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St. Louis Aldermen Balk at Liquor License Bill, Send It Back to Committee | St. Louis

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click to enlarge Braden McMakin A bartender makes a drink at Rosé by Peno. The process for restaurants to get liquor licenses may see big changes — but only if aldermen can get on the same page.
A bill meant to streamline the city’s liquor license application process has been sent back to committee for further review.
Board Bill 60CS, sponsored by Aldermanic President Megan Green, 4th Ward Alderman Bret Narayan and 6th Ward Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez was being heard for perfection Friday. The bill would eliminate the need for restaurant owners to gather signatures from those living nearby, a change the industry has called for, but it was met with heated discussion and opposition as Narayan began introducing nearly 20 amendments to the bill.
Ultimately, the bill was sent back to the board’s Special Committee on Reducing Red Tape for improvements and amendments before returning to the full Board of Aldermen.
The bill’s intent is to make obtaining a liquor license less strenuous and unduly burdensome for restaurateurs. Under current law, businesses must gather signatures from a majority of the property owners, occupants and tenants located within a 350-foot radius of the business, as the RFT previously reported. It’s called the “plat and petition process.” This requirement has proven extremely difficult for restaurant owners to complete successfully.
Among other provisions, Board Bill 60CS would develop a parallel pathway for restaurateurs by creating an alternative to the signature process.
Under the path it outlines, restaurants could apply for a 90-day temporary license after a conditional use hearing and a public hearing. At the end of the 90 days, the city’s excise commissioner would have the option to renew the license for an additional 90 days after a second public hearing, Narayan previously said.
Once 180 days have passed, the excise commissioner would examine the business’ books to make sure they are in compliance with the license by making more than 50 percent of their revenue on food, and would take into consideration how many times police were called to the business for complaints. If there is no reason not to grant the license, the business would then be given a permanent one.
While most alders agreed that the general idea is an excellent one, Narayan received pushback for the speed at which the bill was moved out of committee and the number of amendments it required during the perfection hearing.
Narayan said there is no perfect solution to the liquor licensing process that will fit every neighborhood, which is why he wanted to introduce the amendments before the board one by one for discussion and individual votes from each ward instead of passing them in the bill as a whole.
He said no one neighborhood, the mayor, or the excise commission have gotten everything they want out of the bill and that is ok.
“A sign that you’ve made good legislation is that everyone’s equally unhappy,” Narayan said.
Ward 8 Alderwoman Cara Spencer disagreed with this process and adamantly called for a return to committee.
“I think that when we are amending a bill with this much change on the floor of the Board of Aldermen, this is no way to legislate,” she said. “This is no way to handle an issue that impacts, as the sponsor pointed out, 21 neighborhoods.”
Spencer pointed out that while 21 neighborhoods have been engaged in the process of creating the bill, she has received hundreds of emails on the topic, especially as it pertains to downtown.
“The bill as we are looking at it here today is not even supported by the restaurant community nor the community,” Spencer said. “This is the work that we should be doing in committee when we can hear from the general public.”
Spencer said the bill was voted out of committee in its current state without any members of the general public having seen the language settled on by committee members.
Ward 12 Alderwoman Sharon Tyus agreed with Spencer and criticized the current bill pointing out that it was full of mistakes.
“This bill is so messed up and whoever wrote it did not go through and read it and make sure that the corrections were in there,” Tyus said.
Narayan said the decision to move the bill back to committee was a “stall tactic.”
“I can’t think of a board bill that has had more community input other than potentially short-term rentals,” Narayan said.
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.
Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.
The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.
The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.
This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.
As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.
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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.
“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”
He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”
The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”
Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”
The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.
Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”
In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.
“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”
Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”
Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.
“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.
Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)
One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.
Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.
“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”
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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.
The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.
The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.
The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.
To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/
“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”
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