work out some of these -- 5 MR. REARDON: If they continue with 6 their license. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: If they continue with 8 their license, you want the problems resolved? 9 MR. REARDON: Yes. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: And when you say, 11 "problems," you're talking about problems outside, 12 not in the club. You don't know anything -- you 13 haven't been in the club, have you? 14 MR. REARDON: No, never. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Why did you just do 16 that? 17 MR. REARDON: I don't go out at night. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: So you have nothing to 19 -- when you say "problems," you have nothing to be 20 concerned about in terms of operation of the 21 tavern? 22 MR. REARDON: That is -- I'm always 23 concerned about neighboring properties next to me 24 that may not be able to control what goes on 25 outside of their tavern from patrons within their 101 1 premises. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Right, but that's what 3 I'm saying. You want -- as long as the 4 neighborhood issues, whatever is happening in 5 these parking lots, gets resolved, that's what you 6 want to see done? 7 MR. REARDON: I want -- yes, I want it 8 resolved, and I want -- but if it would continue, 9 any, even one time, I would be absolutely against 10 it. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And you realize that if 12 the place is closed, you are going to have a 13 vacant building next to you? 14 MR. REARDON: I realize that. Welcome 15 to downtown Milwaukee. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 17 testimony, sir. All right, were there any others 18 that were here in opposition? 19 Captain, what I'll ask for you to do is, 20 if the police department in any way, shape or form 21 is going to take a formal position, that they 22 provide their testimony here now. If you could 23 identify yourself for the record, please? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Sure. Captain 25 Patrick Mitchell, first name is P-A-T-R-I-C-K, 102 1 last name is Mitchell, M-I-T-C-H-E-L-L. 2 (Cell phone ringing.) 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is that the person that 4 goes? You try to be fair in terms of saying those 5 things. Please proceed with your testimony. 6 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: The captain of the 7 1st District Police Station. We patrol the area 8 surrounding Club 618, including Club 618, and I 9 would just like to officially say that as a 10 department we are opposed to renewal. And I'll 11 stand on the record that has already been read in. 12 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair? 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions for Captain 14 Mitchell? Alderwoman Coggs. 15 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Is there a 16 reason why this property had not been deemed a 17 nuisance property? 18 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: It does not qualify 19 as a nuisance at this point. We don't have the 20 proper number of calls within a 30-day time 21 period. 22 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 24 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Just to follow up on 25 that, on the 80-10 Ordinance, it has to be a 103 1 neighbor calling, because obviously you have an 2 extensive list of police observation? 3 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. 4 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Unless you get a 5 neighbor calling -- 6 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. 7 ALDERMAN KOVAC: -- you're not able to 8 trigger that statute. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm surprised Alderman 10 Bauman hasn't called three days in a row here. 11 Well, I'm certain you have gotten more than an 12 earful over the course of time. I'm being a 13 little facetious there, but really -- 14 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair? 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderwoman Coggs. 16 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Follow up, part 17 of the reason I asked that, I recognize that 80-10 18 needs three calls in 30 days. In looking at the 19 record, there is an extensive amount of police 20 resources that are being used, whether it's from a 21 call, whether it's from the police attempting to 22 be proactive with crowd control, that the 23 taxpayers are having to pay for, and at least 24 80-10 allows us the chance to recoup some of that 25 expense. But without them being declared a 104 1 nuisance property, it really begs to wonder why we 2 are taking on such a great expense? 3 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Right, and that 4 ordinance obviously is a very good ordinance for 5 the city to utilize, and we would utilize that in 6 this case if it qualified, but it just has not 7 qualified at this point. That is something that 8 we will watch going forward. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Other 10 questions by committee? 11 Captain you -- there were reports that 12 were made here in a period that was right around 13 the time where they were renewed a year ago, a 14 substantial number of reports that were either 15 occurring on a weekly basis or roughly weekly 16 basis, in which the squad time devoted in or 17 around the closing or in the later evening hours 18 for traffic control was documented. That sort of 19 went away or disappeared here. Is it fair to say, 20 and I just want to ask, are you still devoting 21 time, or has that since ended, the resources of 22 the department to traffic control and other 23 conduct, crowd control? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: We still devote time 25 to the club every weekend. It's -- we had a 105 1 special initiative that we did throughout the 2 summer months, basically between May and October, 3 where we dedicated police officers to this area as 4 well as other locations in the district. As the 5 weather gets colder, we frequently have less 6 issues outside of the clubs, so the greater need 7 for us to be there dissipates. 8 One of the things and purposes of our 9 filing of reports outside of the club, we have a 10 police officer who actually is in the building 11 today, Officer Robert Farrell, he's on our power 12 shift, and in the recent past, we've tasked him 13 with duties outside of his normal tavern duties 14 and that would explain a decrease in the number of 15 reports that we write. Officer Farrell is very 16 good at documenting when we are at the club, or 17 any club for that matter, the activities of the 18 police, but with his assignment to a different 19 duty, the raw number of those reports that have 20 been written have decreased. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 22 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair? 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 24 committee? Alderman Hamilton. 25 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Captain, I'm going 106 1 to have to ask you a question that, that's 2 probably the motivating factor of why so many 3 people are here, all right? On the 1100 block of 4 North Wells, I mean, of Water -- 5 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Water. 6 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Yeah. A lot of 7 clubs, a lot of activity, a lot of police activity 8 for those clubs, I mean, they do crowd control. 9 You know, we have the motorcycles out there a lot 10 of times, we have the cars especially during bar 11 let-out time, and it's necessary because there are 12 crowds there. And this club is on the other side 13 of Wisconsin Avenue, it's four blocks away, five 14 blocks away or so, and the type of activity that's 15 been complained about is pretty much the same type 16 of activity that happens here. You know, people 17 go out downtown, they drink, they walk out, they 18 talk loud, they do whatever. There may be a 19 scuffle here and there. The police are there a 20 lot of times, eliminates the problems just by mere 21 presence. And what makes this area not a problem 22 and that activity a problem? 23 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: The special event 24 mission that I spoke about earlier that we ran 25 through May and October, dedicated resources to 107 1 the 600 block of North Water as well as to the 2 1100 and 1200 block of North Water and Old World 3 Third Street. In looking at incidents in both 4 areas, the 600 block compared to the 1100 and 1200 5 block, there are significant differences between 6 the two. I'll call Water and Juneau "North Water 7 Street." At North Water Street, there is a 8 capacity, total capacity in the area of 4,500 9 people. On Old World Third Street, you have a 10 similar capacity of around 4,500 people. So we've 11 got a total capacity between those two tavern 12 districts that, in essence, operate as one tavern 13 district of 9,000 people on any given weekend 14 night. The capacity in the Club 618, I believe, 15 is around 450. When looking at crime incidents, 16 one of the things that we can struggle as a police 17 agency with is attributing blame. If we get an 18 incident in the 1200 block of North Water Street, 19 we will file a tavern report or a PA-33. If the 20 individuals involved tell us which club they've 21 come from, we do the same thing, no matter where 22 it is in the 1st District. We try and get 23 statements from the individuals as to which club 24 they were just at. In looking at overall 25 incidents between North Water Street, Old World 108 1 Third Street and the 600 block of North Water 2 Street, we do have more incidents at Water and 3 Juneau and Third Street. I believe there was 4 around 15 battery incidents between January 1st of 5 this year and this week on North Water Street and 6 Old World Third Street. Whereas, in the area of 7 618, you've got about five, I think, was the 8 total. So it is a disproportionate number of 9 incidents in the 600 block of North Water as 10 compared to the 9,000 people that can frequent 11 Water and Juneau on any given weekend night. 12 And they are both issues that we have to 13 deal with as a police district, but again, our 14 special event missions do dedicate resources both 15 to the 600 block of Water and to Water and Juneau 16 as well as Old World Third Street. And in terms 17 of the crime that we've had, we have not had any 18 reports that I'm aware of of shots fired on either 19 Old World Third Street or North Water Street, but 20 we have had calls outside of the 600 block of 21 North Water Street. 22 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: For? 23 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Shots fired. 24 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I guess -- and so, 25 in addressing the crime issue, one of the 109 1 solutions coming from the district is the 2 nonrenewal of this license as a crime-reducing 3 plan. 4 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes. 5 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Um -- 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman, please make 7 sure you use your microphone. Thank you. 8 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Have there been 9 discussions in the past about other alternatives 10 short of nonrenewal or revocation? 11 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Not official 12 discussions. I had a meeting in July with the 13 owners of the club, and we discussed security 14 procedures that they're implementing and using at 15 the club. So we, as a police department, have met 16 with the club in a proactive manner to try and 17 mitigate the situation around the club. In fact, 18 the testimony of Mr. Arenson that flashlights were 19 flashed into his window by security personnel, at 20 the July 23rd meeting, I specifically requested 21 from the club, "Can you do me a favor and please 22 make that stop? He is a private citizen. He has 23 a right to film activities. Nothing good is going 24 to come from identifying his apartment as a person 25 who is opposed to the existence of that club." So 110 1 we worked on that issue with the club to try to 2 get them to stop highlighting the fact for the 3 drunken patrons leaving that the gentleman in that 4 window was videotaping them. 5 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Thank you, Mr. 6 Chair. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 8 committee? Alderman Bauman, are there any 9 questions? 10 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No questions. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, 12 questions? 13 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 14 Captain, thank you. I want to just go 15 over this nuisance ordinance, and thank you very 16 much for your comment about it being a good 17 ordinance, as the drafter. What I would ask is, 18 the reason you don't have any -- you're not shy 19 about using 80-10, correct? 20 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And so the Alderman's 22 question was very appropriate, there aren't, there 23 isn't nuisance activity at the 618 Club inside the 24 club, is there? 25 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: There isn't activity 111 1 that fits the technical legal definition of 2 nuisance activity. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: As under 80-10? 4 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Under that list. 6 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: It doesn't meet the 7 criteria set forth in the ordinance. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: So there isn't -- in 9 fact, they are not even close to ever having three 10 calls a month for the type of activity listed in 11 that ordinance? 12 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: If you look at in 13 February when they first opened, they probably got 14 close at that point. But no, in our review, in a 15 given 30-day time period, we have not met the 16 criteria of the ordinance. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And so, have there been 18 activities that you have asked of the club, with 19 regard to activity at the club, that you've 20 requested of the club and then they haven't 21 followed through, or they have refused? 22 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: In the July 23rd 23 meeting, one of the things that I specifically 24 brought up was related to the incident on, I 25 believe it was July 3rd, in which there was a 112 1 victim that alleged a battery occurred inside of 2 the club. In our conversation that night, I said, 3 "It's very important. You had a felony that 4 occurred inside your club. You need to call us 5 when those incidents occurred." And they informed 6 me that they would call. 7 Now, today in the hearing, the Club is 8 testifying that they don't even have direct 9 knowledge that that event in fact occurred inside 10 of their club. But I can tell you, at our July 11 23rd meeting, there was no such statement offered 12 at that time. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: But they hadn't seen the 14 police report at that time either, had they? 15 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I don't know what 16 they had or had not seen at that point. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: So, you know, obviously, 18 here, do you have any direct knowledge with regard 19 to the police department on any reports that the 20 battery actually occurred? 21 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: There is a police 22 report on file in which we interviewed a citizen 23 who stated they were battered inside of the club. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: But nothing ever came of 25 that particular accusation. 113 1 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I do not know the 2 disposition of it. Well, actually, it says in the 3 report the victim did not show up in the DA's 4 Office, so it was no-processed. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Correct. So there is no 6 -- other than that police report, there is no 7 direct knowledge that the club is incorrect in 8 what they are stating, or that -- there is no 9 direct knowledge that the battery occurred. 10 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: There is no direct 11 knowledge that the battery occurred, however in 12 the meeting on July 23rd, that was not -- 13 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand your point. 14 I'm saying that, you know, nothing -- they haven't 15 indicated anything that's incorrect here today. 16 It just doesn't -- what my question was, is there 17 anything you have requested of them that they have 18 not done? 19 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: No. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: And you have been inside 21 the club. 22 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: No, I have not. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: You have never been in 24 the club when it's operating? 25 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: That's correct. 114 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you have officers in 2 your command that have been? 3 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I would be certain of 4 it. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: And has Officer Farrell, 6 has he been inside the club? 7 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I would have to ask 8 him. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. So is there 10 any reason you haven't visited the club when it's 11 operating? 12 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I have not yet 13 visited the inside of the club. In fact, I don't 14 think I have been inside a single tavern in the 15 district at night in an official capacity. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: So it's not you 17 personally that is objecting, it's the chief and 18 the police department that is objecting? You 19 don't have any complaint with the club itself? 20 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I represent the 21 department, and I am objecting on behalf of the 22 department. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Correct. And so -- but 24 truthfully, you would make some recommendations 25 about -- that might help the neighborhood, 115 1 neighborhood recommendations with regard to 2 after-hours activity, correct? 3 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I'm not sure I 4 understand. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: You have recommendations 6 for other properties in the area, don't you? 7 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: In terms of the 8 parking lot? 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. 10 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And what are those 12 recommendations? 13 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: It would be my 14 position that the parking lot at Broadway and 15 Michigan should be closed at night. The current 16 management does not staff the lot at night, and it 17 would be my position that the lot should be fenced 18 off and not used at night. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: And have you -- you have 20 an officer who has met with representatives of the 21 parking lot previously? 22 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes. I don't know if 23 it was a face-to-face meeting or over the 24 telephone, but they definitely had conversations. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: So the police department 116 1 has made its preference for the use of the lot 2 after hours known to the management at CPS? 3 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I don't know the 4 specifics of the conversation between Officer 5 Beuto and the management of the lot. I can tell 6 you what my preference is. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And so we're clear, you 8 have observed activity in that parking lot? 9 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I personally have, 10 yes. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And that is a parking 12 lot that charges cars -- ideally, they want to get 13 paid for those cars that are parking there at 14 those hours? 15 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: And it's an honor 17 system, so people are supposed to go and pay. 18 Yet, they provide no staffing for that during 19 those hours in the evening. 20 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And does that kind of 22 activity that you observed qualify as nuisance 23 activity? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: If there would be 25 enough documented activity, it could perhaps 117 1 qualify as a nuisance property. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: So if Mr. Arenson 3 actually -- instead of trying to close down this 4 club for the benefit of his building, if he gave 5 you the videotape on the activity on the parking 6 lot, you could then actually proceed against the 7 parking lot and solve the actual problem that we 8 are all here about today? 9 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Providing it met the 10 technical definition of the statute, we could 11 pursue the use of that statute. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: The activity you have 13 observed in the CPS parking lot does qualify as 14 80-10 violations. 15 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Fighting, if it would 16 be fighting, yes. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And so, consequently, 18 the concern about the city collecting its cost, 19 the city would have a property owner to collect 20 from to pay for the activity that they are 21 endorsing by not patrolling, not providing 22 security, taking the cash and not giving anything 23 back in the way of nuisance abatement? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: That would be to 25 assume that the case would proceed to billing 118 1 status. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. So if they 3 actually stopped the nuisance behavior in their 4 parking lot, then the city wouldn't have, you 5 would no longer have the concerns about the police 6 time? 7 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: At that lot, correct. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. Can you tell me 9 about -- what I'm interested in are the times that 10 some of the deployments have occurred in the early 11 -- the parking, the traffic deployments that occur 12 in the last October or November before the new 13 license was renewed, they seem to start awfully 14 early in the evening. Why would you have somebody 15 there for traffic control several hours before the 16 club is closed, the club closes? 17 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Which dates 18 specifically are you talking about? 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Let me grab -- on 20 September 28th, 12:14 a.m., why do you deploy 21 squads an hour-and-a-half before closing time? 22 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Certainly at closing 23 time, issues peak. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand that. 25 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: But that's not to say 119 1 there are not issues prior to closing time. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: We have a squad on the 3 scene for two hours and 47 minutes, correct? 4 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Two hours 6 and 47 minutes, and 90 of the minutes are before 7 anybody is leaving the club. 8 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I don't know that to 9 be the case. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: You don't know what to 11 be the case? 12 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Most clubs that 13 operate have people coming and going during hours 14 of operation. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Such that you would need 16 to deploy officers for traffic control, that many 17 people? 18 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Potentially, yes. 19 I'm assuming that the officers didn't go to that 20 location and stand by two hours and 47 minutes 21 with no one standing outside. That just is not 22 logical. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Who decided to send 24 squads for traffic control 90 minutes before the 25 club closes? 120 1 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: You're hung up on the 2 closing of the club. We, as a district, deal with 3 issues of disorder, and if disorder is present, we 4 will address them, whether it's 90 minutes before 5 closing; 90 minutes after closing. As to the 6 specifics of that date, I don't know who ordered 7 it. We would have to do a record check on that. 8 It could be a sergeant, it could be a lieutenant, 9 it could be a police officer that happened to 10 cross the scene and said, "This looks like it 11 needs some police attention." 12 MR. HALBROOKS: So even -- so you're 13 here -- I've got to do this formal part -- you're 14 here to object -- the police department is 15 objecting, and you have, on Item No. 24, which is 16 one of the items you're asking for nonrenewal, 17 your testimony is, you don't have any idea why the 18 squads were sent there at that time? 19 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: It says right in Item 20 24, "for traffic/crowd control." 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Right, but you have no 22 other details than the hearsay that is in the 23 document? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. I was not 25 there. 121 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. Are you familiar 2 with the -- how do I say -- the attendance 3 patterns of the club, when people come, when the 4 majority of the people come and when the majority 5 of the people leave? 6 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: It's a club, later at 7 night, sure. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: So really, around 9:00, 9 between 9:00 and 10:00, is when every -- most of 10 the people are arriving? 11 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I can't address 12 specifically this club, when their arrival pattern 13 is. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And so, and again, you 15 don't have any information about when the largest 16 number of people are leaving on any of these 17 nights: On 10/04/2008, patrol cars are deployed 18 on 11:58 p.m.; same for every one of these? 19 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: So do you have any idea 21 when the actual biggest time concerns are for the 22 need of the squads during those time periods? 23 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Typically, it peaks 24 at closing. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: At 1:40? 122 1 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Whatever time they 2 decide to close on that night. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: The meeting that you 4 referenced in July, it was the club that requested 5 that meeting? 6 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Um, I believe so, 7 through Mr. Bobot, yes. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: And when you indicated, 9 when you testified earlier about gunshots, you 10 were testifying about reports of gunshots, not -- 11 there wasn't ever any actual verified gunshots by 12 any members of the Milwaukee Police Department, 13 were there? 14 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: No, we did not see it 15 or hear it. It came from a witness. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you know anything 17 about the vandalism that Mr. Arenson was talking 18 about when the security guards were investigating 19 the vandalism that was occurring in the CPS 20 parking lot? 21 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: No. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Do you -- are you 23 familiar with either the practice and procedure of 24 the security personnel that work for the club or 25 the independent contractors they have, their 123 1 practice and procedure at the end of the night? 2 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Vaguely. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: Have you observed it? 4 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I have worked several 5 nights in District 1, late nights that I have 6 driven by the club, and on at least two occasions, 7 I've stopped and talked with this gentleman 8 outside of the club in the late hours, and I have 9 seen their closing procedure. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: What is it? What are 11 you -- can you describe for the committee what 12 your interpretation of what the club does at 13 closing? 14 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: They attempt to get 15 their patrons of their club to leave and go to 16 their cars. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And how do they do that? 18 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I've seen them 19 standing on Water Street or on Michigan Avenue 20 talking with patrons of the club. I can't 21 overhear their conversation, but my assumption is 22 that they are encouraging them to leave. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: And how quick does that 24 process occur of getting the individuals, the 25 customers, from the club to that Broadway parking 124 1 lot? 2 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: It depends on the 3 night. It depends on how large the crowd is. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: When you observed it, 5 how long did it take? 6 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: The one night that I 7 observed closing there, I would say it was a 10- 8 to 20-minute process. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: So from 1:40, 10 minutes 10 from 1:40, it's possible to get everybody to their 11 cars and have it be quiet again? 12 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I didn't look at my 13 watch, but my guess would be a 10- to 20-minute 14 effort. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And is it your 16 impression that the club is doing everything it 17 can do to move that along and keep that process 18 quiet? 19 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Without actively 20 working side by side with them, I can't make that 21 determination. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm talking about your 23 observations that particular night? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I can tell you that 25 the representatives of the club were outside of 125 1 the club and appeared to be interacting with the 2 patrons of the club. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: When you say 4 "interacting," I don't want to lead -- 5 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Talking. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Talking, was it talking 7 in terms of, "Hey, how's it going?" telling 8 jokes, or moving them out of the area? 9 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I was in a squad car 10 and did not hear the conversations. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: But you certainly -- do 12 you understand that the club is doing what it can 13 do humanly possible to move the people as quickly 14 as it can to their cars? 15 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I understand that the 16 club has undertaken efforts to move the people 17 out. That's what I have witnessed. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: And they have been 19 getting considerably better at that? 20 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I don't have any 21 comparison for me to make. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Not from back in last 23 year? 24 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. I couldn't 25 make that judgment or comparison. 126 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. All right. We 2 think we have covered everything. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Very good. Thank you, 4 Captain. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: You're not leaving, 6 right? 7 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: No. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Were there any other 9 representatives from the police department that 10 were going to provide testimony at this time? 11 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chairman, I don't 12 want to pull any punches. We have subpoenaed 13 police officers as well -- I'm sorry, you've 14 subpoenaed, but I don't know who's all here or who 15 responded, and maybe it would be a good time to 16 get an accounting of that from the captain. 17 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: I think that the 18 police department is done. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Unless they are 20 otherwise called. 21 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Correct. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Can you at least provide 23 us with an indication of which officers are 24 present here? 25 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: There are two police 127 1 officers here; one is in training and has no 2 firsthand knowledge of this. The first officer is 3 Robert Farrell, he works on a power shift and is 4 the author of many of the PA-33s. I spoke of him 5 earlier. He is the officer who typically worked 6 tavern issues. And the other officer is Officer 7 Yang, Y-A-N-G, but as I stated, he is in training, 8 here to experience the hearing. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: That's who we want. 10 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yeah, that's who they 11 want. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: I believe the only 13 officer that was subpoenaed that's here is Officer 14 Farrell, is that correct? 15 CAPTAIN MITCHELL: Yes, yes. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: I do have some questions 17 here for Mr. -- 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll provided an 19 opportunity here shortly. 20 MR. STEPHENS: Good evening, committee 21 members. My name is Adam Stephens. I am the 22 assistant city attorney, and I am a member of the 23 community prosecution unit. I work with Police 24 Districts No. 5 and 1. My presence here tonight 25 is simply to provide any testimony that the 128 1 community might have in terms of questioning. My 2 involvement regarding this particular license and 3 licensee is in conducting meetings with then 4 Captain Massa, who was the former District 1 5 commander with this licensee at District No. 1, in 6 March of 2009 relative to the incidents that were 7 described in the police synopsis. There was a 8 follow-up meeting with Captain Mitchell, which I 9 was also present on, on July 23, 2009, again, with 10 this licensee and Counsel Vince Bobot and another 11 individual. 12 As I said before, I was here really to 13 document -- my purpose in attending the meetings 14 was to ask questions and document the answers of 15 the licensee and his management staff about how 16 they were choosing to respond to the problems that 17 were being caused by this establishment. And as 18 such, I don't have any additional testimony to 19 offer at this point. 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Alderman 22 Kovac. 23 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I've worked with you on 24 other parts of the district, you know, to work 25 with neighbors to work on the 80-10 Ordinance to 129 1 improve the quality of life of problem properties, 2 in particular drug houses. I'm just curious why 3 we haven't been more aggressive about trying to 4 trigger 80-10 here. It just seems like this 5 committee, this committee has limited remedies: 6 10- to 90-day suspension or nonrenewal, and it 7 seems like there's some more remedies with more 8 teeth given what the nature of these problems. 9 The real teeth of this would be charging them for 10 the extra police service that's not just in front 11 of their bar but in the whole neighborhood caused 12 by their club. Why haven't we been more 13 aggressive about getting neighbors -- I know in 14 other neighborhoods you are -- 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac, I want 16 to move beyond that question because I think that 17 that may be a valid question that you could have 18 with him at some other time. It doesn't strike at 19 what we have before us which is a police record 20 here. 21 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Then how about I ask, 22 are you going to be more aggressive? I know 23 depending on the result of this hearing, it might 24 be moot, but are there plans to be more 25 aggressive, or is there a reason you haven't been? 130 1 MR. STEPHENS: Well, Alderman -- 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Again, I think that you 3 are talking about a general question, and this is 4 a specific case here. 5 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I'm asking him 6 specifically about this club -- 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm ruling it out of 8 order. 9 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: It's a 10 legitimate question. It piggybacks on the 11 question I asked because in making our decision, 12 it's a glaring issue why that is. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's fine, Alderwoman, 14 and I'll recognize you next time when you ask for 15 recognition from the Chair. 16 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Chair? 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That is -- 18 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair? 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I know, and you know 20 what, it's been -- hold on, you know what -- 21 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: We have a valid 22 -- 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderwoman, Alderwoman, 24 I will call on you, and I understand it's been 25 long for all of us, but there is a procedure, and 131 1 the fact is is there is -- there's a procedure, 2 and I don't want to get us into generalizations 3 about things about why the city attorney's office 4 isn't doing things here in terms of relevance to 5 this. I'm not saying it's not legitimate in the 6 larger scope of things. In the reason of the 7 police reports and the neighborhood testimony, you 8 are asking out of the scope here. It's not -- 9 that's not going to help us with what is presented 10 here. We make a judgment as a committee based on 11 the police reports and based on the testimony that 12 has been provided. He has no additional 13 testimony. You're asking him why they are not 14 more involved; that's not eliciting more testimony 15 to help you make a decision. 16 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: It's actually -- 17 ALDERMAN KOVAC: The question -- 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You know what -- no, no, 19 hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm still speaking at 20 this point, and as the chair, I hold the gavel and 21 have the ability to do that, Alderman. What I 22 will ask you to do is, I'll give you that one 23 question here, but I'm going to ask in the future 24 here that our questions be specific to elicit 25 information from this that are specific to 132 1 decision-making as opposed to general, which is 2 general information on the side. Just -- you may 3 answer that question here, and I'm going to ask 4 that we rein that in and make this specific to 5 help us with information, because I don't know 6 that that's going to make -- give you information 7 to make a decision on this license. It's general 8 information of, "Why aren't you doing more?" 9 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I think it will help me 10 make this decision, that's why I asked. 11 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Could he answer the 12 question, please? 13 MR. STEPHENS: If I could ask that the 14 question be asked again? 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I want to know why you 16 haven't been more aggressive on the 80-10, and if 17 we decide to renew this license in some fashion, 18 what's going to be your strategy for 80-10 19 possibilities in the future? 20 MR. STEPHENS: The response to that 21 question is that I would have to defer to the 22 police department in the use of 80-10. That is up 23 to the district commander and typically either the 24 community liaison officer in each district or the 25 community prosecution officer. I have not 133 1 personally reviewed the calls for service to 2 mention whether or not this does or does not 3 qualify under 80-10. I would note to the 4 committee that 80-10 certainly is a response that 5 can be used, and given my meetings, which were 6 somewhat lengthy, at least an hour, 7 hour-and-a-half each time, I feel comfortable that 8 we would know at least what the licensee's 9 response would be to being noticed up under 80-10 10 that they were a nuisance property. So then that 11 begs the question of whether or not the billing 12 would then happen thereafter. 13 And again, I'm sorry, I would have to 14 have to defer to the police department on whether 15 or not they will use that or not. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you want to follow up 17 here Alderwoman? 18 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: No. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Any additional questions 20 for the city attorney here? 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Chair? 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Bauman. 23 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Stephens, you 24 mentioned you attended a July 23rd meeting? 25 MR. STEPHENS: Correct. 134 1 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: With the captain and 2 Mr. Habib -- 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman, please speak 4 up and into the microphone, thank you. 5 MR. STEPHENS: Yes. 6 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Do you recall the 7 incident on July 3rd, the battery incident being 8 discussed? 9 MR. STEPHENS: I, I believe that we 10 talked about several issues. That would have been 11 something. I don't remember that conversation, 12 that piece of the conversation. 13 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So in the course of 14 that meeting, several specific incidents were 15 discussed with the club owner, is that correct? 16 MR. STEPHENS: That's correct. 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And in connection with 18 any of the incidents -- and these incidents 19 involved criminal behavior? 20 MR. STEPHENS: Yes. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: In any of those 22 incidents, did the club owner deny that they had 23 taken place? 24 MR. STEPHENS: No, the club owner seemed 25 to want to generally work with the police 135 1 department in terms of resolving the issues and 2 did acknowledge that there were some issues that 3 they needed to address. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions, Mr. 6 Halbrooks? 7 MR. HALBROOKS: I've been waiting for 8 this day. Thank you, Mr. Stephens for your work. 9 I just want to ask you, based on what Alderman 10 Bauman just asked you, what criminal behavior are 11 you talking about that was discussed specifically? 12 MR. STEPHENS: There were a couple of 13 batteries that were discussed. There was, I 14 believe there was one incident where there was a 15 young woman who was struck by a martini glass, and 16 I don't remember which item that was in the 17 synopsis. Although, I guess it's sitting in front 18 of me, but in any event, it was -- 19 MR. HALBROOKS: You were here -- you 20 certainly aren't going to -- I don't know that -- 21 you heard the applicant's explanation for that: 22 they have no basis, no blood, no video, nothing, 23 to indicate that that ever occurred? You're 24 certainly not suggesting that the applicant denied 25 that that night, or agreed that that occurred that 136 1 night? 2 MR. STEPHENS: I -- my recollection was 3 that we were on the same page in terms of the 4 events that had occurred. My understanding, my 5 recollection would be that they did understand 6 that there was an event. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, there were two 8 glass incidents: One that occurred, and one that 9 they can't -- one that they agree occurred that 10 happened very quickly, and one they can't confirm. 11 The one they can't confirm is the one they 12 testified here today under oath was the martini 13 glass that they can't verify. There was another 14 one that they did agree, that everybody agrees did 15 occur, is that the one that you are talking about, 16 with the bottle? 17 MR. STEPHENS: No, I'm specifically 18 remembering discussing the martini glass incident, 19 given that it was unusual that somebody would 20 break a martini glass over somebody and cut 21 another person with a martini glass. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: And it's your testimony 23 that you recall the applicants agreeing that that 24 occurred? 25 MR. STEPHENS: My testimony is that I 137 1 recall us discussing that issue, and that they 2 didn't deny it. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, um, just to 4 close the loop on the 80-10, the city attorney's 5 office actually has no role in initiating 80-10, 6 there's nothing you could do about it if you want 7 to except make complaints in your neighborhood, 8 right? 9 MR. STEPHENS: I routinely advise the 10 police department on its use, but there is no -- 11 MR. HALBROOKS: As a lawyer -- 12 MR. STEPHENS: I don't have an active 13 role in the process. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Right, you don't start 15 -- you can't actually do anything to start the 16 process, it's a police collection tool for their 17 services. 18 MR. STEPHENS: That is correct. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: And as such, you're 20 quite familiar with the ordinance. 21 MR. STEPHENS: I am. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: And you haven't heard 23 anything here tonight in terms of the police 24 report that for that specific location, at 622 25 North Water, that qualifies as three calls in a 138 1 month, correct? The calls would be for other 2 properties. 3 MR. STEPHENS: Well, I mean, it depends 4 on what the evidence would be. Frankly, if there 5 were people that were shown that were emanating 6 from this -- 7 MR. HALBROOKS: No, no, I'm asking about 8 what you heard so far tonight, you haven't heard 9 anything -- so when they say, "Why aren't you 10 doing or be more aggressive?" if the police came 11 to you and said, "Why -- how can you help us do an 12 80-10?" based on what we've heard here tonight, 13 you don't -- there is nothing that fits under the 14 ordinance to even go after it. 80-10 is not the 15 tool for the property at 622 North Water Street. 16 MR. STEPHENS: I don't have enough 17 information at this point to issue an opinion like 18 that. Anything else? 19 MR. HALBROOKS: No, thanks. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I take it you are 21 finished? 22 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. 23 MR. STEPHENS: Thank you. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Alderman 25 Bauman, were there comments that you choose to 139 1 make here at this time? 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: I'll wait until the 3 end. 4 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I take it that that 5 is the testimony of individuals who are here in 6 opposition to the license, unless someone 7 indicates otherwise. 8 Mr. Halbrooks, I will allow you to -- 9 allow us to have individuals come forward who are 10 supporters of the license. What I will ask is if 11 we could do this with the individuals in the front 12 row, that way we can actually free up the front 13 row, and perhaps at that point, if at least with 14 the number of seats, if we can at least get a 15 rotation of individuals and then kind of keep 16 moving along the lines. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: If I could, I have a 18 couple I want to try to direct. I do want -- I 19 still have a little presentation I want to make at 20 some point for the committee. I don't know -- 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I will -- 22 MR. HALBROOKS: I do agree that we 23 should probably listen to the people. And I would 24 ask that -- I know Mr. Burke, I don't know if he 25 is still here. I would ask him to step up. 140 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Again, if you do need to 2 take a seat for whatever reason, please indicate 3 that and we'll ask individuals to make that 4 arrangement for you. 5 Sir, your name and address for the 6 record, please. 7 MR. BURKE: My name is John Burke, 8 address is 1111 North Marshall Street. Tonight I 9 represent the landlord at 622. We also own the 10 building to the south: 610 North Water. I'd just 11 like to state that I am in favor of renewal of 12 this license. This tenant is very solid. They've 13 run a successful business there for five years now 14 where we have seen a number of buildings close, or 15 businesses close down in this general 16 neighborhood. Personally, we have two vacant 17 storefronts just to the south of us, and I don't 18 see any benefit to closing down this business. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 20 testimony. Questions by committee members? 21 Questions, Mr. Halbrooks? 22 MR. HALBROOKS: No, thank you. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Bauman, any 24 questions? 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No. 141 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 2 testimony. 3 If you have more than one or two other 4 specific individuals, I'd rather proceed in an 5 orderly procession, so I mean, instead of having 6 you call and have us take time to have Joe in the 7 back corner walk all the way up -- 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Get the individuals -- I 9 will get them lined up. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I would be happy to take 11 individuals in an orderly procession so that we 12 actually do it in a timely basis. If there is 13 someone who, in your mind's eye, has a time 14 constraint or, you know, I'm happy to do that to 15 accommodate individuals in that particular 16 fashion. 17 Sir? 18 MR. ARTRIP: My name is John Artrip, 19 A-R-T-R-I-P, 416 Marquette Avenue, South 20 Milwaukee. I'm the owner of Steamers Coffee, 21 their neighbor. I am for them renewing their 22 license. They have been great to us. I have 23 never seen anything out of the ordinary. Late 24 night, early morning, litter has never been an 25 issue for me. Real great genuine guys, great 142 1 customers, good suggestions, good people to know. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: How late does your 3 business operate in the evening? 4 MR. ARTRIP: At this time of year, we 5 are open until 6:00 p.m. During the summer and 6 during the festivals, we are open as late as 7 10:00. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. 9 MR. ARTRIP: They have great security, 10 um, cones set up for traffic. I have seen nothing 11 but effort on their side to make things orderly, 12 make things run smooth. I haven't really noticed 13 any lewdness or loudness that would be above and 14 beyond any normal bar scene. Of course, people 15 after drinking are going to get a little loud, but 16 nothing extraordinary. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: So are you active at 18 your establishment? I mean, are you there until 19 10:00 on those summer days? 20 MR. ARTRIP: Actually, a lot of times, 21 I'm outside. During the festivals, we have a 22 mobile food cart, and we will take that out, um, 23 to serve coffee beverages and other items, and we 24 sit right on the corner where a lot of those 25 customers of his pass by. 143 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Very good. Thank you. 2 Questions by committee? Additional questions from 3 this side of the table here? 4 MR. HALBROOKS: No, thank you. 5 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Nothing. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, sir, for your 7 testimony. 8 MR. CLARK: Hello, my name is Gregory J. 9 Clark, Jr., I live at 1980 Jan Avenue in Waukesha, 10 Wisconsin, and I lease an office at 610 North 11 Water Street where my window faces Water Street. 12 Um, I have -- my hours are mixed, so I come in 13 early in the morning or I come in late at night. 14 Um, I own my own business, so I kind of piece 15 together when I do my work. When I do come late 16 at night, sometimes I'm after 10:00. My children 17 go to sleep, so then I come into the office, and I 18 do some work and I park on Michigan Avenue, 19 sometimes Thursday, Friday nights, even a few 20 Saturday nights. 21 I have seen security guards at the 22 corner of Michigan and Water. I have seen then 23 security guards on Water Street. When I come 24 walking around the corner, there sometimes is a 25 line that stretches from their building to where I 144 1 walk in. Patrons are usually very nice, they let 2 me into my building. I then overlook Water 3 Street, and granted I'm not there that often, but 4 I've never had a problem with noise or problems. 5 I've heard the sirens here and then, here and 6 there, but when I leave at night, I never have a 7 problem. I never feel threatened when I walk down 8 the street because of the security presence. Now, 9 again, I'm not there a lot, but there are times 10 when I am there when the club is open. And I do 11 come early in the morning, and I never see things 12 laying around in front of the building. I very 13 rarely see a lot of litter coming around the 14 corner because I park on Michigan Avenue there. 15 But that's what I've observed, and I'd be in favor 16 of them having a renewal. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Is that 18 Clark with at K or K-E? 19 MR. CLARK: Just a K, C-L-A-R-K. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Questions by 21 committee? Mr. Halbrooks? 22 MR. HALBROOKS: No. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Bauman. 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: In the last 12 months, 25 how many Saturday nights have you been there until 145 1 2:00 a.m.? 2 MR. CLARK: I would say five, maybe five 3 nights. Five times on a Saturday night. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Very good. Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 6 testimony. 7 Next witness. 8 MR. JORDON: James Jordon, 1661 North 9 Water Street. I'm here to speak in substantial 10 favor of renewing the license for 618. I'm a 11 local business owner, business called Monkey Joe's 12 out in Waukesha, children's entertainment play 13 place, and then a restaurant downtown called 14 Wingzone (phonetic). I have had a chance to get 15 to know Nick, the director of operations, very 16 well, as well as Habib. 17 Three quick points I want to make, and 18 then I'll take my seat. The first point is that, 19 as a local business owner, I can't say enough 20 about how good it feels for someone to reach out 21 to improve my business. Nick and another 22 gentleman came to my business and suggested to us 23 that we connect. Now we are the sole caterer for 24 food to the 618. Not only do we deliver, we 25 cater, but outside of us, there are other young 146 1 people and other people in the community that they 2 help to also improve their business. There is a 3 young man with a photography company, there are 4 production companies, there are promotion 5 companies, local artists, that have a chance to 6 come to this venue and express their talents. So 7 for that, I have to give them a round of applause. 8 (Audience applause.) 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Sir -- 10 MR. JORDON: I'll be very -- 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, no. Please don't do 12 that again, and no one else in the audience. 13 MR. JORDON: Okay. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay, this isn't for you 15 to debate with me. 16 MR. JORDON: Absolutely. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I will not have audience 18 outbursts, okay. If you did this in a court, the 19 judge would toss you out. If you do this in my 20 testimony room here, I will toss you out, okay. 21 So please refrain from outbursts or anything else. 22 We'll respect your testimony, and we'll leave it 23 at that, and then you will be cross examined, and 24 we'll ask you to take your seat. 25 MR. JORDON: Duly noted. 147 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please proceed. 2 MR. JORDON: I think it will be a 3 substantial loss to the community if the 618 4 wasn't there. 5 My second point is the employment that 6 they offer. Right now I see the amount of time 7 that they spend with their employees, the revenue 8 that they -- the paychecks that their employees 9 get. And I think it's just beyond a paycheck. 10 Habib, Nick are also very involved in some of 11 their employees' lives, and so I think that that 12 is huge. And if that wasn't there, there would be 13 a substantial loss to the community. 14 And then my third point about the 15 operators is that they are very involved on a 16 weekly basis. They are there. They know what's 17 going on. And I think enough hasn't been said 18 about what proactive steps that they are taking to 19 make sure that some of the issues that have 20 happened in the past, how they are being corrected 21 and how they are being addressed. I think that 22 involvement is a big thing. Again, as a fellow 23 businessowner, I know the amount of work that goes 24 into just running the operation of a business 25 before it's showtime. So to show up on the 148 1 weekend, and I frequent their club and see Habib 2 there, Nick there, it's a big deal. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 4 MR. JORDON: And without that -- I won't 5 be redundant, but I think that it would be a 6 substantial loss to the community. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you 8 for your testimony. Questions by the committee 9 members? 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: First committee members, 12 if we could, Mr. Halbrooks. No questions, okay. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: I just to suggest, I 14 noticed there is a rotating quorum going on here, 15 if the Chair wants to take a break -- 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yeah, I think we will do 17 that even for our court reporter here as well. 18 We'll take a recess here of five minutes. 19 (Recess taken.) 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: This is the resumption 21 of the Common Council Licenses Committee. It is 22 approximately 10:00 p.m. We will -- I don't 23 believe there that were any additional questions 24 for our previous witness. We will go to our next 25 witness. 149 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. We have a 2 couple of gentlemen that have asked to come up. I 3 was going to have them as part of our tavern 4 presentation, but they have to leave. I just 5 thought I would have them introduce themselves and 6 tell you what they do for the club. 7 MR. WYLE: Corporal Luke Wyle with AIP 8 Dauntlet (phonetic) Securities. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We will need an address. 10 MR. WYLE: 33 Lance, Twin Lakes, 11 Wisconsin 53181. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 13 MR. WOLF: And I'm John Wolf, 14 owner/operator of AIP Dauntlet, and I reside at 15 1120 Wells, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 53147. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And if you could, if you 17 had a spelling with an "E" on it, or something 18 other than being usual let me know. 19 MR. WOLF: Just like the animal. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. I know that 21 Wolf does get spelled multiple ways. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, you are 23 independent contractors that work for the club, 24 the applicants here tonight? 25 MR. WOLF: That is correct. 150 1 MR. HALBROOKS: How long have you been 2 in their employ? 3 MR. WOLF: I believe it was late March. 4 MR. WYLE: Late March, correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Can you describe your 6 duties to the committee, what you do at the club 7 when you arrive and how late -- what you do when 8 you're there and how late you stay? 9 MR. WOLF: We usually get there at 10:00 10 every night and stay until after bar close, make 11 sure that everybody has left the vicinity. Our 12 responsibilities have to do with the outside of 13 the club. So we are typically on -- we post 14 anywhere from the corner of Wisconsin on -- 15 where're we at here? 16 MR. HALBROOKS: This is Wisconsin. 17 MR. WOLF: So the corner of Wisconsin 18 and Water and all the way down to Michigan and 19 Water, and we will patrol all the way up past 20 Broadway making sure that we check out the parking 21 lots and alleyways and things like that. 22 Typically, we are not just there making 23 sure the customers are okay, but we also keep an 24 eye on the local businesses. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: So you're not inside the 151 1 club? 2 MR. WOLF: We are not inside the club. 3 We are strictly outside. Lately, one of our 4 officers has been assisting on the inside, working 5 with the crew that does the pat-downs. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And what -- can you 7 describe your role and your team's role? First of 8 all, how many are there of you that work? 9 MR. WOLF: Changes, anywhere from two to 10 five. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And can you describe 12 your protocol at closing time for the committee? 13 MR. WOLF: Typically at closing time, 14 usually Luke and I move down to the parking lot 15 that is on the southeast corner of the 16 intersection of Michigan and Broadway. We usually 17 go down there, block off certain entrances to 18 redirect traffic and occasionally actually block 19 off Michigan just to give a better traffic pattern 20 to get people out. We always stay on the scene 21 until the last people leave. That's part of our 22 responsibilities. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: You don't block off 24 Michigan; the exits is what you are saying? 25 MR. WOLF: We block off the exits. 152 1 Sometimes we actually block off the street 2 depending upon how heavy the traffic pattern is 3 just to redirect to move people along. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And how long does all 5 that take? 6 MR. WOLF: Usually, from actual let-out 7 time until the time that we're done, anywhere from 8 10 to 20 minutes depending upon the night. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. That's all I 10 have for -- I don't know if the committee has some 11 questions. 12 MR. WOLF: I have a question, I'm 13 actually from Chicago originally, is there a Good 14 Samaritan law that is based in Wisconsin? 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I have no idea. Are 16 there questions by committee of this witness? 17 Alderman Bauman are there any questions you have? 18 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Yes, I do have some 19 questions. So you're Mr. Wolf, I take it? 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Bauman, if you 21 could also use the microphone. 22 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Yes. Mr. Wolf, is 23 that right? 24 MR. WOLF: Yes. 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay. So on occasion, 153 1 you find it necessary to block off a city street 2 roughly two-and-a-half blocks from the club's 3 front door to deal with crowd control emanating 4 from this club? 5 MR. WOLF: Just to, just to make the 6 traffic move smoother. People typically are 7 moving -- uh, let's see from the map, people are 8 moving east along Michigan, so a lot of times it's 9 just to alleviate any possible issues. We will, 10 we'll move traffic so that they can't go down that 11 street just to alleviate any possible problems 12 that would happen, not necessarily in response, we 13 tend to be -- we try to be proactive. 14 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And how is it you 15 block off the city street? 16 MR. WOLF: We just stand in the lane and 17 direct traffic with the flashlights. 18 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And you do this with 19 Milwaukee police officers present? 20 MR. WOLF: Sometimes, every once in a 21 while, yeah. 22 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So there are nights 23 when you are blocking off City of Milwaukee 24 streets and directing traffic on the public 25 right-of-way in Milwaukee without the 154 1 participation, supervision or permission of the 2 Milwaukee Police Department. 3 MR. WOLF: They have never complained. 4 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 6 testimony. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: By the way, this lasts 8 for a few minutes, I'm presuming, right? 9 MR. WOLF: Yeah, we're not -- 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Actually blocking the 11 street, you're in the street directing traffic. 12 MR. WOLF: We just move a couple cars 13 along, that's typically about it, no more than a 14 minute or two. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: But all during when Mr. 16 Bauman was asking you questions, while you're 17 checking, doing assessment, you actually do that 18 with the under -- with the police they see you do 19 it, they are not there stopping you from doing it. 20 MR. WYLE: Correct. 21 MR. WOLF: Yeah, they've never stopped 22 us from doing it. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: They have never 24 mentioned, "This is a really bad idea, stop it"? 25 MR. WOLF: No, we usually -- we 155 1 typically receive praise from the officers on 2 scene. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 4 MR. WOLF: Not necessarily specifically 5 stating that particular practice, but in general. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you for your 7 testimony. 8 MR. WOLF: Something just as a note -- 9 no. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Question for you, Mr. 11 Wolf, if you could hold on a moment. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: You mentioned the 13 traffic control measure. There has been a lot of 14 neighborhood testimony or some neighbor's 15 testimony about people dancing on cars, being 16 loud, what do you do in the parking lots 17 specifically? What's your reaction to that, or 18 does that happen, and if so, what do you do? 19 MR. WOLF: Personally, I've never seen 20 anybody dancing on cars before. Every once in 21 awhile, people, like, they get to their cars, they 22 are talking, we want to go home as well, so we try 23 to work like, "Come on, guys. You guys can talk 24 later. You had a chance to talk all night. Let's 25 just kind of move along." If things do get loud, 156 1 we're there to make sure that it quiets down. I 2 mean, that's one of the purposes that we have out 3 there. 4 ALDERMAN KOVAC: So how do you quiet it 5 down? 6 MR. WOLF: We'll go up to them and ask 7 them to get quieted down. We get involved, you 8 know. If people are arguing, step out, "Guys, 9 we're here to have fun." Now, we never really had 10 instances where -- I have never been in a fight up 11 there. So I mean, it's always been pretty 12 amiable, "Come on, guys, time to go, time to go." 13 "Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry about that, sorry about 14 that." 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Thank you. 16 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair? 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions, Alderman 18 Hamilton. 19 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Have you guys ever 20 had to deal with shots fired, those types of 21 incidents, have you personally witnessed that? 22 MR. WOLF: I personally haven't, but 23 actually Luke has. 24 MR. WYLE: The only incident I had was 25 on Halloween. It was contained almost immediately 157 1 by the officers on scene. Other than that, we've 2 never really had any problems with weapons. 3 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman? 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Schrimpf. 5 MR. SCHRIMPF: Thank you. Your lay name 6 is Luke? 7 MR. WYLE: Correct, sir. 8 MR. SCHRIMPF: When you say that it was 9 contained by the officers on the scene, you're 10 talking about Milwaukee Police Department 11 officers? 12 MR. WYLE: Correct. 13 MR. SCHRIMPF: That's all I have. 14 MR. WYLE: Actually, it was State 15 Troopers. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: State Troopers? 17 MR. WYLE: He just happened to be 18 passing by at that point in time. 19 MR. SCHRIMPF: Okay. Thank you. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I didn't even know State 21 Troopers come into Milwaukee County. They must 22 have been hungry for one of the places, downtown 23 eatery. 24 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Apparently, you forgot 25 to subpoena somebody. 158 1 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 3 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Was it this past 4 Halloween? 5 MR. WYLE: Yes, sir. 6 ALDERMAN KOVAC: What were the 7 circumstances of the gunfire? 8 MR. WYLE: As far as I understood it, 9 the patrons exited, went to their vehicle and then 10 came back. 11 ALDERMAN KOVAC: And where did the 12 shooting occur? 13 MR. WYLE: At the corner of Water and 14 Michigan. 15 ALDERMAN KOVAC: But no one was shot? 16 MR. WYLE: No, sir. 17 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: That's not in here. 18 So there is really 19 incidents, not 18. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Other 20 questions? Thank you, gentlemen, for your 21 testimony. 22 Next witness. 23 MS. WILLIAMS: Delorese Williams, 3352 24 North Palmer. I attend the club almost every 25 weekend because it's fun. It's like the type of 159 1 music I like to listen. I attend school in 2 Whitewater, so when we come home, we know we going 3 to this club. A lot of my classmates go here, and 4 they even throw graduation parties, which I know 5 if they are open, there is one for this December. 6 And I like the club, it's always -- I always feel 7 safe, like, you get to know the security guards. 8 They are always there. They don't follow you 9 about anything, but they make sure attire is on 10 point, even for the ladies. Sometimes I think 11 they turn away ladies who are way over or 12 underdressed, and it's a pretty good club for me. 13 I feel safe walking to my car. I often park in 14 the parking lot up there on Michigan. I always 15 feel safe going there, and when I come out, I go 16 home, no problems. The next day, back there 17 again. 18 And they do a lot of stuff in the 19 community. Um, I was actually approached by them 20 wondering what could they do to make the club more 21 enjoyable and fun, and say -- they actually did, 22 you know, had a survey on that. And one of the 23 things that they came up with was a food drive 24 because lots of times people going into the 25 season, they go without meals and stuff. So for 160 1 this past couple weeks, just for Thanksgiving, we 2 did a food drive. Lots of people have been 3 bringing food, nonperishable food items, just to 4 combat that, and it's going pretty well. We are 5 doing a turkey drive as well, they give turkeys. 6 How many club owners can you all say is not just 7 taking the money of the people who come to the 8 club, actually giving back? So the club, if the 9 club is closed down, it is not only taking food 10 out of some people's mouth, but potentially just 11 ending jobs and really cutting off a place for a 12 lot of -- for a lack of better words, for 13 minorities to go. 14 We can't go -- we go to Water Street 15 sometimes, but it's filled with smoke. I hate 16 smoke. They have a no tolerance of smoking. So 17 really in the club, it's not foggy. I don't feel 18 like my lungs are going to fall out like you do at 19 some other bars and restaurants. Like I said, 20 nice music. I always feel safe, and that's about 21 it. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 23 testimony. Alderman Zielinski? 24 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: I'm just, you know, 25 we've got a lot of people -- 161 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please use the 2 microphone. 3 MR. ZIELINKSI: We've still got a lot of 4 people here to testify, and I was just hoping we 5 could tighten up the relevance. I mean, it's 6 great and wonderful, he does stuff with turkeys 7 and all kinds of Christmas stuff and helps ladies 8 across the street and all that, but if -- Mr. 9 Chairman, I was hoping we could restrict the 10 testimony to their firsthand knowledge of what 11 they saw in the bar, what they saw outside the 12 bar, instead of all this side commentary stuff. 13 MS. WILLIAMS: I believe that is 14 firsthand knowledge of what's going on in the bar. 15 They are not only making it safe, like I stated, 16 they are also allowing people to benefit from 17 that. What else would you like to know on keeping 18 the club alive if you don't -- 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ma'am, he provided 20 testimony, he provided advice. I'm going to 21 concur with that, and I appreciate your testimony 22 here, but we're going to ask to try to tighten the 23 relevance as well. Other questions for this 24 witness? Committee? Alderman Bauman? 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Nothing. 162 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks? 2 MR. HALBROOKS: No. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you 4 for your testimony. Next witness, please. 5 MR. EIDI: Hello, everybody. My name is 6 Janshid Eidi. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You're going to have to 8 spell that one here. 9 MR. EIDI: Sure, first name, Janshid, 10 J-A-N-S-H-I-D, my last name, E-I-D-I, Eidi. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 12 MR. EIDI: I'm the owner of the 13 convenience store, corner alley, across the 14 Wisconsin Avenue, 219 East Wisconsin Avenue. I'm 15 almost behind this club. I don't have any problem 16 with customers of this club or the owner or -- 17 also any time this club is open, give me, give me 18 better business also. And -- all I have to say. 19 I believe we have the right to make more business. 20 The downtown Milwaukee -- very, very quiet right 21 now. Last six months there are three other 22 businesses down, closed. This is no good for 23 downtown. Anybody looking for quiet place; our 24 city. All far too quiet, downtown is not quiet. 25 The downtown has to be and make businesses. This 163 1 is United States and opportunity, and thank you 2 for listening. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. One moment, 4 any questions by committee? Alderman Bauman. 5 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Chair. I just 6 want to establish, what are your business hours, 7 sir? 8 MR. EIDI: 7:00 to 7:00 regular day, but 9 Fridays and weekends, Saturdays, 10:00 morning to 10 6:00. 11 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you. 12 MR. EIDI: On Sunday, closed. 13 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Thank you. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: That's 10:00 in the 15 morning until 6:00 p.m.? 16 MR. EIDI: Saturday. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: On Saturday. 18 MR. EIDI: Yes. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Thank you. Thank 20 you for your testimony. Please let me know if you 21 do have questions for any of these individuals. 22 Thank you, sir. Next witness. 23 MR. MASON: Hi, my name is Philip Mason. 24 I reside at 1625 North Prospect Avenue. Um, 25 pretty much what I have to say is mostly in 164 1 comparison of 618 to other clubs in Milwaukee. 2 I frequent a lot of clubs in the area, 3 and for the most part, 618 inside is a very safe 4 place to go. I go there on a regular basis. I 5 see how at closing time the security, who are 6 either internal or external contracted security 7 guards, they help patrons to their cars. Even 8 times they joke and help walk me to my car. I 9 think it's very obvious that, you know, when they 10 are out at night in the very bright vests 11 directing people to their cars, trying to get 12 people out of the way, I understand how, you know, 13 the captain here didn't -- could see plain as day 14 that they were helping people to their cars and 15 getting people out of the area. 16 Secondly, from being in other clubs in 17 other areas of Milwaukee, I have seen a police 18 presence inside the club. I have seen a presence 19 inside of clubs, I have not seen presence inside 20 618 because I believe when it comes to actual 21 taverns operating a business, this is a very safe 22 and respectable business for the most part. 23 And that's pretty much all I have to say 24 of what I've seen and, like, if you compare -- oh, 25 my last point is, at night, a lot of the traffic 165 1 that has been referred to on Water Street coming 2 and going, a lot of it is coming from the south 3 side; North Avenue people who are coming back. So 4 it's not just 618's traffic that's going on there. 5 Water Street is very popular, main street 6 business. So when, you know, there are traffic 7 issues, it's not just from that one club, it's 8 from clubs on Fifth Street, it's clubs from 9 Walker's Point, there's other clubs on Milwaukee's 10 streets who, you know, need to use Water Street as 11 a means to get around. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you 13 for your testimony. Questions by committee? 14 Alderman Bauman. 15 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Chair. 16 Sir, your most -- your last assertion 17 about traffic, you conducted a traffic study to 18 determine that? 19 MR. MASON: Um, well, like I said, I 20 frequent a lot of clubs, I see where people are 21 coming from. When I need to get back to the 22 highway or I need to get home, my main route is 23 Water Street, where I have been redirected by 24 officers to go different ways. And I'm sure if 25 you look on Water Street right now, you can see 166 1 there's cars coming and going. It's a regular, 2 you know, it's a public street. It's not owned by 3 the club. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I don't know -- 5 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And the street is open 6 right now, not blocked off by police. Thank you. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I don't know that we 8 need to spend more time on that. Any questions 9 here? Thank you for your testimony. 10 MR. MASON: Thanks. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Next witness, please. 12 If you could, for those of you who have already 13 spoken in the front row, if you could relinquish 14 your seats and possibly find a seat. That way we 15 can actually ensure that we are moving forward. 16 Sir, your testimony next, please. 17 MR. DANGERFIELD: Good evening, 18 committee. My name is Clyde Keith Dangerfield 19 Jr., also known to the City of Milwaukee as the 20 R&B artist Sincere. I actually have my own day 21 here given by the city for my acts on the 22 community to be active against violence and 23 poverty in our city. For the last three years -- 24 well, actually I -- on my own day, September 24th, 25 for about five years now. Um, the club actually 167 1 came to me and adopted my day, and I throw my 2 annual event at their club, which is an event to 3 bring, um, the community and the business owners 4 together to find ways to be proactive against the 5 disruption and the negativity in the community. 6 Also, as being an entertainer and 7 somebody in the public eye, people look up to what 8 I do, and me and my team, we come in and out of 9 town along with other celebrities, be aware, you 10 know, I mean, different, I mean, like Jury and 11 different stuff like that. There is risk when we 12 come in and out. These gentlemen at the club, the 13 owners, the security, the staff, they take time to 14 make sure that everyone is safely exiting and 15 entering the club every time we come. 16 We don't do a lot of the clubs in the 17 city because of the violence and the different 18 things that happen. But this club has taken a 19 personal interest in not just the inner city, but, 20 I mean, I think the whole community. And I 21 actually live downtown as well; 231 West Wisconsin 22 Avenue, and I haven't had any disturbances. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 24 testimony here. Questions by committee of this 25 witness? Any question on either side of the 168 1 table? Thank you for your work. Next witness, 2 please. 3 MR. REEVES: Hello, how's everyone doing 4 tonight? 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Good, how are you 6 tonight? 7 MR. REEVES: Yes. I'm a street 8 promoter. My name is Jermaine Reeves, live at 9 5435 North, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What I do is I 10 normally do street promotions for the concerts and 11 stuff that goes on here at the club or different 12 clubs in the city of Milwaukee. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I'm sorry, Mr. Reeves, I 14 thought I heard you say "5435 North, Milwaukee, 15 Wisconsin." 16 MR. REEVES: No, 5435 North 39th. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: North 39th. 18 MR. REEVES: Yes. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I apologize, please 20 proceed. 21 MR. REEVES: What goes on is that I'm 22 normally the guy that goes around and you find the 23 flyers on your windows and whatnot, and a street 24 promoter teams up, and I go around the club a lot 25 of times, and the security always stops me and 169 1 asks me what I'm doing. They are very concerned 2 of if I'm breaking into cars or whatnot. So they 3 are out there doing their jobs. You know, they 4 direct the traffic, they make sure that the women 5 get to their cars safely and whatnot, you know. 6 And everything as far as securitywise, I mean, 7 they said the streets that when Water is being 8 blocked off and whatnot, and I never, never, ever 9 seen the streets, like, blocked off as far as like 10 traffic can't go up or down Wisconsin or Water 11 Street. And I'm always standing there with the 12 security when they are on the corners and whatnot 13 because when people are going to their cars, I'm 14 the guy that's standing there bothering them with 15 the flyers and whatnot making sure they see what's 16 the next show for the concerts at their club or 17 Nick's nightclub, whatnot, you know. 18 Excuse me, I'm nervous, I never did 19 this, but I'm just going to be here to talk to the 20 people because I know they are good guys and 21 whatnot, and I don't want them to lose their 22 license, you know. So that's pretty much all I 23 have to say. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Reeves, 25 for your testimony. Question by committee? Any 170 1 questions on either side here? Thank you. Next 2 witness, please. And if you could as well too, a 3 few who spoke and then that are in the front row 4 if you could relinquish your seats. Thank you. 5 Good evening, sir. 6 MR. CLARK: Travis Clark, 8016 North -- 7 8016 West Good Hope Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 8 53224. I am a local promoter. I have done events 9 downtown, U.S. Cellular district, the south side 10 of Water Street and the north side of Water 11 Street, both sides, Bootleggers. I know Nick very 12 well, I brought various artists here form Keyshia 13 Cole, T.I., Mary J. Blige, stuff like that. And 14 what I have to say, I would rather them get their 15 license because it would be very hard for 16 Milwaukee if they lose them because when artists 17 come in and we have conventions, when you say 18 downtown, you're talking about entertainment. I 19 mean, yes, they are building condos and stuff 20 downtown, which is understandable, but downtown is 21 the area for entertainment in any city. 22 I have done concerts in different other 23 cities. When you say downtown, it's -- I mean, 24 that's where people go to have fun. So I 25 understand with the respect for the person or the 171 1 people that live down there, but, I mean, you're 2 in an environment where entertainment surrounds 3 itself. With Summerfest going on, which is 4 halfway downtown, a lot of stuff that goes on 5 downtown, I mean, it's not just 618. 6 Um, me personally, you know, to have 7 artists and other people come in to enhance the 8 downtown area and create revenue is what we need 9 most important with the budget situation, that's a 10 different story. But I feel, you know, that they 11 are a positive role in Milwaukee. And I really 12 don't want to see them gone for the simple fact 13 that, I mean, people need something to do. 14 You know, artists come, and they perform 15 at U.S. Cellular Arena, the Bradley Center, um, 16 Riverside, Turner, other places down there. When 17 they get done, they want to hang out, lay out with 18 their fans, and where they go is usually downtown 19 because it's within walking distance from their 20 hotel. We don't have too many four-star hotels 21 that I gotta put somebody in that's outside the 22 area of downtown. So it's the comfort zone, and a 23 lot of artists have told me that they enjoy our 24 downtown. They -- you know, it's smaller, it's 25 not big city as in you're dealing with Chicago and 172 1 L.A. and Atlanta. You know, so it's more closed 2 in, so they feel, you know, so it's more 3 closeknit, so they feel,you know, safe when they 4 come to our city. 5 So me personally, losing 618 would be a 6 devastating blow to Milwaukee as a whole, you 7 know, financial, and dealing with revenue and 8 other things. When I do events even at the Coulee 9 Auditorium, I dealt with MATC, I contact the 10 district or the police department. I let them 11 know what event I have going on. They tell me, 12 you know, they need a -- bring a flyer down, make 13 them aware of that, you know. Of course, there is 14 going to be a lot of people down there because 15 there's a celebrity coming to town. Everybody 16 wants to see him. Even when, you know, Bow Wow, 17 when he came a couple months ago, you know, he 18 wants to talk to the individuals at a kids' 19 shelter. I contacted the Fifth District to let 20 them know what I had on and went down there and 21 talked to them personally. You know, and this is 22 what may go on. I give them a head's notice. 23 T.I., when T.I. came in, he went to, you know, 24 they do a lot of stuff for our community. He went 25 to the Boys Club and went to the detention center, 173 1 talked to the boys there and told them, you know, 2 stay out of trouble. Keyshia -- 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I think we are moving a 4 little bit astray here. 5 MR. CLARK: The reason I bring up a lot 6 of these points is that a lot of people come here 7 from other, outside -- there are celebrities to 8 try to enhance Milwaukee and be a part of. They 9 need a place to go for all cultures and all types 10 of entertainment, you know, what I'm saying, hip 11 hop, everything. So I think they should keep 12 their license. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 14 testimony. Do you want to just hold on one 15 second? Questions by committee? 16 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton. 18 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Is Bow Wow 21? 19 MR. CLARK: No, Bow Wow is not 21 -- 20 yes, he is. Yes, he is. Bow Wow is 21. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by the 22 committee? Thank you. Next witness, please. 23 MR. GRIFFIN: Hello, everybody. My name 24 is Wayne Griffin. I'm at 7464 North 38th Street, 25 and I'd like to say I want to come to compliment 174 1 the Milwaukee Police, I think they are doing a 2 fine job. They are under a lot of stress, but I 3 just also want to say to the members of this 4 board, I think you guys are doing a good job too 5 because I can tell you all are perfectionists. 6 And I'm a perfectionist too, and I'd like to thank 7 the club. One thing I do know about them, being a 8 local promotor, they give Afro Americans a chance 9 to come there, and, you know, make an honest 10 living, make some money and throw a couple events 11 and parties. And that's one thing that I see that 12 I really like about them. 13 As far as the club and the security and 14 the professionalism, they trying to do a wonderful 15 job. They have concerns for the people that come 16 there. Even when they are leaving, and coming -- 17 so I'm getting a little nervous too. So I really 18 personally think the club should be open, and we 19 do a nice concert and Jenni White, a lot of 20 professional people come out, you know, they do 21 the contributions to the city and everything. 22 That's all I got to say. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 24 testimony. Questions by committee? Questions, 25 Alderman Bauman? 175 1 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No questions. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks? Thank 3 you. Our next witness. Again, if individuals 4 have testified here, if you could at least 5 relinquish the seats in the front row. That way 6 we will keep orderly processions. You're doing 7 very well, so thank you for that. 8 Your testimony, hi, how are you? 9 MS. JOHNSON: Thank you, Chairman. 10 Bethany Johnson, 7879 North Fairway Place, 11 Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was employed, I was a 12 bartender at 618 for about a year and six months. 13 During that time, Nick was my main boss, but Nick 14 was everybody's boss. He made sure that 15 everything was running smoothly. 16 And me, having a license, I was very, 17 very adamant about never overserving any customer, 18 and I made sure that all our bartenders were on 19 the same accord. We never tried to overserve any 20 customers, and we would cut people off. We would 21 make sure that at the end of the night, our bar is 22 clean, and by the time we leave, I don't see all 23 the riffraff that whatever people are talking 24 about. I'm leaving about 12 -- I mean, 2:30 to 25 3:00 in that time. I've never seen riffraff 176 1 outside. I always have to get escorted by the 2 security guards because there is nobody on the 3 streets, and the cops are lurking in the shadows. 4 But I've never seen riffraff, so that's my 5 testimony. 6 I do appreciate 618 for what they did 7 for me, and I love how he runs the club inside. 8 That's my testimony. I would like them to keep 9 their license. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Questions by 11 committee of this witness? Alderman Bauman, any 12 questions? 13 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No questions. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks? Thank 15 you. You provided testimony earlier, do you just 16 want to again provide your name for the record, 17 please. 18 MR. ROBBINS: Brandon Robbins, 3147 19 North 45th Street, and my testimony is that I feel 20 like it's not just about the renewal of them 21 getting the license, I think they should get it, 22 but they also gave me a renewal on life. When I 23 was shot, there was actually no one around, but I 24 felt like, by me losing so much blood, when they 25 came and stopped it, you know, I seen a light 177 1 flash in front of my eyes. The blood almost went 2 into my main artery, I could have been out of 3 here. But with the assistance of their security 4 and Habib and Nick, when they came there, you 5 know, they made me change my life. He even came 6 to visit me in the hospital. I was shocked when 7 he walked in because I'm, like, wait, I don't got 8 nobody of that color in my family. So when he 9 walked in, I was -- he actually stayed there and 10 helped me to make sure I was okay. It wasn't just 11 one thing, he called me, he called me, said are 12 you doing okay. 13 So now that I'm actually 21, if there is 14 a chance that I won't be able to go to the club, 15 I'll be kind of mad. I actually lost a friend 16 who, where the last place he was actually seen and 17 the best place he liked to go to was the 618. So 18 that was like my best friend, and now that -- I 19 want to go there because I know that was like the 20 place he liked to go. 21 So like I said, it's actually not just 22 about their renewal, but they actually gave me a 23 renewal on life, so now that I'm -- 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Now, you're feel at the 25 point where we are all brothers and sisters. 178 1 MR. ROBBINS: Hopefully. I mean, but 2 that's my testimony. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. I'm very 4 glad that you did made it through that incident as 5 well. 6 MR. ROBBINS: Thank you. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions my committee 8 members? Alderman Bauman any questions? 9 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No questions. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Next 11 witness. 12 MR. TOPCZEWSKI: Ladies and gentlemen, 13 Steve Topczewski. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You're going to have to 15 spell the last name. 16 MR. TOPCZEWSKI: T-O-P-C-Z-E-W-S-K-I. 17 I'm a patron of this club. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And your address if you 19 could, sir. 20 MR. TOPCZEWSKI: Oh, yeah, 3156 South 21 49th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 52319. I'm a 22 patron of this club as long as -- as well as 23 multiple other clubs throughout the city. I'm 24 actually a district regional marketing manager 25 with Coca Cola, and I have a lot of different 179 1 marketing managers that come into town, and 2 frequently we will go to 618 pretty much just 3 because of the professionalism and the fact that I 4 know that the security staff there is very 5 thorough. Not only that, just being inside the 6 club as well, compared to most other places, the 7 control, the way that they run the place, it's 8 definitely to a higher standard. A lot of people 9 that come in from out of town are from New York, 10 Atlanta, L.A. areas, and they are very impressed 11 with what they see. They expect coming to 12 Milwaukee and seeing a level of a club that is way 13 less than what they get at 618 as far as the 14 security staff goes, the entertainment, and the 15 way of the professionalism throughout the staff. 16 So just to keep it short and sweet, 17 that's pretty much what I have to offer, and I 18 frequent that place I'd say between two, three 19 times a month. 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 21 testimony. Questions by committee? Alderman 22 Bauman? Mr. Halbrooks? 23 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Nothing. 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 25 brevity, sir. Next witness. 180 1 MR. SMITH: Hi, how you doing? My name 2 is Myron Smith, 2100 West Pierce Street, and I'm 3 in favor of the renewal of the licence. I also 4 want to commend Habib and the security team 5 because it's not so many clubs that the owners 6 that actually take the time to go outside after 7 the event, after club hours, and actually try to 8 control the crowd. Habib is out there himself 9 personally, and as me being a young minority 10 professional, there are not too many clubs that 11 you can go to. There is a lot of racial 12 profiling. So I enjoy coming there because I 13 don't have to deal with the riffraff, but I 14 appreciate it, and I'm definitely in favor of 15 their renewal. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you 17 for your testimony. Questions by committee of 18 this witness? Any questions on either side of the 19 table? Thank you, sir. Next witness, please. 20 MR. BELL: My name is Dennis Bell, 21 landlord, local landlord for many properties in 22 Milwaukee. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Do you have an address? 24 MR. BELL: 743 North 25th Street. Every 25 time I came to 618, I even told Habib, every time 181 1 I come here, you guys have a new technology, you 2 guys are advancing your security every single 3 weekend. So that is one thing. I definitely 4 approve of their renewal. 5 Also it's a place of many -- multiracial 6 place, where there is more than just one certain 7 party is going there, which I definitely benefit. 8 Where it's not, you know, it's segregated, 9 Milwaukee, you know, it's prestigious. So I 10 definitely want to definitely give my approval to 11 the acceptance of the renewal of the license. 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 13 testimony, sir. Questions by committee of this 14 witness? Thank you, sir. Next witness. 15 MR. MODIMAKWANE: My name is Ernest, I'm 16 going to have to spell my last name, it's 17 M-O-D-I-M-A-K-W-A-N-E. I'm here to speak for 18 myself basically. I work Lady Bug since they are 19 open five years ago. And to me, Lady Bug is a 20 place of employment, it provides employment for 21 me, and the money I make at Lady Bug forms a 22 substantial part of my income. I need to keep 23 going on a monthly basis, and also I suspect the 24 same goes for the 40 or so for other people who 25 work at Lady Bug. 182 1 And one other thing I want to add is, 2 the people who come to me and I ask them, "Why do 3 you need Lady Bug to be open?" They tell me Lady 4 Bug provides the cultural diversity and vibrancy 5 of Milwaukee downtown life that they don't think 6 will be there in their absence. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Why don't we just stick 8 with what you feel as opposed to what you say 9 others are saying? 10 MR. MODIMAKWANE: Actually, I feel the 11 same way. The sense of Lady Bug provides for a 12 cultural diversity and vibrancy in Milwaukee's 13 downtown nightlife that wouldn't be there if it's 14 closed. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 16 testimony. And I just want to get away from the 17 classic hearsay of what you so called heard others 18 say, it's not firsthand testimony. You pronounce 19 your name Modimakwane? 20 MR. MODIMAKWANE: Mm mm. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You did not provide an 22 address. 23 MR. MODIMAKWANE: 1106 East Knapp 24 Street, 53202. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you, 183 1 and thank you for your testimony. Are there 2 questions committee members have of this witness? 3 Any questions from either side of the table? No. 4 Next witness. And if there are a few 5 others, we have a couple seats, if we could still 6 -- if there are others that wish to provide 7 testimony, could filter in, if you could. Good 8 evening. 9 MS. HASAN: Good evening. My name is 10 Kahdeejah Hasan. Do you want me to spell that? 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Please. 12 MS. HASAN: K-H-A-D-E-E-J-A-H, last name 13 H-A-S-A-N, and I am a business owner in a 14 family-owned restaurant, and I frequent 618 just 15 about every weekend. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Hasan, you need to 17 provide an address for us. 18 MS. HASAN: I'm sorry. 2368 North 19 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. Do you need a zip? 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Yes. 21 MS. HASAN: 53212. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Please 23 proceed. 24 MS. HASAN: I just want to state that I 25 always feel very safe and secure with the 184 1 security. I'm also an inspiring artist, I perform 2 there, and like I said, I just feel very safe. 3 Um, I haven't been to another club actually since 4 I've been going to 618. I can honestly say that I 5 will be very disappointed if they are closed. 6 As far as traffic, I just wanted to 7 state that it's kind of hard to pinpoint because 8 there are stoplights, like, all around, so the 9 light is red, and there is a bunch of cars when 10 people exiting the club, there would probably be a 11 traffic jam. 12 Other than that, I just want to say that 13 I'm very personal friends of Habib and Nick, and I 14 love the club, and I would be very disappointed if 15 it was closed down. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Thank you 17 for your testimony. Questions by committee? 18 Alderman Coggs. 19 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: What's the name 20 of your restaurant? 21 MS. HASAN: Ja'Stacy, it's a soul food 22 restaurant. And actually, a lot of the people 23 that they bring as far as the famous people, they 24 actually make sure that they come up to the 25 restaurant. So I actually would be very upset 185 1 financially as well. That's about it. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 3 committee? Thank you for your testimony. Next 4 witness. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: This is a witness I have 6 subpoenaed -- when we get done -- call him. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: He has a right to 8 testify. 9 MR. BLOW: My name is Homer Blow. I 10 will give the address, but I'd rather give it to 11 whoever I need to give it to, but not -- 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Even if you have a 13 business address that you use here. It would be 14 -- our policy is to have an address that we -- we 15 can use if we need, if you were somehow needed to 16 be reached. 17 MR. BLOW: I mean, I can give that, but 18 I just would not prefer -- I don't want to just 19 stand up here and say, "1313 Mockingbird Lane," 20 and know that that is not the real address. But I 21 have no problem giving my address to the 22 stenographer or whoever needs to take it down. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right, afterwards 24 you can see our staff assistant. 25 MR. BLOW: No problem, no problem. Of 186 1 course, I am a radio personality here in the city, 2 also own and operate my own business, and I have 3 also done work at 618 Live as in hosting and 4 providing entertainment. And of the things I can 5 say with being in the city, I have DJ'd many 6 events from the Bradley Center or wherever, but 7 coming down to 618 Live, one thing I have to say 8 is, working with a lot of different clubs that 9 they have a degree of professionalism that I just 10 wish could be the motto for a lot of other 11 businesses which you don't see, from the 12 bartenders, the wait staff, the ones going to get 13 the liquor, and the way that they keep it under 14 control. 15 I've gone outside, I've witnessed the 16 security as they make sure that people are 17 orderly. Even if there is a line of people to get 18 in, they keep the line orderly. If they see some 19 patrons just trying to loiter around, they will 20 make sure that they leave the premises. As far as 21 the traffic control, of course, someone had 22 mentioned that, of course, you see traffic coming 23 from everywhere, but again, you got Riverside 24 Theater that has let out sometimes maybe at 11:00, 25 11:30, you also have the Pabst Theater, so you 187 1 have so many things that are going on on Water 2 Street. 3 But I'm saying the degree of 4 professionalism that their security and their 5 staff uses to make sure that everyone comes in and 6 feels safe, from the ID, being able to scan the ID 7 to try to cut down on underage people getting into 8 an establishment, the way that they make sure that 9 they are strict with their dress code. I think 10 it's a degree and a motto that a lot of other 11 clubs, even black-owned clubs, should follow. I 12 mean, because that's something that some people 13 are trying to steer away from. But one thing that 14 I noticed, especially in downtown Milwaukee, when 15 it comes to an urban-friendly venue, it's always 16 usually a little more degree of discrimination 17 than it is, when it's just -- what do they call 18 it, the north side of Water Street. 19 Again, you have a lot of things that all 20 the sudden -- I've seen urination and all of this 21 all up and down Water Street, but it seems to be 22 highlighted when it's an urban-friendly venue. So 23 we always seem to get more -- and it's already a 24 bad feeling unfortunately, as a black man that you 25 have to do two and three things more than what 188 1 some other people have to do. I think it's 2 unfair. 3 I think when you talk about traffic 4 control, we have a city that the Bradley Center 5 does not -- the City of Milwaukee doesn't own the 6 Bradley Center, but you can get police cadet aides 7 to stand out there and monitor the traffic and 8 help with traffic control. Why? Because they 9 know there that there are a lot of people there. 10 This also happens from the Riverside Theater to 11 wherever. Miller Park, people go out there and 12 get drunk. They are led onto the freeway by our 13 Milwaukee County Sheriff Department. How smart is 14 that? You have seen them in the parking lot 15 drinking kegs, and they are ushered onto the 16 freeway. With me, my family, my kids. 17 So I'm saying, when it comes to somebody 18 doing a topnotch job, I support 618 Live, not only 19 because I have been employed there sometimes, I 20 mean, I don't work there as a regular employee, 21 but because of the line of work that I do, I have 22 worked there many times, and I commend them. I 23 commend them, and I think the city would be 24 committing a travesty to say that you can't have 25 an urban-friendly venue downtown, which is really 189 1 what a lot of this amounts to. Some people don't 2 want to say it, but it is what it is. So when you 3 have a downtown venue, and I have noticed it 4 because I've seen it happen to other venues, all 5 of a sudden you don't get your license in the 6 mail; you get called in. 7 So I'm just saying, I commend them, and 8 I think the City of Milwaukee should really look 9 at -- you're going to be taking away a lot of jobs 10 in a time where we got a recession is going on 11 already, and you got people who are saying that 12 we're trying to do, what else can we do? When 13 does the City's responsibility kick in? If 14 someone is standing on the sidewalk, that is the 15 City's sidewalk. You can actually give them a 16 ticket for that. But they still go above and 17 beyond to try to usher people to their vehicles. 18 That is what I have to say. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 20 testimony. By the way, it's the City of Milwaukee 21 Police Department which escorts you out of Miller 22 Park. 23 MR. BLOW: Wow, isn't that great. Thank 24 you for making my family safe on the freeway. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by committee? 190 1 Any questions, Alderman Bauman or Mr. Halbrooks? 2 Thank you. Any additional witnesses? 3 If there are any others, I would just 4 ask that you come and take the front row here at 5 this point. As I said, I don't mind it if you 6 provide it, but I'm not going to beg people to. 7 All right, as I said, if you are not moving up to 8 the front row at this point, you are not going to 9 -- I'm going to cut it off. Sir, please proceed. 10 MR. LOVE: Terry Love, 2621 Cudahy, 11 Wisconsin, I just -- 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: 2621? 13 MR. LOVE: East Adams Court. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Court. 15 MR. LOVE: Cudahy. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 17 MR. LOVE: All I want to say is, Nick, 18 Habib, and them, they are pretty, you know, pretty 19 good people. But what I feel is, like, I 20 coordinate celebrities who want to come to town 21 and party or hang out, and one of the celebrities 22 are the Green Bay Packers, and they have called me 23 and like, "Where can we go?" And, you know, they 24 want luxury and stuff like that, and me 25 personally, I want to take them there, you know 191 1 what I'm saying, security takes care of them, you 2 know what I'm saying, make sure they're all right, 3 escort them in, and they are very happy, you know 4 what I'm saying. So that's one thing I can say 5 about them. 6 One other thing I can say about Nick is, 7 it was an artist came in, he was coming in through 8 the back door and some of them didn't have on them 9 ID, one of the people in the entourage. He said, 10 "You're not getting in here." And I was right 11 there, and I'm a former public safety officer. So 12 I'm not just saying it to say it. They need their 13 license. Thank you. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for your 15 testimony. Questions by committee of this 16 witness? Any questions, Alderman Bauman, Mr. 17 Halbrooks? Thank you, sir. 18 MR. HUDSON: Good evening, how you 19 doing? My name is Sirvest Hudson. I'll spell it, 20 S-I-R-V-E-S-T. I'm a local businessowner myself. 21 I am in support of 618 Live. It's one of the only 22 places in the city for people in my age group, 21 23 to 27, you know, can go to and have a good time 24 and feel safe. And that's pretty much it. I feel 25 like if they take that away, it will probably 192 1 cause a lot more problems because people in my age 2 group won't have anything to do. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, sir. Can you 4 provide me again with your name and address? 5 MR. HUDSON: Sirvest Hudson, 8524 West 6 Lisbon Avenue. 7 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And Mr. Hudson, could 8 you spell your first name? 9 MR. HUDSON: S-I-R-V-E-S-T. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Questions by 11 committee of this witness? Alderman Bauman? 12 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No questions. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks? 14 MR. HALBROOKS: No, thank you. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, sir. To my 16 knowledge, we have one additional gentleman here. 17 MR. PACHECO: Hello. Jose Pacheco, 3600 18 A North 48th Street. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And if you could spell 20 "Pacheco"? 21 MR. PACHECO: P-A-C-H-E-C-O. I have 22 been working at 618 since June. I'm a roofer by 23 trade during the day, so when the winter season 24 hits, there hardly isn't any work for roofers, 25 snow on the roof, and it is not -- it's time where 193 1 we have to rely on other means of income. And 2 without 618, I wouldn't be able to necessarily 3 make the ends meet at the end of the week. So 4 it's definitely an aid to me and my family, and I 5 would hate to see it be suspended or not renewed. 6 I'm proud of Habib, never had a boss 7 quite like him, very charismatic, demonstrates 8 excellent quality in leadership, and I trust in 9 him greatly. And he's led me and other security 10 staff down the right direction and always looking 11 to improve ways of making everyone safe so that we 12 all go home at the end of the night, so that the 13 neighbors are respected and there is order and 14 that we can open another day. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Hold on one 16 moment, are there any questions by committee 17 members? Alderman Bauman, questions? 18 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: No questions. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks? 20 Thank you, sir. Mr. Halbrooks, you 21 wanted to call one of the security persons from 22 CPS? 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, we have -- any 24 other citizens? All the citizens are done? 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: To my knowledge. 194 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Anyone else want to 2 testify as a citizen witness? 3 Yes, I would like the opportunity to 4 make a presentation. I would ask Mr. Kenny to 5 come up, if we could have him sit and get to the 6 table. 7 MR. KENNY: Mr. Chair. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You have been among 9 those who has been sworn in, correct? 10 MR. KENNY: Yes. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. If you could 12 provide your name and address for our record. 13 MR. KENNY: Michael Kenny, general 14 manager of CPS Parking. The business address is 15 100 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 230, Milwaukee 16 53202. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Kenny, you -- first 19 of all, you don't want to see the club shut down, 20 correct? 21 MR. KENNY: That is correct. We do 22 special event revenue at some of our locations 23 from the club. We have physically lost money on 24 some of the lots that have been discussed today, 25 so closing down the club just is another financial 195 1 hardship on our company, and, you know, there's 2 things that can be worked out, but I don't want it 3 closed at this point. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: All right, now, the 5 parking lots that you manage are -- that we've 6 talked about tonight, are the parking lots on the 7 east and west side of Broadway between Michigan 8 and Clybourn, correct? 9 MR. KENNY: That is correct, including 10 Chase Bank, and including the one on to the -- 11 yes, and then if you move your hand up back to the 12 Community Exchange one and up to the north of it, 13 that's the 500 North Broadway, and if you go on 14 the other side of the other building, that's also 15 a little surface lot that I operate as well. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: You also operate the 17 Chase lot as well? 18 MR. KENNY: Yes. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: You have been here 20 tonight for all of the testimony? 21 MR. KENNY: Correct. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: You have heard the -- 23 Mr. Arenson, who wants this place closed down 24 desperately. 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: I'll object to that 196 1 testimony. That's not the testimony. If you want 2 to personalize this, I think that is inappropriate 3 and out of order. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: You've heard Mr. Arenson 5 testify about the activity in your lots, correct? 6 MR. KENNY: Correct. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And you don't dispute 8 that activity goes on in your lots? 9 MR. KENNY: I -- you know, based upon 10 this evening's things, I have not personally seen 11 any of it. I'm not there at night, at midnight, 12 2:00 in the morning, so I have not physically seen 13 it myself. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, let's talk about 15 -- you're not -- you don't have any staff at any 16 of these lots at that time. 17 MR. KENNY: I have in the past in some 18 years, and recently we have not. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: So you have -- you take 20 money for cars to park there, and then after, the 21 people that park there think there is somebody 22 there watching their cars, and then you actually 23 have your staff leave after a certain time in the 24 evening, correct? 25 MR. KENNY: Again, let me kind of go lot 197 1 by lot. The little lot that was on the subpoena 2 was 330 East Clybourn. 330 East Clybourn on that 3 map is the little tiny lot. It is a monthly 4 parking lot only, so there is not any, um, notice 5 that there should be public parking there. The 6 big lot on 500 North Broadway, that apparently is 7 the discussion of most of the evening, of the 8 committee this evening, has an automated pay 9 station on the lot, and that is typical of our 10 business. In fact, Chase Bank has automation, 100 11 East Wisconsin has automation, the city garages 12 have automation. I mean, it is pretty typical in 13 the parking industry to have automation. So we 14 used to staff that lot; we don't anymore. The 15 expectation is to have people that pull in the lot 16 pay the machine. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And given what you've 18 heard tonight, are you prepared to make any 19 changes if you continue managing that particular 20 lot? 21 MR. KENNY: Let me answer that question 22 as well. I had a lease on that property that 23 expired November 1st. I'm currently there under 24 an agreement to potentially finalize the 25 management agreement to stay there. However, this 198 1 evening, I have met the owners and the staff here 2 with you, and I've also met with the captain 3 briefly, talked to some aldermen briefly, the 4 bottom line is, this is not the first -- Mr. 5 Arenson has called my staff and talked to my 6 office manager, this is the first time I've met 7 him this evening as well. But this is the first 8 time that I'm really hearing the magnitude of the 9 problem. This is the first time this evening that 10 I'm actually hearing that they have hired staff 11 that is actually going into my lot and taking care 12 of some of that, so I mean, that's all news to me 13 tonight as well. I will tell you, the brief 14 meeting we had this evening out in the hall before 15 this all started, while you guys were falling 16 farther and farther behind on the agenda, we did 17 discuss what we could possibly do to make all 18 sides happy, and I think hearing this firsthand, 19 that's what's important to me is to keep this open 20 and work something out with the owners and the 21 neighbors. And I gave a prime example out there, 22 if my staff does something wrong, I coach them and 23 they know what the magnitude of the next problem 24 is and what's going to happen. 25 Now, I know, I understand tonight for 199 1 the first time, you guys had a suspension a year 2 ago, that I had no knowledge of as well. The 3 bottom line is if we can get all parties here to 4 work something out, and it works, great, if it 5 doesn't, then figure something out. The only 6 person that has discussed anything with me 7 regarding my lot has been Officer Mark Beuto who 8 is the police liaison for the downtown, and he 9 called me a couple months ago and asked me if was 10 going to close down the lot. And we talked about 11 it briefly, but at no time did I really understand 12 the magnitude of the conversations that were going 13 on. I mean, to listen to the testimony this 14 evening, I mean, I'm not naive. I mean, 15 apparently the problem is out and about outside 16 the club, and how do we best work to do things. 17 I, as well, didn't hear a lot of things about the 18 club being a problem. It's when they leave the 19 club. Okay, they may be drinking at the club, 20 they may be together in the club, but the bottom 21 line is, how do we address what happens once 22 people get outside, and I don't have the answer 23 for that today, but I, again, prior to today, 24 didn't know the magnitude of the problem. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, and you 200 1 mentioned a meeting that we organized out in the 2 hallway, just an impromptu, and that involved the 3 captain, Captain Mitchell? 4 MR. KENNY: Correct. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: And Habib and Nick and 6 myself and you. 7 MR. KENNY: Right. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: And that wasn't 9 adversarial in any way. 10 MR. KENNY: No, it was an introductory, 11 and how, you know, do you want to have it closed, 12 and I said, no, I make money off the lot. I mean, 13 I'm in business to make money and look at a 14 possible solution. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And you are willing to 16 work with police and the club to come up with 17 whatever is necessary to stop the behavior that 18 occurs in those parking lots. 19 MR. KENNY: I think it's in everyone's 20 best interest. Just to give chair and committee 21 an idea, I run everything -- I won't say 22 everything, but the majority of the stuff around 23 the Bradley Center. I run the Summerfest lots. I 24 run lake lot, which is south of U.S. Bank, all the 25 way to Chicago. I run 411 East Wisconsin. I run 201 1 250 Plaza. I run Chase. I run 100 East. I run 2 the airport, the Grand Avenue. I'm in touch with 3 what goes on in the city. I run the City of 4 Milwaukee garages as well. 5 There are problems throughout the city 6 at parking lots. When things happen, you try to 7 address them. Unfortunately, to this point, no 8 one has really came to me to address any of the 9 situations, and, you know, Alderman Bauman knows 10 me very well, knows where my office is. I'm here 11 to help any way I can, but again, please 12 understand I am not the owner of the lot. I can 13 make suggestions. I can work on possible 14 solutions, but ultimately, it's not my decision as 15 well. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: I don't think I have 17 anything further at this time. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 19 committee? 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 22 ALDERMAN KOVAC: The bar has Mr. Wolf 23 and two to five people per night when they are 24 open. Do you have any -- what staff, security or 25 otherwise, do you have? 202 1 MR. KENNY: I did bring our financials, 2 and just so you know, my 2008 financials, our 3 fiscal year goes October 1st through September 4 30th. In 2008, I spent about $8,100 on armed 5 security at the location. Last year, I have only 6 spent about $2,800 on security. We were not -- in 7 2002, and I advised counsel and the owners, again, 8 back in 2002 when my lease started on the 500 9 North Broadway property that we are talking about, 10 those first couple years, we did $85,000 worth of 11 special event revenue from bar business in 12 downtown Milwaukee. That has dropped to $14,000. 13 So we're not getting rich by any means operating 14 that lot. 15 The suggestion from the captain is to 16 potentially close off the lot. The problem I have 17 is the west side, or the east side of the lot 18 abuts an alley between our lot and the Johnson 19 Control parking structure, so it's a little more 20 difficult to just say let's block it off. It's a 21 little more difficult just to put a gate at the 22 entrance, and say, hey, you know, only people can 23 come in here that have access cards, and/or, you 24 know, I can control the hours a little bit, so 25 it's a little harder. 203 1 But I do have armed security. I have 2 armed security at the Bradley Center garage, I 3 have armed security at the surface lot north of 4 the Bradley Center. We have security patrolling 5 the city garages. So security is not unusual by 6 any means at a lot of locations. That security -- 7 at Summerfest, I have security with us at all of 8 our Summerfest lots and our surface lots as well. 9 I have armed security for that. So I have spent 10 money trying to do that. I haven't -- I have 11 pulled away security after Summerfest this year -- 12 and did not know they were staffing two to five 13 people at closing directing people to my lot and 14 getting them going. Actually, I appreciate that 15 because, I mean, it appears they are helping to 16 deter crime in that area or my lot. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 18 committee at this time? Alderman Bauman? 19 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Mr. Chair, yes, 20 indeed. Now, you sat through this entire hearing 21 this afternoon and this evening, and you 22 understand that there was a suspension of 45 days 23 in November of 2008 based on conduct that occurred 24 for the previous year of 2008 and part of 2007, 25 you understand that? 204 1 MR. KENNY: I heard that today, correct. 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And you understand 3 that today we are back here on another renewal 4 with 19 police incidents that are documented in 5 the record that was prepared by the police 6 department? 7 MR. KENNY: Correct. 8 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And you understand 9 that the Milwaukee Police Department is -- based 10 on the history of the club's operation, is now 11 objecting to the renewal of this license, you have 12 heard all that? 13 MR. KENNY: I have heard that, correct. 14 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: In light of all that 15 information that you have gathered today, 16 information which presumably would be in the 17 knowledge of any reasonable business person 18 operating a business who was seeking a renewal, 19 has the club owner or any representative of the 20 club ever approached you about changes in the 21 parking lots? 22 MR. KENNY: Nobody including anyone in 23 this room has talked to me about potentially 24 making changes other than today. 25 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay, very good. The 205 1 improvements that have been discussed, are you 2 prepared today to agree to erect a fence around 3 the entire perimeter of that lot? 4 MR. KENNY: I cannot authorize that 5 because I do not own that lot, and again, I'm 6 really not under contract as of November 1st. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So you're in a 8 position to promise absolutely nothing today, 9 correct? 10 MR. KENNY: I am able to -- right now, 11 I'm still operating under an agreement to 12 basically manage the lot, and a contract is 13 forthcoming. I have an agreement, or a meeting 14 with the owner tomorrow, and the attorney, but I 15 personally am not able to guarantee the fence 16 going up. All I can do is make recommendations. 17 I did notify their legal counsel of the hearing 18 today at about 5:30 once I saw where this was 19 headed, based upon being in the hallway, but I 20 cannot guarantee anything at this point. 21 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Are you in a position 22 to provide armed security on this parking lot from 23 the hours of, say, 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on 24 Friday mornings, Saturday mornings and Sunday 25 mornings? 206 1 MR. KENNY: Yes, we've done that in the 2 past, and we can certainly do that again, and -- 3 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: They will be stationed 4 there? 5 MR. KENNY: That's what we used to do 6 before they were stationed at the pay station. A, 7 to monitor the lot and to make sure people came in 8 and paid the pay station. 9 So everyone here, when you go, make sure 10 you pay in my lot, and we are all happy. 11 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So as of the present 12 time, there is no one there to enforce the pay 13 station, is that correct? 14 MR. KENNY: That is correct. 15 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: So there really is no 16 reason anybody should pay at this point. 17 MR. KENNY: Well, we do have someone. 18 One of my staff goes through and issues citations. 19 There used to be an ordinance that was a little 20 more teeth to it called "the booting" that the 21 lovely City of Milwaukee discontinued I think 22 because of an alderman way in the past, not you, 23 but an alderman was booted and that was no longer 24 something that we could do in the city. 25 So my enforcement, my enforcement 207 1 opportunities have been diminished until we have 2 recently -- and I have talked with other people 3 tonight, we do have a third-party vendor now do 4 our collections. So every citation that is 5 written on our property goes through a collection 6 agency and now has some teeth to it. 7 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Who is the owner of 8 this land? 9 MR. KENNY: Paul Ianelli. 10 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And he owns parking 11 lots in the city of Milwaukee, correct? 12 MR. KENNY: Correct. 13 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And has for many 14 years, correct? 15 MR. KENNY: Correct. 16 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And you've done work 17 with him home over the years, is that correct? 18 MR. KENNY: Well, my -- just on this 19 recent deal that just ended. Just so you 20 understand, and everyone is crystal clear on this, 21 the lease for Paul Ianelli on that lot was 22 actually with AT&T, and AT&T subleased the 23 property to me when they were supposed to bring in 24 about 500 employees to downtown. When they didn't 25 do that, it diminished revenue, but our actual 208 1 deal is with AT&T that just expired. 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And Paul Ianelli is 3 affectionately known as Patsy and Paul's parking 4 lot. 5 MR. KENNY: Correct. 6 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: And you being in the 7 parking business in as many years as you have, 8 what would be the approximate cost of fencing and 9 providing secured access to this lot? 10 MR. KENNY: The -- I did discuss -- the 11 fencing of the lot would alter the traffic 12 capacity greatly because the east end of the 13 property abuts an alley, so we park right up to 14 the alley, and they have a row of cars right 15 behind it. So if we actually fenced it off, I 16 would lose about 50 of the 160 spaces. 17 I do not know what the cost is to fence 18 it off. I do know we pay about $20 an hour for 19 the armed guard. 20 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Is it fair to say the 21 cost would be in the tens of thousands of dollars 22 based on your experience in the parking business? 23 MR. KENNY: It would definitely be over 24 $10,000, and they just repaved the lot. That was 25 completed the first week of November, and they 209 1 just put $60,000 of improvements on that lot. 2 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: But as you sit here 3 today, you're not in the position to represent to 4 this committee that you or the ownership or 5 anybody is in a position to do anything different 6 at that lot other than sending your security 7 people through there occasionally. 8 MR. KENNY: I can order security to be 9 there any time I want. That's what I control, and 10 I am still operating the lot. Um, as of tomorrow, 11 I may have a signed agreement, but as of today, I 12 do not. 13 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay, fair enough. 14 Just so we're clear, your only interest here is 15 financial, is that correct? 16 MR. KENNY: Well, I do -- again, I 17 operate facilities throughout downtown Milwaukee. 18 So what happens in downtown Milwaukee is no 19 different than your interest in having the 20 downtown environment grow. I am impacted by 21 whatever happens in the city. Whether it's 618 or 22 it's 270 employees leaving Chase Bank, I am 23 greatly impacted every time something negative 24 happens downtown. So I would like to see where 25 it's worked out, continue to generate revenue, but 210 1 it has to be a win for everybody in this room, and 2 I understand that. 3 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: That's fine, thank 4 you. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, 6 follow-up? 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes, and based on 8 Alderman Kovac's question, I just want to clarify, 9 last year you brought in $14,000 in special event 10 revenue. 11 MR. KENNY: Correct. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And that's after hours. 13 MR. KENNY: Correct. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And you spent $8,100 on 15 security guards. 16 MR. KENNY: Correct. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: And so consequently, you 18 made the decision to cancel the security guards. 19 MR. KENNY: Correct. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, when the captain 21 was talking about closing the lot, I want to make 22 sure none of us were thinking he was talking about 23 closing it during the daytime. 24 MR. KENNY: No, it was strictly at about 25 9:00 p.m. or prior to 9:00 p.m. 211 1 MR. HALBROOKS: So when we talked about 2 closing it, we didn't actually talk about a fence 3 at all, out in the hallway, did we? 4 MR. KENNY: Well, we didn't. We were 5 working on potential solutions. I had raised the 6 question, "What's the best way?" I even asked the 7 captain what he thought the best solution was, and 8 he talked about potentially closing off the lot. 9 Now, the security staff that was here that 10 testified a little earlier actually said closing 11 off that lot creates somewhat of a bigger problem. 12 We actually -- again, the $60,000 I just 13 talked about that we spent on repaving that lot 14 was done the first week of November, so they 15 pulverized the entire lot so the lot was closed 16 for about a five- to seven-day period. And during 17 that time when people couldn't park on my lot, 18 supposedly everyone was scattered, which created a 19 bigger problem. Now, I'm not the police staff, 20 and I'm not sure, but that was based upon the 21 security. 22 MR. HALBROOKS: That isn't -- the police 23 haven't told you that. 24 MR. KENNY: No, the security staff said 25 that it was a bigger problem. 212 1 MR. HALBROOKS: So what I want to ask 2 you is this, you could clearly, at the end of the 3 workday when the cars clear out after 6:00 or 4 whenever, you could clearly put a cable across 5 there, and so that the cars that are parked there 6 could then drive out the side entrances, and you 7 could then seal off that parking much more cheaply 8 than putting up a fence? 9 MR. KENNY: Absolutely. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: I mean, there are some 11 logistical problems with closing off this parking 12 lot based on its abutting an alley. 13 MR. KENNY: Yes, I mean, we could 14 definitely put some stanchions in along the 15 stripes along the alley and run cable in and close 16 it off that way. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: But you're prepared to 18 immediately order security back on the lot. 19 MR. KENNY: I can certainly do that. 20 That is a cost. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And you understand, and 22 you appropriately understand that the club hasn't 23 been the focus at all of the discussion; it's the 24 activity on the lot. And when Mr. Bauman, 25 Alderman Bauman was talking about the suspension 213 1 last year, you recall we had a discussion about 2 the video that swung that suspension being of your 3 parking lot. 4 MR. KENNY: I was advised of that today. 5 I might be the only person at this table that has 6 not seen the video. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And we told you we will 8 provide that for you tomorrow so that you can get 9 a glimpse of the scenes that Mr. Arenson provided 10 at the committee last year. 11 MR. KENNY: Correct. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: And so your commitment 13 on behalf of CPS is that you will do what you can 14 to make that behavior stop immediately. 15 MR. KENNY: I am willing to work with 16 the club, with the police and with this committee 17 to see what we would have to do to make the 18 changes necessary to make it viable for everyone 19 here. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 21 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Zielinski? 22 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: No. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I think that the hope is 24 at this point that we are not fishing for a 25 neighborhood meeting, the coming of minds together 214 1 here. I mean, ultimately, I don't mind that that 2 occurs, I think that's in the best interest in 3 some respects. However, it is very often we get 4 that at the end of the day where the committee has 5 been here for 11-and-a-half hours or -- and after 6 this meeting then you have it for now 7 approximately four hours for folks to start, you 8 know -- 9 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: It's 13 hours. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Oh, is it 13 hours? Oh, 11 I'm sorry, 13 hours, 13-and-a-half hours. I just 12 don't want to get to the point where we are 13 starting a neighborhood meeting of, "What do you 14 think? Can we do this; can we do that?" This is 15 not the time or place to do that, that was a long 16 time before. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: No, and I don't think 18 anybody was suggesting that. 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, I'm telling you that 20 committee members are telling that to me, telling 21 me that they believe that that's occurring, and I 22 concur to a small measure here. 23 Did you have additional parts to do 24 whatever you want to do in terms of presentation, 25 Mr. Halbrooks? 215 1 MR. HALBROOKS: Considerable, yes. We 2 have a ways to go. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 4 MR. KENNY: Thank you. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you -- get our 7 motions and then read and then we give them out. 8 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Do you need the motion 9 back? 10 MR. HALBROOKS: I've got it. All right. 11 I will quickly do this next part. Mr. Chair, we 12 did have you issue a subpoena to Ms. Grill. It's 13 not necessarily -- I just want to go through some 14 of this for the record with regard to the notice 15 she put out. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Ms. Grill, you were 17 sworn in as with additional other staff were 18 earlier? 19 MS. GRILL: Yes, because I wasn't 20 supposed to be at this meeting. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. Ms. Grill, 22 you did issue the notice for today's meeting on 23 behalf of the city, correct, the City of 24 Milwaukee? 25 MS. GRILL: Yes. 216 1 MR. HALBROOKS: And you signed it? 2 MS. GRILL: It's a digital signature, 3 but yes. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: It's a digital 5 signature, but actually you provided the original 6 as well. 7 MS. GRILL: Yes. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. In the 9 notice, you indicated that there would be a 10 possibility of a number of neighborhood 11 objections, correct? 12 MS. GRILL: That is correct. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: You also provided, 14 pursuant to public records request, various 15 objections you got from citizens that have some 16 complaints about the club, correct? 17 MS. GRILL: The written complaints, yes. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: The written complaints, 19 and also an audio complaint, I think. 20 MS. GRILL: There was one audio 21 complaint, but I have had multiple conversations 22 with people regarding that which were not part of 23 the request. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. The list 25 that I want to go through with you from the 217 1 notice, I want to ask you about why you put them 2 in, and mainly, whether you had any information 3 whatsoever as to loitering, littering, loud music 4 and noise, parking problems, drug and criminal 5 activity, prostitution, trespass, public 6 urination, fights, vandalism -- 7 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Halbrooks? 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes. Can I just -- I 9 understand -- 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: One moment. Sorry, 11 please proceed. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: I just want to 13 understand what Alderman Bauman is doing up there. 14 I'm sure if I walked up there and started -- is he 15 participating in the process or? 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. And what I 18 want to know is if you have any factual basis in 19 your file for the list: loitering, littering, 20 loud music and noise, parking problems, drug and 21 criminal activity, prostitution, trespassing, 22 public urination, fights, vandalism, thefts, 23 cruising, damage to private property, parking on 24 private property, disturbing the peace, and 25 shootings and gunshots. Do you have anything in 218 1 your file regarding those things? 2 MS. GRILL: Let me just say that the 3 notice that we prepared when we send to licensees 4 is prepared in accordance with Wisconsin State 5 Statute 125.12, which requires that we list the 6 reasons for the intended action when the intention 7 may be to take disciplinary action. It includes 8 standard complaints as well as complaints specific 9 to the licensed property. So I don't have the -- 10 I could go through the objections I have written 11 here and tell you that which are ones that were 12 listed in the notice, but there is also standard 13 objections that people complain about at 14 establishments at any time. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: Well, what I'm -- 16 MS. GRILL: I'm not familiar with any 17 requirements that limit the items listed in the 18 notice to only those that are contained in the 19 file. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: Were you on the e-mail 21 chain, on the e-mail that Assistant City Attorney 22 Schrimpf sent out regarding what you could have 23 put down if you wanted to do it correctly in the 24 notice? 25 MS. GRILL: I'm not understanding what 219 1 you're saying. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: Did you receive the 3 e-mail? 4 MS. GRILL: Yes, I received an e-mail. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: From Mr. Schrimpf? 6 MS. GRILL: Mm mm. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: Yes? And that e-mail 8 said the -- um, piece a, let's see, "The notice is 9 written in broad terms precisely so that 10 individuals who have an objection to the renewal 11 of your client's license may have an opportunity 12 to testify. Frankly, the notice could have been 13 written in the language of Wisconsin State Statute 14 125.12(2)(ag) simply alleging that your client 15 does not have the qualifications to operate a 16 tavern, that it is riotous and an improper and 17 indecent house, and that your client has violated 18 municipal regulations adopted pursuant to 19 Wisconsin Statute Section 125.10. I think that 20 would be proper notice under Wisconsin Statute 21 125.12 Sub 3." 22 MS. GRILL: I did receive the e-mail. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: And that -- did I 24 correctly read what you recall was in the e-mail? 25 MS. GRILL: I'd have to look, but 220 1 generally, yes. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: That's your 3 recollection. So in fact, Mr. Schrimpf provided 4 you -- after we complained about all of the 5 activity that you put in the notice, he provided 6 you with the proper language under the statute, 7 and you have not issued a new notice based on his 8 advice saying I think that would be proper under 9 statute -- 10 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman, now I have 11 to interject because the notice -- what I was 12 saying in that e-mail was that the notice could 13 have been written even more broadly. The fact 14 that it was written more narrowly and more 15 precisely does not make it as this counsel is 16 suggesting. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: You're suggesting the 18 very opposite of what Mr. Halbrooks -- 19 MR. SCHRIMPF: Yes. 20 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm suggesting that his 21 opinion in here is correct. What he is saying is 22 what I have a problem with. He's saying, I don't 23 have to give you the broad notice in the statute; 24 I can give you precise things. So what I'm trying 25 to understand is, why is this government putting 221 1 out a notice that says you may have to deal with 2 complaints about prostitution? Now, anybody that 3 practices law and that has any understanding of 4 the effect the questions have on a body, to 5 suggest publicly that somehow taking the language 6 of the statute and saying that says we can 7 actually put something out there that there is -- 8 there may be claims of prostitution against you I 9 think is exactly what our concern is. In fact, 10 what -- I agree with his e-mail. I don't agree 11 with the analysis which says we are going to put 12 out for a club on Water Street that there is going 13 to be complaints for you about parking, parking on 14 private property when there is actually no area to 15 park on for this particular establishment, that 16 the precise complaints in the notice are improper. 17 The broad language of the statute would not 18 receive an objection. And in fact, that is what 19 our concern is is that there is a suggestion. 20 Because you guys are going to vote on this and 21 move on, we're going to go to a courtroom, and the 22 first thing the judge is going to read is this 23 notice. And I have been there, and Mr. Schrimpf 24 has been there, and when they read this notice, 25 they don't take it the way Mr. Schrimpf just said. 222 1 They take it as these are the neighborhood 2 objections to this club, and to suggest -- and I 3 am quite sure that if anyone here got suggested of 4 participating in prostitution, they would run away 5 from it knowing that the statute said here is what 6 you are supposed to say, and to say, oh, we are 7 going to give you more precise language, that is 8 -- this is improper notice and that is my 9 objection, and I'm done with this argument. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Alderman 11 Hamilton. 12 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I get accused of a 13 lot of things first of all, but I think it's real 14 important that you have made the argument for the 15 record, but I think that any court not recognizing 16 the processes that we go through as a body that's 17 created by state law is an ill-informed court. 18 And I guess it's part of your job as a 19 representatives to provide that type of 20 explanation when you enter that court, but please, 21 please respect the guidelines that's been created 22 for this body as we operate our everyday jobs. 23 We went through a whole agenda using our 24 state guidelines, and it's really frustrating to 25 have every step of that being questioned as if, as 223 1 if there is something completely -- it's putting 2 your person, the applicant, at a complete 3 disadvantage, and I don't think you are giving us 4 enough credit as a body when we have information 5 coming before us. 6 Now, it's okay for you to object and do 7 the things that's necessary for the next stage of 8 your fight if you have to go there, but just do 9 it. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. And I -- 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: I don't know if that was 12 a question, was that a question for him? I don't 13 think so. Alderman Zielinksi. 14 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Thank you. Thank 15 you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate that last 16 comment. I have a question very briefly for Mr. 17 Schrimpf. Is there anything in the notice that is 18 improper or can compromise us in a court of law on 19 appeal? 20 MR. SCHRIMPF: No. 21 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: No, okay. And, you 22 know, Mr. Chairman, we just wasted I don't know 23 how many minutes asking questions -- I don't know 24 how many more hours will be wasted with these 25 silly questions. I'm getting sick and tired of 224 1 it, man. Okay, just stick with the relevance 2 because you are really turning me against you, 3 man. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm going to ask 5 Alderman Zielinski to recuse himself. 6 ALDERMAN ZIELINSKI: Okay, good. 7 (Alderman Zielinski exited.) 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, I'm not 9 going to -- one moment, if I may, I'm not going 10 allow any additional information of this sort of 11 the questioning that you just presented. I've 12 accepted and we have made a part of the record 13 your motion, which includes all the arguments that 14 you just have had to make verbally. We have made 15 it unanimously part of the record here. It states 16 everything that you have stated verbally. What I 17 see at that point was a measure of redundancy. 18 And if some attorney and if some judge wants to 19 throw this out based on the fact that we give you 20 four hours, which is probably three-and-a-half 21 hours more than anyone else for the same case, and 22 we're sitting here now at 9:33 at night, started 23 at 8:00 a.m., so be that. 24 I'm going to ask that whatever -- you 25 move forward now here, you provide in terms of 225 1 defense, based on the evidence that has been 2 brought before us. The evidence that has been 3 brought before us is the testimony of the 4 neighbors and the police department. If you have 5 additional items that you want to challenge 6 legally, I suggest that you challenge them by 7 filing briefs in court. So I'm going to give you 8 that opportunity to do that. We accepted your 9 motion. At this point, it is part of our record, 10 it would be going before any judge, and at this 11 point, I'm going to ask you to limit your 12 presentation here to those areas that I have asked 13 you to do, and otherwise, I will cut you off. And 14 we'll take this into consideration and we will 15 render a decision. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. What I would 17 like to do next is to add -- I have a number of -- 18 Andre and -- 19 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Are these individuals, 20 are these individuals who were subpoenaed? 21 MR. HALBROOKS: No, they are part of 22 this next presentation. 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Did they come 24 forward when we called witnesses? 25 MR. HALBROOKS: They are not citizen 226 1 witnesses. They are here on behalf of -- they 2 work at the club. 3 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Half the 4 witnesses worked at the club. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: They should have 6 provided testimony when we had witnesses that were 7 requested. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: Mr. Chair -- 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, you 10 agreed with me to the stipulation that I made 11 here. I heard you and I saw you personally say, 12 "I agree we ought to take the citizens first, and 13 then I'll make my own separate presentation." I 14 said calling once, going twice, going three times, 15 any other individuals here who are here to provide 16 testimony. I didn't hear you raise an objection 17 then. You don't run this hearing; I do. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: These are not citizen 19 witnesses. We weren't talking about employees of 20 the club. They are part of the presentation of 21 how the club runs, and they are not here to give 22 testimony about that, of the type you heard 23 before. They are here to answer specific 24 questions about the methodology of how the club 25 runs. 227 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We are going to ask one 2 witness at a time if we may. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: No, can I put in my case 4 at least? 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, no, you cannot, and 6 I'll tell you why. I will tell you why, and I -- 7 you, you are going to -- tell you, you are on the 8 limit of actually having me ban you from this 9 hearing. No, no, you don't have the permission to 10 speak. You be quiet now, be quiet. 11 We had a situation where you called up 12 as part of your presentation earlier two gentlemen 13 at the same time who were part of a security 14 outfit. It muddles the record when you raise the 15 question of two individuals and one speaks and 16 then the other speaks then -- it muddles the 17 record for our court reporter. So that is why I'm 18 saying "one at a time." I have a reason for doing 19 those things, and I don't need you to tell me how 20 to run this hearing. Is that understood by you? 21 MR. HALBROOKS: May I speak? 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No. I asked you a 23 question. Is that understood by you? 24 MR. HALBROOKS: I understand your point. 25 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is that understood, Mr. 228 1 Lerner, by you, my reasoning for saying that 2 because we muddle the -- 3 MR. LERNER: I understand your point, 4 yes. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: One witness at a time. 6 You may call one of these individuals, and then we 7 will call the second individual. Call one of your 8 individuals. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: If I may, those two 10 individuals, just by way of explanation, they had 11 to leave, but they were supposed to be part of 12 this. So I want to ask, um, I want to ask a 13 question here, and then I will go to the one at a 14 time. All right? 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 16 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. What I want 17 to ask is, I want you to describe for the 18 committee essentially an evening at the club. 19 Describe what happens when an individual 20 approaches the club and what your personnel do 21 outside the club. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. -- I'm sorry, I 23 don't mean to interrupt here. Mr. Merado, just 24 because a judge may be looking at this, could you 25 please indicate who you are again? 229 1 MR. MERADO: Nicholas Merado, director 2 of operations. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay, what I'd like you 5 to -- what happens when a patron, a customer walks 6 out and begins to experience the club? 7 MR. MERADO: I would like to also 8 answer, it's what happens before they come in. 9 Our entire security staff is scheduled a half-hour 10 before we open. We have an opening meeting to go 11 over position designation and what needs to be 12 done, at what times of the evening these things 13 need to be done. It's typed up in document form. 14 We give everyone their headsets, their 15 walkie-talkies, their flashlights, whatever they 16 need, make sure everyone is on staff ready to go 17 and we have an opening meeting. 18 After we are open, the customers that 19 come to 618 are always lined up along the wall. 20 We have one entrance door to the facility, and 21 people are staged along the wall. While they are 22 in line, there are a number of signs posted on the 23 building stating our dress code. In addition to 24 the dress code, there are other signs that are 25 stating that we are, in fact, a 21-and-above 230 1 establishment. 2 Once they are in line and they come up 3 to the front door and they are deemed in the dress 4 code, they are deemed to be not belligerent, loud, 5 obnoxious, intoxicated, seemingly intoxicated, or 6 any other kind of drug, if they are walking 7 appropriately to the club, they are then brought 8 to the front door when they present their 9 identification. At the time when they present 10 their identification, we have a tool that I'm sure 11 we will show you, an identification reader, that 12 is wireless and handheld. That our person at the 13 front door reviews the ID, places it into this 14 identification reader, which identifies the ID as 15 valid, active and correct, and simultaneously 16 takes a photograph of the person handing us the 17 ID, which is then wirelessly communicated to our 18 computer system within the club. So we have 19 documents of, on the same page we want to pull up, 20 the person's face actually standing there and the 21 ID that they gave us. This information is vital 22 to a number of different things in regards to if 23 the same ID is used twice in the evening, if a 24 person is no longer welcome at our establishment, 25 we go back, find their ID and their face in the 231 1 system, and press the word "banned" or "delete," 2 whatever the wording is, you have to get that from 3 the experts, but there is a notation as to this 4 person is not welcome. 5 At that point, when they are deemed not 6 intoxicated, the age of 21, everything is fine, 7 they then come into our foyer area, where it's a 8 no-smoking location. We also have -- just in case 9 the card reader goes down, a posted sign for our 10 security to know the date on the ID that a person 11 should be to enter the club. This one is from the 12 other night. So I make sure that is posted so 13 there is no mathematical errors from our staff who 14 may be checking IDs. 15 When they come into our no-smoking area 16 -- in addition to that, when they are given us 17 their ID, we make sure they take off any 18 sunglasses they may be wearing, make sure they are 19 not on their cell phone, their face is a perfect 20 face for us to view. As they come into the foyer, 21 and either they pay the cover charge, or whatever 22 happens to be there. Then they are put into an 23 area where we do pat-downs and wanding of women 24 and we check purses. We just check for anything 25 that would be a problem for any of us. And there 232 1 is a sign that is posted -- the other one you were 2 just showing, that shows what we're looking for 3 and why we're doing it. Okay. And I don't have 4 to read it to you, you guys can read it. 5 That's why we do what we do and 6 everyone, 100 percent of the people coming 7 through, no matter their job title, no matter 8 their age, no matter their relationship with any 9 of us at the club or anyone else, everyone goes 10 through that procedure. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: The other night when the 12 Green Bay Packers showed up on Friday night, did 13 they go through that process? 14 MR. MERADO: Absolutely, and as the 15 promoter mentioned before, when a performer tried 16 to enter without an ID, I didn't allow them to 17 perform. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right, so then 19 finish the foyer. 20 MR. MERADO: At that point, once they 21 are deemed to be, once we are assured that they 22 have nothing dangerous on them, coat check is 23 available, and the people come in into a spacious 24 nightclub where everything is pretty visible. 25 There is no really nooks and crannies where 233 1 anything -- it's very inviting and a welcoming 2 place. That's why we are as popular as we are. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: When you get -- your 4 capacity is 480. 5 MR. MERADO: Yes. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: What capacity do you 7 observe? 8 MR. MERADO: We routinely hope to get to 9 420, and that's where we would normally leave it. 10 At the time of a 420 night, of course, we take 11 into consideration our staffing and every one 12 else, we then will ask people to leave. Maybe or 13 maybe not, let people in after that number is hit. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: And what -- there is an 15 upper area and a lower area. 16 MR. MERADO: Yes, we are a bilevel 17 location. We have a lower level and upper level, 18 yes. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: Could you, um, describe 20 some of the areas, some of the environment inside 21 the club? 22 MR. MERADO: Well, the environment is a 23 very welcoming environment, a very huge dance 24 floor; people there like to dance. We have a 25 number of areas with couches and lounge-type 234 1 furniture, very living-roomesque areas, in 2 addition to the upper level, which overlooks the 3 downstairs. It gives a nice vantage of everyone 4 having a good time, the light show, whatever 5 happens to be going on, and you know, there is 6 seating in different areas. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: How many people have 8 gone through your doors this year? 9 MR. MERADO: Approximately 150- to 10 170,000. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And when they are in -- 12 when you have this bilevel area, there's some 13 stairs? 14 MR. MERADO: Yeah, there are two sets of 15 stairs that go up to the upper level area 16 overlooking the downstairs. 17 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, you have -- the 18 front of the club has a number of doors, how do 19 you deal with -- how do you use those doors? 20 MR. MERADO: Well, there's a single door 21 that utilizes an entrance door, which is at the 22 southernmost part of our building, and then there 23 are two sets of double doors that we use as exit 24 doors. That's a little more north, and they are 25 continuously manned by security to make sure that 235 1 the entrance is an entrance and the exit is an 2 exit. There are clearly-posted notes. As you 3 exit the building, you will have to re-enter 4 through the front door because, once again, if you 5 exit, we don't know what you have done when you 6 went to your car, or wherever you went. You would 7 then need to be reverified with your 8 identification so while you were outside, you 9 didn't give it to someone else. And in addition 10 to that, you would have to be re-frisked, if you 11 will, so that no paraphernalia or anything is 12 coming into our establishment. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: How many -- can you tell 14 the committee about your personnel and securities 15 inside and outside? How many and how you deploy 16 them during the opening time and through the 17 initial part of the evening? 18 MR. MERADO: Sure. We have been doing 19 this for a while so we kind of know which nights 20 are busier than others, and we staff accordingly. 21 And we -- I type up an assignment list for 22 everyone, and typically on a normal night, there 23 are going to be six to eight door hosts, we call 24 them, with security staff on the outside area, one 25 gentleman checking IDs and five to six people 236 1 strategically located on the street making sure 2 that people are lined up correctly, not 3 boisterous, checking the dress codes, making sure 4 they are not drunk while they come up, just 5 letting everyone know what the cover charge is for 6 that night, being a host in a way. 7 On the inside, we have three to four 8 people in the foyer area, which is that pat-down, 9 frisk area that I just described, and even though 10 for some people it may be an inconvenience, for 11 the bulk, everyone is extremely happy and gracious 12 and glad that we provide that service. Just so, 13 you know, everybody feels safe. 14 And then on the inside, people are 15 strategically located in different areas of the 16 club, and they have different responsibilities. 17 Some are floating responsibilities, some people 18 are in stationary positions like the back door 19 entrance or the exit door so there is no diversion 20 of attention, so people cannot allow other friends 21 to come in or anything of that nature. 22 So we have about eight to ten people on 23 the inside, four to six to eight people outside 24 who then, at the time when there is not as much 25 traffic flow, pedestrian traffic flow to our club, 237 1 will come inside where the bulk of the people are. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And then the 3 people from the outside tend to move in. 4 MR. MERADO: Yeah, they have multiple 5 responsibilities. Once the outside is clear of 6 pedestrians, people walking, then they will come 7 in to wherever we decide they should be. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: And all of those 9 individuals have headsets. 10 MR. MERADO: Everyone has -- I brought 11 examples, everyone has headsets, earpieces, 12 flashlights. When we go outside at the end of the 13 night, they have these vests to identify them as 14 some type of a working employee. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And then the staff, as 16 you said, are circulating through the crowd; at 17 any given time there is somebody walking through. 18 MR. MERADO: Constantly circulating. 19 Those eight to ten people are circulating through 20 the crowd picking up refuse, answering questions, 21 where's the bathroom, what's the cover charge 22 tomorrow night? Also identifying outrageous hand 23 gestures or volume of voice, to try to proactively 24 defuse a situation based on animation or arguments 25 before they happen. They are trained to identify 238 1 situations before it becomes an issue. 2 MR. HALBROOKS: And you have attendants 3 in the bathroom that are also tuned in. 4 MR. MERADO: Yes, we have bathroom 5 valets who are also wired with our walkie-talkies. 6 Their job is, of course, to provide service to the 7 people using the restroom, and in addition to 8 that, to be a form of security, that if there is 9 something fishy going on in the bathroom or not, 10 or someone is just not feeling well, whatever 11 reason for them to contact us, so we can assist 12 them in assisting the patron. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: I heard some testimony 14 about the air inside the club. 15 MR. MERADO: The what? 16 MR. HALBROOKS: The air. 17 MR. MERADO: Oh, we have extremely 18 high-powered ventilation systems. I'm not a 19 smoker. I can't take it, but the air conditioning 20 that's on there works very well, so does the 21 ventilation system. And anybody who is a 22 nonsmoker certainly is not offended by an area 23 that may have smoke in it. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: In fact, when you leave 25 the club here, you don't actually, you can't 239 1 necessarily tell that you have been there. 2 MR. MERADO: No, I go home, the first 3 thing I do is go kiss my daughters, and if I was 4 smelling like cigarettes, I certainly wouldn't go 5 up to them at that point. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And that's after being 7 in the club all night. 8 MR. MERADO: All night, longer than 13 9 hours. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, I just have a -- in 11 fact, you actually keep pretty close tabs on who 12 is in the club. 13 MR. MERADO: Mm mm. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: We'll have Alderman 15 Hamilton move to make the door host position 16 documents provided by Mr. Halbrooks a part of our 17 official record in this proceeding. Hearing no 18 objections to that, so ordered. We additionally 19 have two other copies, one is the entrance count 20 by hour and the number of entrants per age group, 21 documents provided, and Alderman Kovac will move 22 to make these part of the official record in this 23 proceeding. Hearing no objections, so ordered. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 25 How are you able to get that data that we just 240 1 provided for the committee? 2 MR. MERADO: The ID reader has a number 3 of functions that is valuable to us -- we actually 4 can show you a demonstration shortly, if you're 5 interested, as to -- extrapolates all the 6 information from the IDs: age, sex, whatnot, to 7 give us an idea of who's coming in, when they are 8 coming in. In addition to that, any IDs that are 9 fakes or being used by someone else are usually 10 taken -- here is a stack. And typically, people 11 know when they are caught. There are very few 12 times there is an argument. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: In fact, the fake ID 14 business is almost becoming passe. 15 MR. MERADO: Yeah, it has, it's a lot of 16 the times -- it's not necessarily fake, it's a 17 real ID, it's just not the person, you know. So 18 that's why we strive to look carefully and take 19 that photo with the ID so the comparison is there. 20 And if something is out of whack, of course, we 21 look at height and weight and other issues that 22 may be flagged. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: Now, moving to the end 24 of the night, what happens -- first of all, what 25 time is bar time? 241 1 MR. MERADO: Well, the legal bar time in 2 the city on Fridays and Saturdays is 2:30, on 3 Thursday it's -- during the rest of the nights, 4 it's 2:00. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: And what time do you 6 close? 7 MR. MERADO: We routinely will close or 8 begin our closing procedures an hour prior to bar 9 time. 10 MR. HALBROOKS: So what time do you -- 11 what time do you really want people out the door? 12 MR. MERADO: Well, typically what we do, 13 we don't herd people out the door like maybe some 14 other places do, "Let's go. Let's go. Let's go." 15 So what we do is, we have a strategic plan where 16 we at 1:30 -- let's say it's a weekend where we 17 close at 2:30, at 1:30 in the morning, we will 18 call, 1:20 to 1:30, based on the capacity, we'll 19 call first call for the coat check if it's 20 wintertime, "Folks, if you want to get your coat 21 and avoid the rush, this is a good time to do it." 22 At that point, we slow the beats per minute of the 23 music to calm it out and smooth it out, if you can 24 understand what I'm saying, lower the volume and 25 turn up the lights a little bit in the house, 242 1 gives the indication that something happened, it's 2 almost that time. "If you want to beat the rush, 3 this is the time to do it." And that's between 4 1:20 and 1:30. Five to ten minutes later, we'll 5 call another call for the coat check, remind 6 people, "Thank you for coming. Please respect the 7 neighborhood when you go to your cars." We make 8 that announcement on a continuous basis and as 9 people come in. Because contrary to a lot of 10 other things that have been said here, 99.9999 11 percent of the people are wonderful people, law 12 abiding. A few minutes later, we'll call last 13 call for alcohol, typically at 1:30, 1:35, last 14 call for the coat check. At that point, the music 15 is extremely reduced, very low almost ambient 16 beats, the house lights are turned on and 17 everybody is encouraged to finish their drinks and 18 exit the building in the next few minutes. We're 19 not rushing everybody out. We understand that we 20 have plenty of time at 1:30, 1:35. So people can 21 slowly exit their way comfortably, so there is no 22 mad rush out the door. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: And so after that point 24 in time then, when people exit the club, that's 25 when they meet up with the independent security 243 1 guards. 2 MR. MERADO: In addition to many of our 3 own security. On the example you gave to the 4 board earlier, it shows some opening and some 5 ending procedures, and on the sheet it says, I 6 believe I have it written -- end, at the end of 7 the night, where it says, "In or out," everyone 8 who is designated out has a strategic position 9 outside they need to be at the last-called time 10 period. The people that are in, are in, okay. 11 And when they are outside, they know what they 12 need to do, they know where they need to be 13 staged, they know what we need to say to people, 14 "Please exit the property." We make sure that we 15 patrol for litter and refuse from Water Street to 16 Wisconsin, Water Street to Clybourn, Michigan to 17 the river, Michigan to Milwaukee, Broadway to 18 Wisconsin, Broadway to Clybourn, and all the 19 surrounding parking lots that we have discussed 20 numerously tonight. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: And you actually prepare 22 them separate responsibilities. 23 MR. MERADO: Yeah, I give everybody 24 responsibilities and what they need to do at the 25 end of the night from cleaning to every -- the end 244 1 of the night responsibilities, cleaning the walk. 2 And number one on here is sweep and collect debris 3 outside the club exits, following areas, which 4 encompasses everything we just talked about. 5 And as the -- our residents that came to 6 our defense concluded that they, when they get to 7 work in the morning, they have no refuse in front 8 of their place, broken windows, wires or anything 9 of that nature. The reason being is, we go ahead 10 and we make sure that when we come here or any 11 other time, we want to make sure the place is a 12 nice clean environment. 13 MR. HALBROOKS: And then you're just -- 14 I'll pass this out in a second, you have your, you 15 have two other sets of documents. The document I 16 just handed you is what? 17 MR. MERADO: We have a policy and 18 procedure handbook for the entire staff, every 19 position: bartenders, servers, door hosts, DJs, 20 security, and then we also have individual 21 responsibility, training manuals for each 22 individual position, which you also have there, 23 stated upon -- labeled "door host," and in there 24 it details the training that's involved for a door 25 host, things to look for and how to handle 245 1 situations in a nonviolent manner. And everything 2 we have been preaching here. Every door host 3 needs to abide by these rules, every bartender 4 needs to abide by the rules, or else they are 5 subject to termination. 6 MR. HALBROOKS: And then you have a job 7 description. 8 MR. MERADO: Right, this is the job 9 description for -- I brought the door host one 10 today because it seemed like everyone was talking 11 about a security issue, not necessarily a 12 bartending issue. We haven't had any tickets for 13 underage serving or anything like that, so I just 14 provided the door host portion of the manual. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: We'll offer these two 16 documents for the committee to review. 17 MR. MERADO: We take a strong, a strong 18 point in making sure that everyone can work every 19 position on any particular night, and no security 20 guard is specifically designated to one location. 21 In the event of sickness, vacation, whatever. 22 Everyone needs to be able to know how to do 23 effectively everyone else's job. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: In a minute, I'm going 25 to quickly ask your employees to fill in some of 246 1 the things we have talked about. Is there 2 anything that you want to say, finally, before we 3 go through? 4 MR. MERADO: No, nothing more. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay, all right. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by the 7 committee? Questions? Why don't you allow me a 8 moment, Mr. Halbrooks, just to clean a little bit 9 of this up here? 10 MR. HALBROOKS: Okay. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderwoman Coggs would 12 move to make the appointed policies document 13 provided by the applicant part of the official 14 record in this proceeding. Hearing no objection 15 to that, so ordered. 16 Then we have a document, it's entitled 17 "Job Description, Lady Bug Club, LLC." Alderman 18 Kovac will move to make this document part of the 19 official record in this proceeding. Hearing no 20 objections to that, so ordered. Okay. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. 22 MR. LEWIS: Hi, I'm Andre Lewis, 1619 23 West Good Hope, Glendale, Milwaukee -- Glendale, 24 Wisconsin. 25 MR. HALBROOKS: I'm just going to ask 247 1 you to give a demonstration for the committee for 2 the new system the club has installed. 3 MR. LEWIS: You know, everyone that 4 comes into the front doors are required to put 5 their ID through the ID reader. The ID reader, 6 you would just stick your license in there and it 7 will read the information, and it will give you a 8 green check box if the person is over 21 and 9 allowed to enter, or an "X" if they are under the 10 age of 21 or banned from the system. 11 This system also takes a picture. There 12 is a camera in front, so the operator will be 13 holding it at eye level so they can get an actual 14 picture of an entrant coming in. This all gets 15 wired, all gets wirely sent to the computer. The 16 computer shows basically everything that you would 17 normally see on an ID: name, height, weight, 18 address, birthday, the picture it just took. And 19 then there is an actual button on there to 20 actually take an additional picture of the ID, so 21 you can actually compare the two. All the stuff 22 gets uploaded on a continuous basis. If they have 23 a problem with this individual, there is a little 24 comment button you can click on, and then there is 25 some preset ones, "no entry for fighting, selling 248 1 drugs," is on there, "harassing people," and 2 basically should be able to click on one of those, 3 and the next time he shows up in the line, the ID 4 reader will say he is banned for harassing people, 5 and he won't be allowed to enter. 6 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Question for you, are 7 you employed specifically for Lady Bug Club? 8 MR. LEWIS: Yes, mm mm. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: So they have purchased 10 that software elsewhere, and you are the operator 11 of it? 12 MR. LEWIS: Yes, I am their I.S. guy. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Okay. Very good. Thank 14 you. 15 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair? 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderwoman Coggs. 17 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Just for my own 18 edification, how much does a system like that 19 cost? 20 MR. LEWIS: I believe it was about 21 $2,095.00. 22 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Other questions by 23 committee? Thank you. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: You always had an ID 25 reader. This ID reader is new. 249 1 MR. LEWIS: That is correct, it is 2 upgraded. 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Mr. Halbrooks, you have 4 to use the microphone. 5 MR. HALBROOKS: I just was pointing out, 6 they have always had an ID, this is just brand new 7 and a much more sophisticated system. All right. 8 I just have -- state your name. 9 MR. URBAN: Anthony Urban, Sr., 2452 10 West Clarke. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: And you're employed at 12 the Lady Bug Club as well? 13 MR. URBAN: Yes, I am. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: At the end of the night, 15 you're out in the neighborhood at the end of the 16 night? 17 MR. URBAN: Yes, I am. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: And what are your 19 duties? 20 MR. URBAN: To provide everyone safely 21 to their cars and help clean up the streets 22 outside, picking up garbage, bottles, and flyers, 23 anything I'm supposed to do. 24 MR. HALBROOKS: And you're doing that 25 how far of a distance from the club? 250 1 MR. URBAN: To Water, Michigan, 2 sometimes halfway to the alley, because is other 3 security guard for the other part. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: All right. So you 5 literally go out by yourself with a broom and a -- 6 something to sweep the debris into, and you clean 7 up whatever you come across in the neighborhood. 8 MR. URBAN: Yes, I do. 9 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Questions by committee 11 members of this witness? Thank you. 12 Again, Mr. Halbrooks, you have to use 13 the microphone here, you were starting -- 14 MR. HALBROOKS: I know. 15 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What you're doing is 16 turning a lot, and we are not getting you audibly 17 on the record here, so I have been trying to 18 remind you; not to be a pest. 19 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Your name 20 and address. 21 MR. JACKSON: Fred Jackson, 1411 South 22 60th Street. 23 MR. HALBROOKS: And you're employed also 24 at the Lady Bug Club. 25 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 251 1 MR. HALBROOKS: What are your duties? 2 MR. JACKSON: Security and help cleaning 3 outside at the end of the night. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: You have been here all 5 night. 6 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 7 MR. HALBROOKS: And you've heard 8 discussions about the club, or the parking lot on 9 the -- on Broadway between Michigan and Clybourn. 10 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 11 MR. HALBROOKS: As part of your duties, 12 were you asked to monitor that lot over the last 13 weekend? 14 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 15 MR. HALBROOKS: And you prepared a 16 report? 17 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: And is this the report 19 that I have here? 20 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 21 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. And I'm 22 going to pass these copies to them. And what were 23 your findings? Can you just briefly summarize for 24 the committee? 25 MR. JACKSON: Well, basically, every 252 1 half-hour from the time we open until the time we 2 close, I walk the parking lot and do a count of 3 the cars and see if there is an attendant on duty. 4 MR. HALBROOKS: And as you heard, there 5 wasn't an attendant, but the number of cars 6 increased as the night went on? 7 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 8 MR. HALBROOKS: All right. Thank you. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton would 10 move to make the lot report documents provided by 11 the applicants, and make it a part of our official 12 record of the proceeding. And hearing no 13 objections to that, so ordered. 14 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 15 MR. SCHRIMPF: Mr. Chairman, I would 16 have one question on that report. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Follow up, Mr. Schrimpf, 18 go ahead. 19 MR. SCHRIMPF: Sir, what time did the 20 report end? When did you stop making your 21 findings? 22 MR. JACKSON: On the sheet, the report 23 says until 3:00, but I go until all customers are 24 gone out of the lot. 25 MR. SCHRIMPF: About how long was it 253 1 before the customers were all gone? 2 MR. JACKSON: It varies each day. 3 MR. SCHRIMPF: Well, the nights that you 4 prepared this report, what was it? 5 MR. JACKSON: They vary each day. We do 6 it each day we are on. 7 MR. SCHRIMPF: Okay, so what were the 8 times? 9 MR. JACKSON: From 9:00 until the point 10 when all of the customers are gone. 11 MR. SCHRIMPF: Why don't you look at the 12 report. 13 MR. JACKSON: On this report, it's from 14 9:00 to 3:00 a.m., but I went until 1:00 in the 15 morning. 16 MR. SCHRIMPF: You went to 1:00 in the 17 morning, but the report says until 3:00 a.m.? 18 MR. HALBROOKS: The blanks -- the chart 19 goes until 3:00. 20 MR. JACKSON: Like I said, we do it for 21 different days each time. 22 MR. SCHRIMPF: I see, so you're saying 23 everybody was gone by 1:00 a.m. 24 MR. JACKSON: No, that's the only time I 25 did it until that day, was until 1:00 a.m. 254 1 MR. SCHRIMPF: And everyone was gone by 2 that time? 3 MR. JACKSON: No. 4 MR. SCHRIMPF: So there were still 5 people in the lot at the time the report ends? 6 MR. JACKSON: I don't get what you're 7 saying. What do you mean, "There are still people 8 in the lot by the time the report ends"? 9 MR. SCHRIMPF: If the report ends at one 10 -- strike that. If you left at 1:00 a.m., and 11 there were still people in the lot, then you don't 12 have a monitor of what activities took place 13 between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. 14 MR. JACKSON: Okay. 15 MR. SCHRIMPF: Is that true or not true? 16 MR. JACKSON: That's true. 17 MR. SCHRIMPF: So there were people in 18 the lot when you left. 19 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 20 MR. SCHRIMPF: And you don't know of 21 your own personal knowledge what those people were 22 doing after 1:00 a.m. and the time you left. 23 MR. JACKSON: There weren't people in 24 the lot; there were cars in the lot. We are there 25 to monitor the cars to make sure no one is 255 1 breaking in, not the people. 2 MR. SCHRIMPF: And there were no people 3 in the lot. 4 MR. JACKSON: No people. 5 MR. SCHRIMPF: Okay, is that true for 6 all the three days that you monitored this? 7 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 8 MR. SCHRIMPF: And what dates did you 9 monitor, what were the actual calender dates? 10 MR. JACKSON: On here, we have November 11 13th, the 14th, and the 15th. 12 MR. SCHRIMPF: So that would have been 13 Friday, Saturday and Sunday? 14 MR. JACKSON: Yes. 15 MR. SCHRIMPF: Of last week. That's all 16 I have, Mr. Chairman. 17 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Mr. Schrimpf. 18 MR. HALBROOKS: Ready? Your name. 19 MR. BECKLEY: Maurice Beckley, Dr. B., 20 the DJ on Friday nights. Address, 544 East Ogden, 21 Suite 700-355. All right, so I guess I'm going to 22 take you through an evening, how we do it and we 23 eventually do the crowd control, management of the 24 club and how it goes. 25 Basically, doors open around 9:00, get 256 1 it going between 9:45, 10:00. We have a nice 2 little video system, so sometimes the video is 3 playing, and we kind of get to R&B early because 4 we don't want to be repetitious on the songs. We 5 want to ease the crowd up, ease the crowd down. 6 It's kind of like a little roller coaster ride, 7 and basically, we're the conductors of that. 8 So basically we make announcements 9 throughout the night, energy builds up around 10 quarter to 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, around 1:00, 11 depending on which night it is because, obviously, 12 Friday and Saturday, we are open a little later, 13 and on Sunday through Thursday, obviously, you 14 know, it's 2:00, depending on what night we might 15 be open for special events, etc. 16 So basically, we'll take a Friday night, 17 we'll take a typical Friday night, we close at 18 2:30. So basically, around 1:15 or so, 1:15 or so 19 I make an announcement -- it's really all about 20 suggestions to the people because we got a large 21 crowd of people, and you want to funnel them out 22 and not rush them out. So basically, we are 23 making things like, "Make sure you tip your 24 bartenders and waitresses, your bathroom 25 attendants, etc. Also for you guys that want to 257 1 leave early --" it's like a little suggestion -- I 2 don't want to give it away for TV, but it's a 3 little suggestion, "For those of you that want to 4 leave early, you got to go to work tomorrow, say 5 you got school tomorrow, basically you guys want 6 to make your way to the coat check." Not only is 7 that a true statement, but what we're trying to do 8 is give the security an easier crowd to deal with. 9 In other words, you don't want -- if the capacity 10 is 420, you don't want 420 hitting the door. So 11 those who don't enjoy slower music, which is where 12 we are going to at that point, the slower-style 13 music, or they need to get up and really go to 14 work tomorrow or school or whatever, they can make 15 their move and that gives the security a little 16 bit easier crowd to deal with. 17 About 1:30, about 1:20, 1:25, make 18 another call for the coat check and maybe first 19 call for last call for alcohol, as well as maybe 20 pictures because there is a picture booth also. 21 By 1:35, 1:40, we're going to a slower 22 music, also lower, which in turn goes, okay, it 23 wasn't as loud as it was earlier, lights come up a 24 little bit, like if you got a dimmer at home, you 25 know, it's like a movie theater, you know, where 258 1 you are getting seated with the lights up versus 2 lights all the way off and it's showtime. 3 So people kind of know either through my 4 voice, or if they are ignoring me, they are going 5 to know because the music isn't as loud and the 6 lights are a little bit brighter. 7 About 1:40, 1:45, we're into the 8 super-slow set, lovers only, couples only, half 9 the people are probably gone by that point, and 10 the other half are starting to mill out, few 11 people on the dance floor. Again, trying to be 12 respectful to our security and everybody's dealing 13 with it. 14 Then basically about ten-to, usually the 15 music is off, very low or off and that is 16 basically a typical night. 17 I want to thank everybody for your 18 patience, people know you guys -- I know you guys 19 have been here all day. 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: It's a roller coaster 21 ride. 22 MR. BECKLEY: What's that? 23 ALDERMAN KOVAC: It's a roller coaster 24 ride. 25 MR. BECKLEY: Oh, come on in, come on 259 1 in. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 3 MR. BECKLEY: I'll make one comment he 4 might be mad about. I want to say this. I want 5 everybody -- you said, this is not about creating 6 a meeting where they're going to meet with the 7 parking guys, I see the concerned citizens, I've 8 been downtown 15 years, I'm concerned also, so I 9 hope that when you guys reach out to those people 10 who live here, I hope this time they might answer 11 the call. I heard before that they might not want 12 to answer. I hope they will sit down. That's my 13 hope. 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: No, I encourage the 15 meetings. I just don't encourage the meetings 16 here at committee time after we have taken this 17 matter up five hours. That's my point. 18 MR. BECKLEY: No, I got you there, this 19 is -- 20 CHAIRMAN BOHL: There is a better time 21 and place for it. Those meetings should take 22 place, hopefully, before we reached this stage 23 MR. BECKLEY: They said -- I'm going to 24 give you the last word, they specifically said 25 they didn't want to meet, they weren't interested. 260 1 I heard them say that earlier. So I hope they do, 2 like the parking lot guy. 3 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 5 MR. MERADO: I'd like to add that not 6 only is Dr. B one of our DJs, but every DJ has the 7 same closing responsibilities, and it's posted in 8 their DJ booth every night as far as the time span 9 and what is expected of them musically and 10 verbiagewise when the people are leaving. It's a 11 nightly-posted procedural sheet that they need to 12 go by. 13 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Additional points in 14 your presentation, Mr. Halbrooks? 15 MR. HALBROOKS: No, thank you. 16 CHAIRMAN BOHL: What we'll do at this 17 point is, Alderman Bauman, I'll allow you to make 18 a closing -- 19 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: I'm ready to go. 20 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: And I'll allow Mr. 21 Halbrooks to make a closing. 22 ALDERMAN BAUMAN: Okay, very briefly, 23 we've been here a long time. This committee and 24 council is very interested in progressive 25 discipline, and the history of this establishment 261 1 is as follows: It was first licensed in November 2 of 2004. The following year, it was renewed 3 without even a hearing. There was one police item 4 on the report -- it's all in the police reports 5 here, there was one item on the police report; it 6 was of no consequence. 7 2006, there were three items on the 8 police report; a warning letter was issued after a 9 hearing. 10 2007, there were two items in the police 11 report; a warning letter was issued. 12 2008, 14 items on the police report and 13 a 45-day suspension was recommended by this 14 committee and affirmed by the full council. 15 So far in 2009, there are 12 incidents 16 on the police report through Halloween. So there 17 is two months left to go in the year. 18 Progressive discipline is designed to 19 match the progress of the establishment both 20 negatively and positively. And unless we are here 21 to believe that the police are routinely and 22 systematically lying about the activity that takes 23 place at this establishment and cooking the 24 records to come up with artificial reports 25 alleging traffic issues and consumption of police 262 1 resources, there is no question that there has 2 been a significant and dramatic increase in the 3 level of police incidents involving this 4 establishment. That's No. 1. 5 No. 2: We have had rather conflicting 6 arguments by the applicant. On the one hand, they 7 are arguing nothing is happening that would be 8 disorderly or would cause concern for anyone. We 9 have systems and procedures in place. We have the 10 best of everything, nothing is happening. Witness 11 after witness; as safe a place as you can find, 12 never disorderly, we never see a thing. 13 Then in connection with the parking lot, 14 we seem to have a major concession that I could 15 have recalled hearing many, many times: The 16 parking lot is a huge problem. The security 17 people have to direct traffic on Milwaukee streets 18 to deal with the problems in the parking lot. So 19 that seems to be somewhat inconsistent. 20 But I really have a credibility problem 21 with all of these systems and procedures and 22 reports that we have heard, and the credibility 23 problem goes to this: And it regards Incident 38, 24 which was a July 3, 2008, incident, which the 25 chief security person here testified never 263 1 happened, testified to that under oath here today, 2 never happened, "We have no record of it. It's 3 been cooked up by somebody." Yet, in the meeting 4 on July 23, 2009, with the captain, assistant city 5 attorney and the owner, and I presume, the 6 security person as well, that precise incident was 7 not only discussed but was the focus of the 8 captain's remarks because he was concerned that it 9 represented a felony battery inside the 10 establishment, where nothing ever happens we're 11 told. 12 Now, any reasonable businessowner 13 sitting with the police, sitting with the 14 assistant city attorney, understanding that they 15 have just come off of a 45-day suspension, 16 understanding that there were continuing 17 complaints being forwarded to my office and to the 18 police because the police told them that, would 19 say, "Hey, that one wasn't ours. We really have 20 no record of that one happening. Captain, we 21 appreciate your concern, but that didn't happen. 22 We don't have glass martini glasses; we have 23 plastic. We don't --" there was -- any reasonable 24 person would have, given that opportunity, denied 25 the factual basis for that incident. Yet, as we 264 1 have heard undisputed testimony, there was no 2 denial at that meeting by the owner or the owner's 3 representative. Somebody is lying about that 4 incident, and given the sequence of events, it's 5 not the agents of the City of Milwaukee, and 6 frankly, that draws into question all this lengthy 7 testimony: systems, procedures, checks and 8 balances, it's a bunch of paper shuffling. 9 The bottom line is, as demonstrated by 10 the witness testimony, as demonstrated by the 11 police record, as demonstrated by the position of 12 the police department, that progressive -- this is 13 becoming a progressively greater problem. The 14 council recognized that last year in imposing a 15 45-day suspension, and despite that, nobody has 16 contacted the parking lot, who is now to blame for 17 all the trouble. 18 You would think the owner of this 19 establishment, again, coming off a 45-day 20 suspension, any reasonable businessowner would 21 say, "Man, if the parking lot is really the 22 problem," he says, "I'll go over there and try to 23 fix this problem with this parking guy. If I get 24 nowhere, fine, I come and tell the aldermen, 'I 25 tried to fix the parking lot problem. They are 265 1 uncooperative. Can you help me out? Can you do 2 something? Can you send over DNS? Can you do 3 something?'" Never -- parking guy was never 4 contacted by anyone from the club about the 5 problems in the parking lot -- that you go through 6 this record, that was the argument last year, 7 "Well, it's not us. It's not the club. It's the 8 parking lot. It's people going to and from the 9 parking lot." You would think after two years of 10 problems with this parking lot, if they were 11 really sincere about public safety, about watching 12 out for their neighbors and about the public 13 interest, they would have dealt with that parking 14 lot themselves without having to come here and now 15 it's, "Well, we're going to work something out 16 with the parking lot. At the 11th hour, when the 17 judge's gavel is ready to come down in a final 18 decision, let's now negotiate something." When 19 you've heard the parking lot's operator has no 20 ability to promise anything or guarantee anything 21 because they do not -- not only do they not own 22 the lot, they don't even have a lease for the lot 23 at this particular point. 24 So summarized very simply, we are very 25 conscious of our role in providing progressive 266 1 discipline. Progressive discipline has not worked 2 in this instance because it is becoming 3 progressively worse and not better. The level of 4 police incidents and police responses increasing; 5 not diminishing, and we're based -- our hands are 6 tied, and I would urge the committee, once again, 7 to non-renew this license. Thank you. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you, Alderman 9 Bauman. Are there any questions that the 10 committee members have of Alderman Bauman? Mr. 11 Halbrooks. 12 MR. HALBROOKS: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I 13 want to try to tackle these points one by one. I 14 understand the concept of progressive discipline, 15 and here is the difficulty I have with that. 16 After watching the hearing from the last year, I 17 do not believe that had there been attorneys here, 18 had this committee actually taken a close look at 19 the video, that the committee that the would have 20 decided 45 days was appropriate. I believe that 21 that was extreme, given the circumstance. You can 22 see that just my objection to the video tonight; 23 Mr. Arenson didn't even bother putting it in. I 24 don't believe that the practice that this 25 committee had at that particular time was 267 1 appropriate, and as such, what happened was an 2 extreme amount of discipline, and so rather than 3 suggesting that progressive discipline from the 45 4 days, I would suggest that the committee act 5 appropriately here. 6 I don't know why the strong language 7 about police lying, people lying about the 8 meeting. I didn't hear either Captain Mitchell or 9 the representatives of the club or even Adam 10 Stephens ever talk in such definitive language. 11 As far as I can tell, nobody's memory was clear 12 enough to determine anything. I can tell you that 13 when the owners testified that they have no 14 recollection, they have no video of those 15 incidents, that's the record they have. And so to 16 suggest from something from July is now proof 17 rather than the people sitting here under oath, 18 I'm not certain why we would rely on something 19 when we have the people here and rely on something 20 where people don't have the memory. 21 Alderman Bauman talks about, well, 22 there's a conflict. Well, the very serious issue 23 here is there is not a problem inside the club. 24 He wants to criticize and almost throw the system 25 in place. I'm here to tell you, I don't know how 268 1 many of you have been in the club and watched what 2 these individuals have described, but it is 3 exactly as they have described. It is a 4 sophisticated system that moves the customers out 5 of the club and to their cars as quickly as 6 possible. And I believe that when they sat here 7 last year and got the suspension, that they went 8 back, they immediately got rid of the guards based 9 on the discussion here, and they immediately -- 10 yeah, the armed guards, got rid of the dogs, they 11 got rid of the teen night. They did everything 12 immediately that this committee asked, and so to 13 take the concept of progressive discipline, I 14 think you have to say that they're not following 15 through on what was asked of them; in this case, 16 they were. And so I don't know, I don't know what 17 the reasons are for the suggestion of lying. I'm 18 not prepared to accuse anybody here of lying. I 19 believe everybody is trying to do their job. And 20 to suggest that this parking lot -- I don't know 21 that the applicants have suggested they haven't 22 tried to contact the parking lot. What I heard 23 was Mr. Kenny say he personally hasn't been 24 contacted. I understand reconfiguring this 25 parking lot is going to be a chore. I understand 269 1 that he walked away from responsibilities that he 2 had because he was running out of money, but what 3 I can tell you is that regardless of what the 4 owners are going to do, whatever legal action 5 anybody has against that parking lot, whether it 6 be nuisance, whether it be the club, what I can 7 tell you is that what I asked Mr. Kenny was, are 8 you prepared to immediately put security guards, 9 and regardless of the current lease, he indicated 10 he has the power to do that, and I believe he is 11 going to do that. I wouldn't recommend this club 12 hires armed security guards; for some reason he is 13 comfortable with that. I believe that if there 14 are guards there helping that situation, that the 15 neighbors that came in and complained and provided 16 the information about those parking lots, that it 17 will help to dissipate that. 18 The tavern license, the tavern is being 19 run effectively, safely, and to run 150,000 people 20 through an operation and have a couple of 21 incidents, we are not talking about problems 22 inside the club, and to hold them responsible when 23 we are going to try to find a solution would be 24 extreme, and I would suggest that renewal is the 25 appropriate motion here. Thank you. 270 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. I do have 2 one follow-up question for you. As part of the 3 response last year, was there an agreement that 4 was made where they would end the practice of 5 having underaged events? 6 MR. HALBROOKS: I believe the chair -- I 7 believe the committee -- I suggest would be too 8 light of a term. I believe that it was very 9 clearly recommended and told -- there was a 10 discussion about appealing these to the police 11 department. I'm not necessarily sure how you 12 would do that, but the direction from the chair, 13 Alderman Zielinski, is to get rid of these teen 14 nights. That was done immediately, and as you 15 know, considering the economics of eliminating 16 teen nights, that was no small task, no small 17 economic amount to give up there, but it was done 18 and it was done immediately. 19 I haven't detected anything from the 20 applicants that indicates that they haven't been 21 able, been able or willing to do whatever is asked 22 of them. I do want to take a second, I understand 23 the committee's policy with regard to taking these 24 incidents into account, but there were nine 25 incidents after the license was granted, and the 271 1 types of incidents have decreased, and I do 2 believe that when you actually consider what's 3 been proven here, not, not -- when you consider 4 what has actually been proven, other than the 5 hearsay report, there has been nothing put in by 6 the City. I know what the tradition -- I know 7 what the practice of this committee is, but to 8 suggest that anything on that report has been 9 proven here, is wrong. There is just the hearsay 10 report, and to just buy that report and to make us 11 prove that it didn't happen and to suggest we're 12 lying is not what the law in the state is. They 13 make these suggestions, and they haven't brought 14 any evidence of any of the items, and as such, we 15 have tried to rebut them, but we clearly do not 16 have the legal or constitutional duty in the State 17 of Wisconsin to do that. And all I would suggest 18 is, if you think about, look at the incidents that 19 Alderman Bauman is talking about, there is nothing 20 in the record to prove any of them actually 21 happened that was presented to you here tonight. 22 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair? 23 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderwoman Coggs. 24 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Attorney 25 Halbrooks, this is for you or the licensee, what 272 1 is "Club Inferno"? 2 MR. MERADO: Club Inferno was a night we 3 used to call our teen night years ago. Just like 4 we call Thursday the "Ultimate Ladies Night," or 5 Friday is "Flirt," or whatever. Nights have 6 names, promotional names. Club Inferno was a 7 promotional name we used years ago for the teen 8 night. That was approved -- every time we had 9 one, it was approved by the Milwaukee Police 10 Department up until we were asked to stop having 11 them. 12 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: So I if were to 13 tell you on your website right now, there is Club 14 Inferno, Milwaukee's best 17- and 20-year-old 15 young adult nightclub with November 2009 dates on 16 it, you would -- that would be because -- 17 MR. MERADO: I would tell you to type in 18 "618liveonwater.com" and don't Google "618 Live on 19 Water dot com," and you will find that it's not 20 there. We've tried repeatedly to get with the 21 website person that worked with us last year to 22 get that deleted since then, since then, and we 23 cannot get it done; it just keeps repeating 24 itself, and we can't get it erased. That was 25 probably the first thing you clicked on, but if 273 1 you go down a little bit, you will see the real 2 website. 3 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: So what is 4 Friday nights now? 5 MR. MERADO: 21 and up, and just called 6 "Flirt." 7 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Thank you. 8 MR. MERADO: You're welcome. 9 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you for clarifying 10 that because I was the one who was looking at it 11 here wondering -- 12 MR. MERADO: In addition to that, the 13 police department, they did come out. They must 14 have seen the same thing a few weeks ago on a 15 Friday, questioning us if we were having a teen 16 night anymore. Of course, we would never, never 17 not abide the ruling of the police department. 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Because you would have 19 had to have provided a notice to the local 20 district station as part of the statutes. 21 MR. MERADO: Well, just like last year 22 on a bi -- weekly to biweekly basis, we asked 23 permission to have the teen nights, which was 24 granted every step of the way, until we were asked 25 to stop it at the last hearing. 274 1 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Very good. 2 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Mr. Chair? 3 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Kovac. 4 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I assume you have 17- 5 to 20-year-olds using Google. Do you have a big 6 problem with them showing up every Friday? 7 MR. MERADO: Well, I get a lot of phone 8 calls. The phone calls stop the coming, so it's 9 not that big of a problem. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Any other questions by 11 committee? Otherwise we are in committee at this 12 time then. 13 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair? 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton. 15 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: It's been a long 16 day. I wish I could just make this motion and 17 then be done with it, but I can't. If we just 18 start with the police report, you know, one of the 19 things that we constantly look at and we always 20 encourage, which is one of the reasons why I was 21 kind of so upset with Attorney Halbrooks' approach 22 to the presentation of this, because the number of 23 items on the police report is not necessarily in 24 and of itself conclusive evidence of, you know, 25 wrongdoing. And that's not a position that this 275 1 committee has ever taken. That's not -- you know, 2 that's not how we evaluate whether an 3 establishment is bad or not. You know, we take a 4 look at each incident and we evaluate how to weigh 5 it, and the assumption is not that everything in 6 the police report is absolutely right, which is 7 why we give you an opportunity to explain it and 8 create a presentation on it. But at the same 9 time, it is the police department, and, you know, 10 they're doing this to create a record so that we 11 actually do have something to talk about. Without 12 doing that, we would be completely relying on 13 every single resident to come down here and give 14 testimony on the incidents that happen at these 15 establishments. 16 Just to talk about this, a large number 17 of these, you know, when we talk about the police 18 department, the police department was sent to 19 conduct crowd control; I think we kind of expect 20 the police department to conduct crowd control. 21 The question is, how much of that is a drain on 22 police resources, and how much of it is police 23 responsibility? That's something for us to weigh, 24 and that's something for us to decide. There are 25 a number of incidents on here where, you know, 276 1 there was a problem. You expect for there to be 2 some type of conflicts at an establishment like 3 this. The question is not always if an incident 4 occurred, the question is, how did you handle it 5 when it did occur? What did you do in order to 6 make the situation -- you know, how did you handle 7 the situation? Did you work with the police in 8 order to deal with the situation? Did you do 9 everything possible beforehand to try to prevent 10 these things from happening? It's not just the 11 simple fact that there is something there. And, 12 you know, all of that comes into consideration. 13 The reports from neighbors, I just have 14 to -- if a neighbor comes down here and is willing 15 to sit through this, they have a gripe, they have 16 a problem, there is something that needs to be 17 dealt with with that neighbor. And no matter what 18 happens here today, you know, I don't think that 19 the presentation that has been presented is one of 20 a revocation or not renewal. I'll just say that. 21 But at the same time, I would expect some type of 22 resolution to the neighbors that live there. I 23 mean, something has to be done about that, and not 24 talking to each other is not going to solve the 25 problem. 277 1 You know, there -- I just wanted to run 2 through the number of things that just kind of 3 came up through this because this touches on so 4 many different issues. I cannot sit here and say 5 -- all of the presentations that came here today, 6 there was nothing presented that said that this 7 club was operating in an irresponsible manner. 8 There was just nothing here that said that. There 9 was kind of an enlightening moment where people 10 began to recognize that, okay, maybe we can do 11 something about the parking situation and the 12 parking lots, and maybe if we concentrated on 13 trying to fix those things, and they seem to be 14 very fixable, so that, to not have come up with a 15 plan on dealing with that parking situation, you 16 know, from all aspects, from the police 17 department, to the owners, to the operators of the 18 parking facility. To not have had that 19 conversation considering what was on the line, it 20 makes me wonder, you know, what type of 21 communication has been going on, because that 22 really should have been, that really should have 23 been addressed. Because to say that closing down 24 a downtown business that employs people, that the 25 businesses in the area don't have a problem with, 278 1 as a crime-fighting solution, I don't think that's 2 the best crime-fighting solution for a downtown 3 venue that really offers a whole lot to downtown 4 nightlife. It's -- I don't think that that's the 5 solution for addressing the crime issue in that 6 area. 7 And there are number of items on the 8 list where we've had incidents of -- we've had far 9 worse incidents in some other areas, and this is 10 not the -- our first approach was not to shut down 11 the business, and so I don't want us to start 12 going down that road, and I want us to have a 13 level of consistency in dealing with this. I'm 14 not convinced that they didn't do anything in 15 order to try to address some of the concerns from 16 last year. I'm not convinced of that. It seems 17 as if a lot of the recommendations that came out 18 of the committee last year, they actually -- they 19 tried to implement, and so, I just -- I'm just not 20 convinced of that. 21 So the motion that I'm going to offer, 22 and I guess, you know, we'll see how it goes, is 23 to recommend a 30-day suspension with the 24 expectation that a lot of the parking issues -- 25 because I feel like we did the community meeting 279 1 here at this hearing that they would address some 2 of those issues. 3 And this noncommunication between the 4 residents that live in the area just has to cease 5 and there has to be some type of communication, 6 ongoing communication in addressing the issues 7 when they arise. 8 And I think I'm extremely disappointed 9 of the whole flashlight in the window, thing on 10 the roof. I mean, you know, there is no reason to 11 point out a person who is just interested in, you 12 know, having the quiet enjoyment of their home. 13 But at the same time, you know, if you live 14 downtown and it's an active downtown, there is 15 going to be activity in that area. And I think 16 anybody moving downtown, hopefully they will be 17 moving there because they want that downtown to be 18 vibrant and they want some activity there. And I 19 don't want there to be an exclusivity feel to 20 downtown; it's everybody's downtown. Everybody, 21 um, everybody has a piece of downtown, and that's 22 the way that we should continue to promote it. 23 This is all of ours, and if we are going to make 24 it vibrant, you know, we have to make it welcoming 25 for everybody. But that's my motion, um, it's -- 280 1 that is my motion. 2 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. Motion by 3 Alderman Hamilton is for approval of the renewal 4 of the licenses with a 30-day suspension based 5 upon the police report and the neighborhood 6 objections. Correct, Alderman, neighborhood 7 testimony and the police report? 8 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Yes, based on 9 neighborhood testimony and the police report. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Is there a discussion on 11 the motion? Alderman Kovac. 12 ALDERMAN KOVAC: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 13 Yeah, this has been quite a roller coaster. I'm 14 not sure over the past five hours that I would 15 have ended up at this point. At different points 16 in this hearing, I might have had a different 17 point. But this is the motion I would have made 18 because we are balancing a lot here, there is a 19 lot going on. 20 A couple comments I want to make. I 21 really want to back up what Alderman Hamilton said 22 about working with the neighbors. I understand 23 it's gotten to a point where neighbors don't want 24 to work with you. But this flashlight stuff, this 25 on the roof stuff, and frankly, the tone of 281 1 Attorney Halbrooks' questions, and, I mean, I 2 understand you have to represent, you've got to 3 ask tough questions, but to constantly say -- to 4 constantly demean their involvement in this and 5 why they are here, it's not right. And it's not 6 just -- it is just a few people, but that's 7 actually a relatively high percentage of the 8 people that live in that neighborhood. 9 And frankly, when you look at downtown 10 development, do we want -- we want everyone to 11 have a piece of downtown, and we want there to be 12 more people whose piece downtown is where they lay 13 their head. So it's got to be a bit of both. I 14 mean, we want activity, we want celebrities and 15 people who want to be around celebrities to come 16 to our downtown. That is part of what downtowns 17 do, but we also need to behave in a responsible 18 way because we don't just want that. We want 19 other kinds of businesses, and we want residents. 20 So to the extent -- I was actually very 21 encouraged by testimony of the parking lot 22 manager, and frankly, stunned -- I don't know who 23 to blame for the fact that he didn't know any of 24 this, but I'm stunned that it took this long to 25 get the parking lot management directly involved. 282 1 And I'm stunned that at the same time you were 2 changing security companies and making some 3 appropriate changes there and getting rid of the 4 dogs and guns, he was reducing his investment in 5 security in the parking park by a factor of three; 6 from 8,000 to 2,800. I mean, that's a factor in 7 this, and when you run a bar downtown or anywhere 8 in this city, contacts matters and what happens 9 outside your bar, and how -- what happens outside 10 your bar interacts with people who have never even 11 been to your bar, matters. I mean, I can 12 understand people worrying about the double 13 standard and saying what's going on on North 14 Water. I don't think there is a double standard; 15 I think it's a different standard. Part of it is, 16 you have dozens of bars in that area, so it's 17 harder to track what is going on. When a bar is 18 on its own -- if you were here for the first nine 19 hours of this hearing, you would see that the same 20 bar can do the same thing and be different 21 depending on whether it's on a main street or in a 22 neighborhood. And so you're kind of on your own 23 down there, so it means that things that are 24 happening on the south end of Water are most 25 likely when you guys are open, that's what's 283 1 happening. 2 And this idea of what goes on at Miller 3 Park, heck, I mean, I hope that Brandon Jennings 4 keeps scoring 55 points, and I hope we have more 5 traffic problems outside the Bradley Center. 6 Frankly, that's a good thing for Milwaukee. I 7 want more people filling that building. And then 8 you say, well, does the Bradley Center -- we do 9 have to shut down traffic. It is a different 10 context. There is not people living right across 11 the street. The parking is handled differently, 12 you know, probably -- it's a complicated set of 13 events that go on there, but it tends to work out, 14 and it is good for the downtown to have that kind 15 of an attraction. 16 So I think that it's important that you 17 not feel singled out, and that you understand that 18 your context is different. And understand that 19 the testimony of these neighbors is credible. 20 Now, they may come at it from a different 21 perspective, but I do think, um -- and not just -- 22 the testimony of the neighbors is strong, and the 23 testimony of the police department is strong in 24 terms of what has occurred. Frankly, I do think 25 it's impressive, the amount of people you bring in 284 1 and out of there, especially the age that you're 2 serving. I think you're probably doing a better 3 job than a lot of people would in your position. 4 I think that has been clear too, and the outreach 5 you have in the community and the partners you 6 have, business and otherwise, in the community is 7 strong, and that's impressive that you can fill 8 the room for this many hours. 9 But then the other thing I'll say -- and 10 this has not just come up downtown, and I think 11 the most serious incident that you have this past 12 year is perfect evidence of this. A person got 13 shot and never walked into your club, at least 14 according to the testimony we heard. But underage 15 people are hanging out outside your club because 16 of the activity. I mean, it's not to mean that -- 17 you're not the only place. Pizza Shuttle on North 18 Farwell had the same issue for a couple months 19 last summer, and we spent a couple hours on that 20 going through an incredibly long police report, 21 and it wasn't even Pizza Shuttle's customers. 22 Word got out, "Party in the Pizza Shuttle parking 23 lot," and suddenly Pizza Shuttle had a problem. 24 They had to change security firms too. And that 25 was for two months, and they fixed it. This is 285 1 for two years now. Frankly, the problem has not 2 been fixed. So I don't -- I mean, I come away 3 from this hearing impressed with what you're doing 4 and the changes you've made, but I don't come away 5 from this going "things are fine." There's 6 clearly an issue here, and the issue sounds like 7 it's not in your club, with the exception, 8 obviously, of this martini incident, and whether 9 or not it happened, which is significant, and not 10 a deal breaker for anybody, but it is significant. 11 But mainly what you have -- I think you probably 12 have a lot of people in this parking lot who never 13 set foot in your club, they just know around about 14 midnight or one or so, the party is in the parking 15 lot. I mean, I'm just assuming that that's 16 probably part of what's going on, because it goes 17 on in other parts of the city. It goes on in 18 parking lots for no reason sometimes. So you've 19 got to own that because -- and we have this 20 conversation with bar owners all the time about, 21 is it my problem, you know, are the City's 22 problem, my problems? Somewhat, they become your 23 problem especially when you're -- when they are 24 happening because of you and you are profiting 25 from what's going on, you've got to own it. 286 1 So, um, I'm encouraged by a lot of 2 what's going on here, but I do think -- I don't 3 know if you call this progressive discipline or 4 what the word is, but I do think a message needs 5 to be sent that I don't want to be back here next 6 year discussing this. I don't want to be having 7 this same conversation next year. Thank you. 8 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Additional discussion? 9 I don't want to belabor the evening. I will just 10 say that I won't support the motion. I do believe 11 in a more stringent response than what the motion 12 is. The motion before us is -- 13 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Mr. Chair? 14 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Coggs. 15 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: I don't want to 16 belabor the issue either, but in thinking about 17 it, and in thinking about for me, being consistent 18 is important. Um, I have listened to my 19 colleagues, Alderman Hamilton and Alderman Kovac, 20 but -- and I don't believe I will be able to 21 support 30 days, um, but not because I want more, 22 because I would want less. 23 I'm just putting it out there because 24 there are four of us here, so we know what the 25 vote is going to be. For different reasons, we 287 1 know what the vote is going to be, and for me it's 2 just and issue of being fair-handed and consistent 3 with my own self. 4 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Alderman Hamilton would 5 -- 6 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: And I didn't 7 vote for the 45 days; I wasn't here for that. So 8 I don't feel obligated from what was voted on last 9 year. 10 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Okay, so the motion 11 fails? 12 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, you do the math 13 here. You can withdraw the motion. 14 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I'm just saying, 15 I'll make another motion. 16 ALDERMAN KOVAC: I don't know, how are 17 we going to get three votes? 18 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Motion, Alderman? 19 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: I guess so. 20 ALDERMAN KOVAC: We've got one person 21 going one way and one the other, 22 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: So are you 23 withdrawing, are we going to vote or not? 24 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Well, I'll go with the 25 motion. The motion is for approval of the renewal 288 1 of the licenses with a 30-day suspension based on 2 matters contained in the police report. Are there 3 objections to that motion? 4 VICE CHAIRWOMAN COGGS: Object. 5 CHAIRMAN BOHL: And I'll object as well 6 too, for different reasons, but nevertheless 30 7 days fails on a 2-2 vote, tieing vote is a failing 8 vote. We are still in committee. 9 ALDERMAN HAMILTON: Mr. Chair, I'll make 10 a motion for a 20-day suspension. 11 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Motion by Alderman 12 Hamilton is for approval of the renewal of the 13 issuance of the license with a 20-day suspension 14 based on matters contained in the police report 15 and neighborhood objections. Are there any 16 objections to that motion? Hearing my own, the 17 motion will carry on a 3-1 vote. Mr. Schrimpf. 18 MR. SCHRIMPF: The committee will be 19 doing findings of fact and conclusion of law 20 recommending renewal of this license with a 20-day 21 suspension. You will receive a copy of that, and 22 you will have an opportunity to submit written 23 objections to that. If so, they must be received 24 by 4:45 p.m. November 24, 2009, in this building. 25 If you submit written objections, then you also 289 1 have the ability to appear before the Common 2 Council on this matter on December 1, 2009, at 3 approximately 9:00 a.m. in the Common Council 4 chambers in this building. 5 Mr. Halbrooks, do you accept service on 6 behalf of the tavern? 7 MR. LERNER: You can send it to me. 8 MR. SCHRIMPF: To Tom Lerner? 9 MR. LERNER: Yeah, I'll accept service. 10 CHAIRMAN BOHL: Thank you. 11 (Proceedings concluded at 10:50 p.m.) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 290 1 STATE OF WISCONSIN ) ) SS: 2 COUNTY OF MILWAUKEE ) 3 4 5 I, KAREN RENEE, Court Reporter and 6 Notary Public in and for the State of Wisconsin, do 7 hereby certify that the above hearing was recorded by 8 me on November 17, 2009, and reduced to writing under 9 my personal direction. 10 I further certify that I am not a 11 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any of 12 the parties, or a relative or employee of such attorney 13 or counsel, or financially interested directly or 14 indirectly in this action. 15 In witness whereof I have hereunder set 16 my hand and affixed my seal of office at Milwaukee, 17 Wisconsin, this 27th day of November, 2009. 18 19 20 _________________________________ Notary Public 21 In and for the State of Wisconsin 22 23 My Commission Expires: March 11, 2012. 24 25