[Update 04-16-2024: Since this meeting, Katie has been charged with felony Possession of Cocaine, misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct, misdemeanor Criminal Damage to Property, and felony Bail Jumping. She has also had eviction proceedings opened against her. These cases are all ongoing, and no judgement has yet been reached. But one does question how someone who has truly been rehabilitated would find themselves in a situation where they were facing all of these charges.]
The Safety and Licensing Committee held a special meeting on 11/01/2023 with the purpose of voting on a bartender/operator license application that the Police Department was recommending be denied.
They applicant has been convicted of drug possession, so the Police Department was recommending denial of the application; however, she successfully completed her probation over a year ago, and, by state statute, successfully completing probation is evidence of rehabilitation so her previous convictions should not be used as the basis of a denial of her application. The committee had put her application on hold to give her the opportunity to provide them documentation showing her successful completion of probation.
She was able to provide a certificate of discharge to the committee. With the addition of that information, City Attorney Christopher Behrens told the committee, “statutorily now there would not be a basis for denying the license as applied for. So, staff would recommend approval at this point.”
Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) asked if the Police Department also now recommended approval, to which Police Chief Polly Olson responded, “It would be our position that as long as all the statutory requirements are met, I don’t think we would necessarily have an objection.”
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked if the applicant would be able to take this license and serve/sell alcohol at any establishment, not just the one she currently worked at. Clerk Lynch confirmed that she could take that license anywhere in the City of Appleton. [The applicant works at a convenience store, which probably isn’t problematic for person who previously had issues with sobriety, and I took the question to be wondering if she could go work at a bar which would perhaps be an environment that could be more problematic for someone working on their recovery to be in.]
Alderperson Nate Wolff (District 12) thanked the applicant for providing the additional documentation. He appreciated her effort and was happy to vote to approve her application.
The committee went on to vote 5-0 to recommend her license application for approval, and later that evening the Common Council voted unanimously to approve her application.
I’ve prepared transcripts of both the Safety and Licensing Committee discussion and the Common Council vote:
View full Safety and Licensing Committee meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1133069&GUID=C17A30CB-D626-4E44-AD80-6B9ACAC23FDC
View full Common Council meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1120380&GUID=59C8392B-B7FA-46B9-B8E4-0F1495154936
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