Geneva council OKs liquor license holders to serve public office

After nearly an hour of debate Monday, the Geneva City Council voted unanimously to keep its ordinance allowing a liquor license holder to be elected and added language from the state statute.

It was a change from the divided vote at a special Committee of the Whole last week.

Past councils first maintained the ban in 2012, then changed it in 2016.

The state liquor code was changed because a small southern Illinois town did not have enough people to serve in office, if it did not allow liquor license holders to be elected.

First Ward Alderperson Michael Bruno brought the issue forward.

“My rationale for bringing this forward – it was 2016 the ordinance was changed, I feel for ... political reasons,” Bruno said. “Since I am retiring, since we are as far away from an election cycle as possible, I thought it pertinent or prudent that we visit it to see that there is not the least perception that there is politics involved.”

The issue is a conflict of interest when the city does enforcement actions against liquor license holders or when as council members, they could be voting on a license that could go to their business competition, Bruno said.

“If we don’t need to put our police in that position of enforcing those codes with a sitting representative on the council, it seems prudent,” Bruno said. “I would not want to put them in that position if we can avoid it. The argument being to expand the candidate pool doesn’t seem to hold in my mind.”

Eventually, all 10 alderpersons supported allowing liquor license holders to serve in public office, and they added language from the state statute which includes the legal requirement “shall” for anyone with a conflict of interest to recuse themselves.

“The language the statute states, is ‘notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph to the contrary, an alderperson or member of a city council may have a direct interest in the manufacture, sale or distribution of alcoholic liquor, as long as he or she is not a law-enforcing public official or a mayor,’” City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins said.

The elected official would have to recuse him or herself from any meetings, hearings or decisions connected to the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages, according to the statute.

As the debate neared the one-hour mark, 3rd Ward Alderperson Dean Kilburg made an observation that drew applause and laugher.

“If we talk about this for another 10 minutes, anyone in Geneva that would hold a liquor license probably would never consider a run for this council,” Kilburg said.