Illinois Liquor Control Commission met Aug. 24.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
Call the Roll:
Chair Berg called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m.
Present (Remote Attendance does not count toward Quorum)
Thomas Gibbons, Commissioner
Julieta LaMalfa, Commissioner
Pat Pulido-Sanchez, Commissioner Remote (Joined at 1:04 p.m.)
Steven Powell, Commissioner
Melody Spann-Cooper, Commissioner
Brian Sullivan, Commissioner Remote
Cynthia Berg, Chair
ILCC Staff Present:
Lisa Gardner, Executive Director
Les Peterson Chief Enforcement Officer
Dusanka Marijan, Licensing Administrator
Persis Dhankher, I.T.
Noel Quanbeck, General Counsel
Nicole Sanders, Industry Education
Avi Zisook, Legal
Rick Haymaker, Legal
Dean Argiris, Acting Commission Secretary
I. Remote Participation
A motion was made by Commissioner Powell to allow Commissioner Brian Sullivan to participate remotely, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Spann-Cooper.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan N/V
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez Yes
Cynthia Berg Yes
A motion was made by Commissioner Steven Powell to permit Commissioner Pat Pulido Sanchez to participate remotely. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Gibbons.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper N/V
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez N/V
Cynthia Berg Yes
II. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Commissioner LaMalfa to approve the amended minutes. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Spann-Cooper.
The motion passed.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes.
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez N/V
Cynthia Berg Yes
III. 2023 Commission Meeting Calendar
Commissioner Powell made a motion to approve the 2023 ILCC Commission Calendar and the motion was seconded by Commissioner LaMalfa.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes.
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez N/V
Cynthia Berg Yes
III. Executive Director’s Report
FY2022 came to an end on June 30th. The ILCC saw a 45% decrease in revenue compared to July 2021.
With the 1A (retail) license fee waiver in effect, we will continue to see a decrease in revenue as they make up 77% of our total revenue.
Our seven inspector trainees started in the enforcement Division, and we will hire an additional five more once the postings are cleared by CMS.
A new Executive I started in the Licensing division and will be responsible for managing the Delinquency List, which includes the Daily Cure List, and any other enhancements and testing related to the Delinquency List.
Licensing
We currently have 30,997 active liquor licenses and has assisted 1,447 licensees since the office reopened.
All ILCC employees are back in the office on a hybrid schedule.
We issued 2,845 total licenses for the month of July, which marks a 5% increase from this same point last year and have issued 2,005 Special Events Permits for July of this year.
Our fee waiver process for the online renewals rolled out smoothly and we believe that ILCC licensees are having little to no issues with the new feature .
1,184 Retailers were reported delinquent for the month of July, and 1,055 delinquencies were cured. This cured number does reflect some carry overs from the previous month. Overall the Delinquency List is functioning well, but it still is a labor intensive process and will continue to work with DoIT to automate the process.
While the ILCC does not have a permanent IT manager, there have been viable candidates have been identified and interviewed. We should have one soon.
Enforcement
521 Inspections were conducted by ILCC enforcement, and 162 violations were discovered. We also issued 54 warnings during Pre-Licensing Inspections.
To better assist licensees, the ILCC is implementing a Pre-Licensing inspection checklist that will help licensees as they get their businesses ready for the Pre-Licensing Inspections.
78 Complaints were submitted to the ILCC via our online complaint form, in e-mails, phone calls, and in-person.
Our Underage Compliance checks are still in need of individuals. Too often, potential applicants lose interest due to the arduous CMS process currently involved for hiring. We are working on a streamlined process.
Legislative
The ILCC has submitted to the Governor’s Office our legislative proposals for the upcoming Veto Session. These proposals were designed to address deficiencies in the existing legislation that were created when the ILCC broke away from IDOR.
Industry Education
Our agency is continuing to increase our presence at public-events and are for education purposes only.
We were well received at Lollapalooza and had the opportunity to educate attendees in real time.
Our BASSET training continues to be a success, we trained 8,048 individuals in the month of July and 68,779 individuals have been trained to date.
The ILCC social media continues to see a steady increase in followers and we are working on expanding our programs, including recording of our first two Podcasts, which includes an Enforcement section. Our episode on Inspections is on Spotify and we will eventually post them online.
Commissioner Gibbons asked about working with other social service agencies to identify young people that can participate in Underage Compliance Checks and Director Gardner indicated that Human Resources is working on this.
Commissioner Gibbons also asked if it was possible to hire individuals of South Asian demographics to assist with the licensee demographics. Director Gardner indicated the CMS controls the hiring process, and while we can identify applicants by skill set and that we are working with Human Resources to see how we can identify applicants of the South Asian demographic.
Legal
55 Cases are pending with the ILCC and 25 cases have outstanding requests for Pre-Disciplinary Conferences.
During July we conducted 12 Pre-Disciplinary Conference, 17 Sale of Alcohol to Minor cases were handled (14 were first offense and 3 were second offense). We will be holding a SAM Training on August 29th in our Chicago Office.
We received 2 new appeals 22 APP 06 and 22 APP 07 and 22 APP 14, 22 APP 15, 22 APP 16, 22 APP 17, and 22 APP 18 were closed out because there was no Petition for Rehearing Filed.
ILCC Legal received 18 Freedom of Information Act requests for July 2022.
V. Partner Presentations
Jennifer Leininger from Lurie Children’s Hospital – Division of Adolescent & Young Adult Medicine. Topics covered were substance use and prevention outpatient clinical services, partnership collaborations, and prevention education.
VI. Public Comment
No public comment was given.
VII. Executive Session
Commissioner Powell made a motion to enter into Executive Session and was seconded by Commissioner LaMalfa.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez Yes
Cynthia Berg Yes
VIII. Appeals
In the matter of 21 APP 11 (Variety Liquors, Inc. v. Decatur), Commissioner Spann-Cooper made a motion to affirm the decision of the Local Liquor Commission. Commissioner LaMalfa seconded the motion.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez Yes
Cynthia Berg Yes
IX. License Revocations (Tax Delinquency Cases)
In the matter of 23 SR 0001, Commissioner Powell made a motion to revoke the license. Commissioner LaMalfa seconded the motion.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez Yes
Cynthia Berg Yes
IX. Comments from the Board
No comments from the board were made.
X. Closing Remarks and Adjournment to Hearing
Commissioner Gibbons made a motion to adjourn and was seconded by Commissioner Spann Cooper.
Thomas Gibbons Yes
Melody Spann-Cooper Yes
Julieta LaMalfa Yes
Brian Sullivan Yes
Steven Powell Yes
Pat Pulido-Sanchez Yes
Cynthia Berg Yes
The meeting adjourned at 1:58 p.m. CST.
https://www2.illinois.gov/ilcc/Divisions/Meeting%20minutes/ILCC%20Commission%20Minutes%20August%2024%2c%202022.pdf
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