The biggest story out of Monday's City Council meeting may have been the passion of citizens who spoke out on issues ranging from a liquor license denial to a burgeoning number of outdoor festivals.
"Finally!" resident Nancy Piwowar called out after the council voted unanimously to deny renewal of Vadrajan Naicken's liquor license. Before the vote, resident Ora Bailey Hill said sales of liquor to underage youth at Naicken's former location led to the early death of eight young men and problems did not cease after Arlington Liquors relocated to become Clinton Deli on West Front Street. Resident D. Scott Belin, also an independent candidate for mayor, urged council members who wanted to drop the matter to join the others in denying the license renewal.
On Aug. 12, the matter lacked a consensus to move it to the agenda until Councilwoman Tracey Brown changed her mind. Brown had sided with council members Vera Greaves and William Reid and Council President Bridget Rivers, who defended Naicken. But after Councilman Adrian Mapp and Councilwoman Rebecca Williams recalled police findings of underage alcohol and drug sales at the store and argued for denial, Brown, who had not attended the hearing where police testified, joined them and Cory Storch for a consensus.
Jeanette Criscione, who had attended the hearing, thanked Brown Monday for changing her view, saying otherwise the council "would not be at this point."
Only one resident, Dawud Hicks, downplayed Naicken's record, saying, "We know this guy ... this is a small, small matter."
Hicks deplored Williams' depiction of Naicken as a "menace," but said he might be a "nuisance." He said the council should let the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control settle the matter.
While a majority of speakers clearly favored the liquor license denial, opinions on a proliferation of festivals were split. Besides the increasing number of festivals, the sale of alcoholic beverages was also an issue, especially in proximity to children attending the events. Flor Gonzalez of the Latin American Coalition said past festivals were cultural in nature and did not include alcohol consumption. She said business owners were always part of the planning, in contrast to recent comments that the closing of city parking lots for use by festival organizers was harming business.
Resident Norman X. Johnson said in the festival discussion, "Nobody represents the people who want to stay in their own home."
His point was that people who stay home from the three-day festivals should not have to be bothered by the noise they generate.
Rodney Maree, who launched a competing festival last year to nightclub owner Edison Garcia's fourth celebration of Central American independence, said he was spending $17,000 this year to bring musical groups from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, among other costs for a three-day event. Last year, the city allowed Garcia and Maree to have events on the same weekend in September, but this year Maree secured the favored weekend and the city suggested that Garcia pick another one. But possibly due to complaints from business owners near the lot Garcia wanted to use, a council vote on granting Garcia permission failed Monday. Brown and Williams voted "no" and Greaves, Reid and Mapp voted "yes," falling short of the four votes needed to pass. Rivers and Storch were absent.
Garcia had already held a three-day festival on July 5, 6 and 7 and Maree held another on Aug. 9, 10 and 11. The council also approved five street closings Monday for outdoor events, but agreed to formulate a policy for future festivals and also to have police and a city traffic committee review requests for street closings before the requests come to the governing body.
--Bernice
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I would like to first say that I’m not a down player at all and I clearly stated that I was not there to agree or disagree with this issue, and yes we do know this guy he how can we not he has over 100 violations of the city abc law, this matter should of been put to bed a long time ago, why do we struggle on issues constantly I mean really I was at last night’s meeting and that issues took 2hrs alone not counting the previous meetings before that, I for one would like to move forward in the city but how can we move forward when we can’t even resolve one liquor license issue, this matter should been sent to Trenton a long time ago and if they decide to reinstate his license then set up another sting operation on him and keep sending him back until they get the message, so yes this is a small matter to deal with when we have so many other matters that would improve our quality of life, also while I have the floor I don’t believe in rallying the people up by using other people who I consider my family tragedy and name calling of any type, so calling him and his family a menace does not sit well with me and the reason why is because we all have been on the receiving end of name calling and didn’t like it so I try to reframe from that sort of talk but never the less that does not excuse him or his business behavior at all, as a matter of fact his business behavior has played a major part of the long going problems that we have to face day in and day out so please do not try to make me a defender of him I’m just tired of the same old crap not being able to resolve matters in a timely fashion
ReplyDeleteTo Mr. Hicks, I think you are on to something. I agree with you that too much time was spent on this, and remember that Rivers, Reid, and Greaves wanted to drop this all together and let him keep his license - Wards 1 and 4 take note when you vote.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how we can get an automatic State liquor review - pass the council - after a certain number of a certain kind of infractions. I think it deserves looking into.
The drunks will be there festival or not at least with the festival the city will make some money
ReplyDeleteOnly in Plainfield would so much time be spent on someone willfully ignoring the legally binding conditions set by the council...
ReplyDeleteNow.. had this been an uneven sidewalk in front of his house: He'd been in jail a long time ago.
Message Learned for Residents:
If you want to thumb your nose at the law and be on a pedestal above the average citizen, open a business. Zoning and other common annoying laws need not be followed unless you've got a cool couple million to invest in the city then they'll squeeze you till your money bleeds out.
Got to give him credit though, he figured out how the city council operates.. just wait them out..wait em out and they'll fold. Congrats to Reid, Rivers and Greaves for having to be pressured and embarrassed to vote to stop someone from breaking the law.