The Safety and Licensing Committee is meeting 07/27/2022 at 5:30PM.
They have a number of licenses that they will be voting on, but the action item of most interest to the public is probably Resolution #8-R-22, an advisory referendum related to marijuana legalization for the November 8, 2022 election ballot. If approved, this resolution would add an advisory referendum to the November ballot asking the following question: “Should marijuana be legalized for adult-use, taxed, and regulated like alcohol?”
The resolution is sponsored by 7 alderpersons, so it’s already essentially only 1 vote away from being placed on the November ballot.
Per the memo from City Clerk Kami Lynch, the cost for putting the question on the ballot is estimated at $2,250. Additionally, “Wisconsin Statutes give no legal effect to the results of an advisory referendum, other than the weight that the governing body voluntarily assigns to the results.”
I contacted Clerk Lynch and asked her that, given there is no legal effect to the referendum, it sounded like the results would not be forwarded to anyone unless the Common Council explicitly ordered that to happen. She confirmed, “You are correct, the results of the advisory referendum will not be forwarded unless it is specifically requested/directed by the Common Council.”
Of note, the non-partisan redistricting resolution that was approved last year and placed a question on the April ballot did call for the results of that vote to be sent to the Governor of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Towns Association, the Wisconsin League of Municipalities, and all members of the State Legislature. I asked Clerk Lynch if she had heard back from any of the entities or individuals who had been sent the results of that referendum and she responded, “I did not receive any feedback or commentary as a result of the forwarding of the results for the Spring 2021 referendum regarding redistricting.”
[It sounds like, right off the bat, the resolution is going to have to be amended in order to make sure that something happens to the results and they aren’t just filed away by the City Clerk and never seen again, as the current version does not direct the clerk to do anything with the results. Additionally, if the past advisory referendum is any indication, it sounds like if this resolution is amended and approved, the question put on the ballot, and the question is approved by voters, all the city is going to be doing is spending staff and Council time as well as $2,250 to send these results to various people who will simply file them away and forget about them.]
The committee will also be receiving a number of information items including a Traffic Safety update, the 2022 Fire Department Mid-Year Report, and the 2022 Legal Services and City Clerk’s Office Mid-Year Report.
The committee will also be discussing concerns regarding the Speakeasy Bar on College Avenue which, over the last 6 months, has had 5 fights involving patrons which resulted in arrests or citations. By comparison, the bar with the next closes number of calls had two disturbances which needed little police intervention.
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=965305&GUID=07DCC9A7-CAA9-4AB1-8BDF-2589CA67A235
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