2018-10-18 Liquor Adjudication Board Minutes

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Schoen: It was just a recommendation. Mukai: So we have to make our motion? Fuke: Exactly. Gonzalez: The rationale for the recommendation takes into account the circumstances of the violation, which takes into account pretty much every view you expressed. We could consider just a flat fine, nothing suspended. But this was different from the other case because they are not a general store. They sell alcohol. With the suspended fine there, it conveys the severity of the offense, recognizing the type of business being run. We could have not filed any charge at all, and it would never have come before you. We could have felt that it was a clerical oversight and their card expired and they had someone on duty making sure that sales were being done properly. But, we didn't do that because we still feel that the severity of the offense and keeping on top of your books, your paperwork, is important. That's digging deeper into what the recommendations take into account. It's trying to take into those factors. We take into account also whether or not a sale is actually occurring at that time, if it's an on -premise type of business, or if it's a retail we try and take a look at how many sales occurred during the time period that they're open for business. We've had people say in the past that there were no alcohol sales during the time we didn't have a person in charge, so maybe we should be given a more lenient penalty for that. That's the thinking behind the recommendations. Giffin: Mr. Chair, I have another question for Brandon. What is the schedule or how do you go about inspecting various licensees in our district, in the County? Gonzalez: We have four investigators for East Hawaii, three investigators for West Hawaii, and when I say West Hawaii, I am including North Kohala, a portion of Waimea, all the way down to Ka`u, Na`alehu side. But we actually have the Hilo investigators go through Kali and Na`alehu. With that being said, when they are on schedule, they are required to check on the licensees when they are on shift to look for violations. Some of the violations are to see if they have people on duty or if there's under -aged sales occurring, if they have proper signage, if they have their rules and proper paperwork there. We tend to see a lot more of these types of violations occurring around the renewal period, may be in May or June. Like how we might see more cases of people forgetting their reports of liquor sales, around those deadlines. These cases are possible throughout the year, so they go out daily to check. But they don't hit every licensee everyday because of the ratio of licensees to investigators. I hope that answered your question. Giffin: Yes. Takase: In general, I'd like them to hit every place maybe once a week. But for Waimea and Kohala are outlying areas, so maybe they get there once a month. Usually there's nothing, but they're supposed to go through their paperwork and see that everything is in order. If you read the report on this one, Investigator Frendo was out there so he checked up on them. The person that was the card holder, Alicia Brady, is (one of) their managers. When he got there, he was talking to her while thinking of something else (that she might be under the influence, or maybe she's was older or a little frail). That's what they're assigned to do, make sure the place is in good order. With stores, especially with a liquor OCTOBER 18, 2018 - LIQUOR ADJUDICATION BOARD MINUTES 12