The Safety and Licensing Committee met 07/26/2023. One of the items on the agenda was public appearances by representatives from several businesses who had received alcohol license demerit point violations for selling alcohol to minors. Appleton’s Municipal Code requires a licensee with between 25 and 149 demerit points to appear before the Safety and Licensing Committee and explain what steps they are taking to prevent violations in the future.
Unfortunately, the microphone the various business representatives spoke into was not working well and it was very difficult to hear what they said. As a result, I was not able to prepare a transcript of the discussion and the below summaries are based on my best ability to discern what it was that was said.
TJ’S JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE – It sounded like, as long as a person looked under 40, they were carded.
MEMORIAL LIQUOR – The representative had been running that business for around 4 years and never had a problem. The employee who sold the alcohol to the minor had worked there for a year or two and never had this problem. In response to this incident, the owner told employees to check the ID for everyone. He also purchased an ID scanner.
Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) mentioned that this business has had instances of consumption on premises. He wanted to ask about that, but because the appearance was only about the demerits related to selling alcohol to a minor, Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) who was the chair of the committee did not allow him to ask that question. Assistant City Attorney Darrin Glad agreed that line of questioning should not be allowed.
LINDO MICHOACAN – The representative for the business said that he had to do training for the employees in both English and Spanish. They also talked about ways to improve their processes at their weekly staff meeting. They were adding an ID scanner and someone was going to come in and show employees how to use it properly. They also put up signs in both English and Spanish.
MOTOMART – There were two Motomart locations that had violations. At one of the Motomart locations the policy, which every employee had to sign and acknowledge, was that anyone who looked younger than 40 was supposed to have their ID checked. Signage regarding alcohol sales requirements were posted at the exits and entrances. The employee at the first location who sold alcohol to a minor was terminated the day of the incident. That location also had the ability to scan IDs at the register, so they were doing that and training employees on that. Management checked twice a week on two different associates to see if they were checking IDs property.
The other Motomart location had a policy to check every ID regardless of apparent age. They also checked every week to make sure employees were doing that. It sounded like she provided some sort of explanation about the employee who sold alcohol to a minor, but I could not understand what she said.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1103673&GUID=DB15C887-9754-4EE2-BA00-167755BECF69
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