Committee approves appeal of license denial for J Town Spirits employee despite pending charge; vote 4-2

The Alcohol Licensing Advisory Committee on March 4 approved an appeal by an applicant identified in the record as Grabowski, who applied for a license to work at J Town Spirits, after she failed to disclose a pending criminal case on her application. The vote was 4 in favor, 2 opposed.

Grabowski told the committee she misread the application question while hurrying to get custody paperwork completed for her autistic nephew. "I read the question incorrectly," she said, explaining she thought the form asked about convictions rather than pending cases. She said the case is pending and that she has not been convicted.

Deputy Chief Essoff told the committee the failure to disclose a pending case was visible in CCAP (the state's case access system) and warned that the omission is a serious issue on an alcohol-licensing application. Committee members questioned whether the omission was an honest mistake, noting the question appeared twice on the form.

Committee members discussed precedent for granting appeals when applicants make errors on forms versus denying to avoid setting a permissive precedent. One member said the defense of "I was in a hurry" was a weak explanation for not disclosing a recently active case; others said they sympathized with the applicant's personal circumstances, including being temporary guardian and relying on the job as her only income. Grabowski said she had completed responsible-vendor training and had previous liquor-store experience.

Motion and vote: A motion to approve the appeal was made by Sikich and seconded by Marshek. The committee conducted an individual roll-call vote as required; the chair announced the motion passed 4-2. The record includes at least three individual recorded votes: Bumpus voted "no," Miller voted "no," and Sikich voted "yes." The committee chair announced the final tally as 4–2 in favor.

Notes: The committee's approval allows the applicant to obtain the license; staff did not record any additional conditions in the committee minutes. The underlying criminal case remains pending; the applicant indicated an April jury trial date when discussed during the hearing.