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Council approves fines and suspensions for liquor-license violations; councilmember urges policy linking penalties to license renewals
Summary
Following actions that assessed penalties and suspensions against liquor and vape license holders, Councilmember Coleman urged faster development of rules tying disciplinary findings to license renewal decisions.
The Des Moines City Council on June 23 approved penalties and suspensions for several alcoholic beverage license holders for violations of Iowa alcoholic beverage laws and discussed whether disciplinary findings should affect license renewals.
The council considered three separate assessment items: a $500 penalty (item 54), a $1,500 penalty plus a 30-day suspension (item 55), and a $1,500 penalty plus a 60-day suspension (item 56). In each case, no members of the public spoke before council action, and council moved and approved the items by voice votes; the motions carried unanimously on the recorded votes for those items.
Councilmember Coleman used the opportunity to press for administrative changes linking violations and renewal decisions. “On this action, we're granting 22 licenses for vape shops to people on the same agenda that we just fined for violating our rules,” Coleman said, arguing staff should present “common sense requirements” before renewals are processed and requesting that the manager’s office return with proposed requirements by June 30, if possible, because license renewals are due by that date.
The city manager’s office responded the request was already under review and staff from Coleman’s office were working with the manager’s office on potential changes. Council approved the enforcement actions while also asking staff to examine options for incorporating compliance history into renewal consideration and other administrative triggers.
Ending
