THE RECENT DEBATE OVER ALCOHOL LICENSES

There has been a considerable amount of debate recently over liquor licenses in the city. First, let me come out and say that I am supportive of the recent decision by the Common Council to reject the issuance of a license to the VFW, but my reasons may come as a surprise:

1 - First and most importantly, I am NOT against the VFW. To question my patriotism and support of veterans over this issue is completely uncalled for. I do support our veterans, and I have a father, step-father and father-in-law who all served in the military. I take pride in teaching my children the importance of patriotism, our country and respect for veterans and the flag. To say one is not supportive of the veterans because they did not receive a liqour license is a illogical assumption.

2 - My opposition is based the fact that the number of licenses are restricted by state law. I wish the Legislature would shrug off the lobbying efforts of the Wisconsin Tavern League and allow cities and towns to determine exactly how many licenses they want in a community. We could be a "dry" city, we could have 100 bars, but the decision should be local. Since the number of licenses are capped (one per 500 residents), we are limited to 15 (Ripon has slightly more than 7,500 residents). To give the license to the VFW, which would be open twice a week, and limited hours at that, does not seem to be the wisest, most efficient use of the one remaining license we have. That said, I am not comfortable completely with the licenses being used by Ripon College and Roadhouse Pizza, but there are plans to expand Roadhouse to include a full bar, and Ripon College/Sodexho has a legitimate catering business in place which would be torpedoed by the loss of the license. Also, pulling their licenses now may result in litigation, based on our city attorney's advice.

3 - There is no "covert" operation in place to force the VFW to sell their land to the college. Recent comments to the contrary, including a letter to the local newspaper, have raised that issue. There has been NO attempt to force the VFW to sell, nor has the idea of eminent domain or condemnation been brought up. This is one more of those "rumors" with no credibility. It was NOT part of the decision process involving the license, but some people love to revel in the mudslinging of unprovable accusations, and I will leave it at that.

I recently asked the Council to approve a series of revisions to the city's liquor license law. They have passed one. Under the current ordinance, a license has to be unused for 90 days in order for revocation proceedings to begin. A loophole in the law allowed the following to happen:
May 1 - A business with a license closes, starting the 90-day window.

July 1 - Licenses are annually renewed, and the 90-day window starts over again

September 30 - A license could be technically unused for 179 days before revocation proceedings begin.

Under the ordinance passed this week, the city can begin proceedings if a license is not used for 30 days. The course of due process will take roughly 60 more days, leading the same 90-day period as before, BUT the annual re-issuance will not re-start the clock.

I will also be asking the Council in the next few months to approve a resolution asking our legislators in Madison to consider a change in state law to make the determination of the number of licenses in a city a LOCAL issue. While it may do nothing, it will make our position clear, and I hope you are clear on mine.