Geneva says 'no' on letting aldermen have liquor licenses, but ...
Geneva still won't allow people who have liquor licenses to hold elected office.
Mayor Kevin Burns shot down the idea Monday night with his "no" vote after aldermen voted 5-4 in favor.
But hold on: the matter may not be dead yet, because Wednesday afternoon, Aldermen Don Cummings, Tom Simonian and Jim Radecki called for a special city council meeting on Dec. 12 to reconsider the matter.
And they want to discuss parliamentary rules and council procedures, according to the agenda. Simonian has questioned whether the city clerk actually recorded the vote.
All three want liquor licensees to be able to hold office. Radecki was the one who brought the topic up this fall.
The issues
On Monday night, the city's attorney said that the ordinance would have required six affirmative votes to pass, and the mayor had the right to vote because only half the 10 aldermen had voted in favor of the idea.
Alderman Richard Marks, who supported the idea, was absent.
Aldermen, meeting as a committee of the whole in November, recommended changing the law. Six voted in favor and four were against.
Burns, who is the city's liquor commissioner, has consistently opposed the idea. The council considered changing the rules in 2012.
Geneva's law is based on a previous state law, though the state changed its law in 2009 to allow aldermen and trustees in towns of 50,000 people or fewer to have liquor licenses. Their business' primary focus would have to be food sales, and they would not be allowed to discuss or vote on matters related to liquor licensing and enforcement.
"It should come as no surprise to anyone what my position is on this," Burns said. "This is not about one person, this is about a body (the council)."
Burns said he feared enforcing that recusal requirement would be problematic. He has previously cited the potential for conflicts of interest, and that it would put Geneva police officers in an "untenable situation" of having to enforce laws against the people who hire and fire them.
He initially offered to postpone the vote to a special Dec. 12 council meeting so a full council could vote on it. Alderman Tara Burghart said she would be absent that night, and Simonian and Cummings pointed out that Marks had sent emails Monday saying he was fine with the council voting that night.
The special meeting will begin after the regular committee-of-the-whole meeting, which is at 7 p.m. One of the four aldermen who voted against the measure would have to move to reconsider the vote.
Simonian is running against Burns for mayor in April.