In preparing for the last City Council meeting, I came across this in the Liquor Commission meeting minutes from February (pdf p. 81). The minutes describe the discussion about whether a BYOB license is right for DeKalb.

CITIZEN INPUT: Rosa Balli, Rosita’s, stated that on the onset at what point do you say no. You can not come in to dinner with a few bucks and a six pack of beer.

Alderman Gallagher stated he has approximately 100 e-mails that feel this is a great idea.

Embrey indicated that this community consists of farmers and professors who do not frequent bistros like the ones in Chicago, and are the kind that may spend $3.99 on a bottle of wine. Do we have to have liquor in every place, as there are financial risks involved.

1) Rosa Balli is not just a “citizen.” She is a liquor licensee and should be identified as such.

2) The 100 e-mails claimed by Alderman Gallagher do not exist. I submitted a FOIA request for them and was told that ALL the e-mails were sent to his private e-mail address and ALL were subsequently deleted. Read the rest of this entry

Northern Star reports today that Mayor Povlsen sent out a letter to city liquor licensees about illegal advertising, though he did not name names in it.

Povlsen, who is also the liquor commissioner, did list several violations that he said “appeared to be in violation of the law.”

In the letter, Povlsen said some of the advertisements included “free kegs, reduced-price drinks during limited hours, ‘ride the rail’ promotions, beer pong tourneys, ‘hosted bar’ for patrons, reverse cover charges and unlimited drinks for a flat fee.”

“Advertising ‘Happy Hour’ is also against the law,” Povlsen said. “We don’t have to send in police to see if they are committing the violation we can site [sic] them for the ad.”

So why is he wasting his time writing letters? Haul them in already. Sheesh.