Post in Watch Davanni's get off selling alcohol to kids again, this coming Monday...

Jun 29 21:39 UTC

For those of you who are interested in the saga of how the worst violator of
alcohol laws in the history of Roseville is being helped by city bureaucrats to
get its penalty reduced by 97%, here is an update.

At the June 16th meeting, it was expected that the city council for a second
time was going to rubberstamp Mr. Klausing and City Manager Bill Malinen's plan
to reduce Davanni's penalty by 97%.  It was expected to be yet another split
council vote.  Ms. Pust was expected to vote no on the reduction.  Davanni's
was tagged for selling alcohol after the police had suspended their license for
a previous violation of selling alcohol to kids a few months earlier.

But to many people's surprise, Ms. Ihlan was unable to attend the meeting,
apparently being stuck out of town for the evening.  The other wildcard for the
meeting was that this was the first time newly appointed member Mr. Willmus
would have to vote on the issue.

To the shock of Mr. Klausing and Mr. Malinen, Mr. Willmus stated that he could
NOT support a 97% reduction in the penalty to Davanni's.  Ms. Pust also
restated her opposition to the reduction and said she would vote NO.  So that
left the issue a 2-2 tie.  So it got tabled until tomorrow's meeting of June
30th.

So tomorrow, June 30th, the council again will bring up the issue of reducing
Davanni's penalty by 97%.  It appears that if it passes, it will be done with a
split council vote with Mr. Klausing casting the tie breaker giving Davanni's a
97% reduction of their penalty.

Note that it was Mr. Klausing who led the effort to support former city manager
Neal Beet's illegal reduction of penalties for three other businesses just a
few years ago.

In my personal opinion, I find that this whole process of dealing with
Davanni's violation of the law to have been highly unethical from the very
beginning.

First, Mr. Malinen failed to completely inform the city council members of
Davanni's history of being the number one violator in the history of the city,
going back to 2000.  It is his job to do this.

Second, Mr. Klausing's and Mr. Malinen's claim that the council probably never
intended such a harsh penalty for someone who sold alcohol on a suspended
license was made in complete ignorance.  They had no research to support such a
claim.  In fact, the recommendation came from the Roseville Police Department.
I know, because I was there at the time.

Third, Mr. Klausing acts if this is no big deal because this is the first time
Davanni's has violated the law.  Well it is a big deal, because it is NOT the
first time they have violated the law.  It is like the 5th or 6th time they
have violated Roseville alcohol laws.  While there are a few other businesses
that have sold alcohol to kids once or twice, Davanni's has been caught selling
alcohol to kids at least 4 times and they are the only business to have sold
alcohol with a suspended liquor license, which is what they are currently
supposed to be penalized for.

Fourth, it was pure deception on the part of the city to issue two council
reports on this issue.  One report given to the public telling them that the
city wanted the standard penalty applied, and then a second report sent to
council members hours before the meeting via email calling for a 99% reduction
in the penalty.  This second report was never brought to the attention of the
public and they were never given a copy at the meeting.

One has to raise the issue of who is being paid off.  Reports don't get changed
a few hours before a council meeting by accident.  Just a few years ago, we had
our previous city manager handing out favors to businesses who were selling
alcohol to kids.  All done behind closed doors.  Now we have Mr. Klausing and
Mr. Malinen handing out favors to a business whose management team sold alcohol
while their license was under suspension by the Roseville Police Department.
The police department suspended their license because just a few months
earlier, Davanni's was caught selling alcohol to kids.

I'm also concerned about the actions of Police Chief Carol Sletner.  Just a few
years ago, she kept silent while former City Manager Neal Beets knowingly broke
the law and reduced penalties to businesses caught selling alcohol to kids.
Yes she spoke up in what she had hoped were private emails to Beets, telling
him that she thought his actions violated the law, but said nothing to the
public and/or the city council.  Not until the council asked her directly at a
council meeting to give her opinion, and after Beets had left the room, did she
speak up publicly to state that she opposed reduction of penalties.  She said
it sends the wrong message to businesses, and if you give one a break, then all
of them will want the same break.

On June 16th, I attempted to ask Sgt. Matt Marshall at the council meeting (who
is the person directly in charge of the alcohol compliance program) why he was
not supporting the city ordinances and the penalty system we have which was
initially proposed by officers in his department.  He started to respond that
the department was not commenting about that, when Chief Sletner told him to
follow her back into the locked area of the police department.  Sgt. Marshall
said that he could not speak to me anymore and said that he had to immediately
comply with her request.

It appeared pretty clear to me that city manager Malinen has a gag order on
Chief Sletner to keep her mouth shut on this issue.  That gag order applies to
everyone who works under her.  It is pretty clear based upon the last blow up
of this alcohol issue a few years ago that Chief Sletner is opposed to the
reduction of penalties to businesses that violate alcohol laws.  But as we saw
a few years ago, she will not speak up.  Last time it was fear of city manager
Beets and this time it is fear of city manager Malinen.

I have to admit that it would be even a bigger embarrassment to Mr. Klausing
and Mr. Malinen if Chief Sletner spoke up to oppose this 97% reduction in
penalties to Davanni's.  So the gag order serves a political purpose it seems.

As I said, this whole issue smacks of favoritism, back room deals, and plain
and simple unethical behavior on the part of several people.

Ms. Pust and Mr. Willmus have put their foot down and said that they are voting
NO.

Hopefully one more council member chooses to step up at tomorrow's council
meeting (June 30th).  The council has an ethical duty of shedding light on this
whole situation and airing out the stink that is currently associated with it.

John M. Kysylyczyn
K Solutions LLC, owner
3083 Victoria Street
Roseville, MN  55113
email: <email obscured>
home office: (651) 484-1384

www.ksolutionsllc.com
Mayor of Roseville, MN  2000-2004