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Kenosha license committee grants several operator licenses, defers one renewal for applicant appearance
Summary
The License & Permit Committee approved multiple new and renewal operator licenses with demerit‑point conditions, granted a bartender license to an applicant presenting rehabilitation letters, and deferred one renewal (item 2a) so the applicant can appear; a denial was issued where the applicant failed to appear and had recent convictions.
The Kenosha License & Permit Committee approved multiple new and renewal operator licenses on motions that generally concurred with city‑attorney recommendations and conditioned some approvals on demerit points and mayoral review. The committee also deferred one renewal to allow an applicant to appear in two weeks and denied another after the applicant failed to come forward.
Committee chair Kennedy opened the meeting and the board moved quickly through the consent items before addressing contested applications. For new operators listed under Item 1 the city attorney recommended grants subject to demerit points (examples read into the record included Samantha Del Toro at 50 points and Cynthia Garcia at 75 points); no applicants spoke and the committee voted to concur with the recommendation.
The committee split renewal item 2 into parts a and b after members flagged one applicant’s 85 demerit points and several pending dispositions that could affect the total. The city attorney said the pending dispositions would not automatically change the points unless a conviction occurred. After discussion, members moved to defer item 2a so the applicant could appear; the motion carried 3–1. The separate renewal, item 2b (Sherry Rogers, 40 points), was approved on a separate motion.
In an applicant hearing for Item 3, Rafael Miguel Jamie Catagero told the committee he had convictions from 2012 but presented three letters of recommendation and evidence of completing drug‑treatment classes. Catagero said, “I’m a completely different person than I was in 2012,” and asked members to consider his rehabilitation. Members cited the age of the prior offenses and supporting references, then voted to grant a bartender’s license at an assessed 80 demerit points.
By contrast, an applicant for Blanca y Vera (Item 4) did not appear despite two prior deferrals. The committee discussed recent cases, including a 2022 possession charge, and a motion to deny based on a material police record passed after members expressed concern that the applicant had not engaged with the process.
The committee approved other routine renewals and grouped items where police recommended no adverse action. Members requested follow‑up reporting where applicants received conditional approvals, and noted that council will receive the committee’s recommendations at the next council meeting.
