Safety And Licensing Committee Receives Report On OB’s Brau Haus Alcohol License Violation For Having Nude/Semi-Nude Entertainer – Owner To Appear At Next Committee Meeting

The Safety and Licensing Committee met 04/26/2023.

One of the information items they received an update on was the Police Department Report on Alcohol License Violations. Police Lieutenant Adam Nagel reported that OB’s Brau Haus received 150 demerit points for having a nude/semi-nude entertainer.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download.

The bar was hosting a hip hop group. The paid promoter for that hip hop group hired a woman to be an escort for him that evening. During the performance, that woman ended up performing a “strip club-esque” dance.

It wasn’t clear from the meeting video exactly what the venue would have needed to have in order to be able to legally hold a strip show, but it was clear that whatever they needed they didn’t have.

The police interviewed the owner of the establishment as well as the woman and established that she had been paid to perform those dances and that the owner was aware of that. The police could have issued citations against the owner, the woman, and the promotor, but they ended up choosing to write one only for the promoter after consulting with  the City Attorney who believed the promotor was more liable in this case. A citation was issued to the promoter who ended up not showing up in court and had a default judgement issued against him.

Under the City’s  new demerit point rules, the owner of OB’s Brau Haus will be appearing before the Safety and Licensing Committee at its next meeting 05/10/2023 to discuss the violation and the steps being taken to prevent such issues in the future.

Technically, 150 demerits on a license within a 24-month period is grounds for a license suspension instead of merely having to come meet with the committee; however, it was a little unclear to me if a suspension was actually on the table in this case. Assistant City Attorney Darrin Glad told the committee, “[T]he 150 points is actually above the threshold. We’ve kind of been treating it as the first conviction that you’re going to get some action towards your license.”

[I’m not clear on the legal reasoning behind the city being able to treat it as if it’s a first offense that is under 150 points if, in fact, it is 150 points which, by city code, ought to result in a suspension. Presumably we’ll learn more about that at the next meeting when the bar owner appears to discuss the issue.]

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1063460&GUID=382E0BB9-7796-4E6D-B76F-C107ED50E73D