Questions
about the ownership of two establishments were at issue at the Thursday morning meeting of the Chattanooga Beer Board.
Officials said the person who owns a business must be the person to whom a beer license is issued.
Determining the ownership of Escandalo, 3713 Rossville Blvd., was a concern, but not the only problem at this business.
What was described by Chattanooga Police Officers John Collins and Clayton Holmes was confusion in general about who owns it, who works there and who is the manager. Officer Holmes told the board that he has had the responsibility of handling problems originating from Escandalo for the past three years. He said that a different person is behind the bar every time he is there and that he has never seen the man whose name is on the beer license.
On Jan. 24 at 11:30 p.m., Officer Collins and Sergeant Jeff Gaines went to the business to deliver a citation. Officer Collins said it is an on-going problem of identifying the owner. He said every time he has been to the bar he is told the owner is out of town. Additionally, there is never anyone who claims to be an employee. That night the person serving beer said she did not work there. He said that finally someone came forward claiming to be the wife of the manager but also said she was not an employee. However, she signed the citation. None of the information that is in possession of the police and fire departments is valid, said Officer Collins.
Those are not the only problems that the police have encountered. There is no working telephone, which is required in the case of an emergency or a disorder, and the two fire exits were completely blocked. That night several people were found without a valid ID, which is often the case, said Officer Holmes. He said that the bouncer at the door told him that he has been instructed to just let everyone in. Over the last three years, he said he has dealt with drug use and many fights, and on Nov. 25 he found 20-30 people there drinking beer that had just been served at 3:20 a.m. despite the law that bars close at 3 a.m.
Complicating all the issues and confusion, said Officer Collins, is that there is a language barrier.
Despite the fact that the police had delivered a citation to appear before the Beer Board, no one from Escandalo came to the hearing in their defense. After hearing the testimony, board member Andre Harriman said what has been going on shows a “blatant disregard for the beer code.” After which a vote to revoke the license, effective today, was unanimous.
Who to notify of the revocation is an issue that will be addressed by Assistant City Attorney Keith Reisman writing a letter, which will be distributed to police in that district, along with notification being given to beer suppliers. If beer is sold there in the future, the business will be cited to city court.
At the Beer Board meeting on Feb. 5, the beer license for Kanku’s #9, 3440 Wilcox Blvd., was suspended for two weeks for allowing litter and debris to accumulate around the premises. At that meeting, Jerome Moore was present to represent the business. He told the board that he was the cook. He said the business had recently changed ownership and he knew the new owner only by the name of “Jake.” He testified that Mr. J. had asked him to attend the meeting because he could not understand English.
Attorney Reisman said the license had been issued to Shree Prayosha, Inc., a corporation with owners listed as Ramila Chaudhari and Badal Amin. He discovered that the corporation had technically been dissolved because it had failed to pay fees to the state of Tennessee. The discrepancies of ownership led the board to request that the actual owner come to the meeting on Feb. 19 to clear up the inconsistencies because a beer permit is not transferable to a new owner of a business.
Instead of the owner appearing Thursday, Jayntilic Chaudhari came, along with legal representation from Arvin Reingold. Mr. Chaudhari said that he is the manager of the convenience store and Ramila is his wife and the president of Shree Prayosha. He said Badal Amin is no longer involved in the business. The question of who are actual stockholders in the corporation went unanswered.
Also unexplained was why the cook was at the last beer board meeting. Attorney Reingold said he had learned of it at a community meeting and came on his own. Mr. Chaudhari said he was unaware of the citation for the last meeting. Officer Collins testified that the original violation was hanging on the wall behind the cash register in very clear view for everyone to see.
Attorney Reisman said that he was going to issue a subpoena for Ramila Chaudhari, whose name is on the beer permit, to appear at the next beer board meeting on March 5. When his request for an address got no response, attorney Reingold said he would hand deliver it to Ms. Chaudhari or to the actual owner when it was determined. The questions that the board wants answered are - who owns the company and who knew about the violation that was the subject of the original hearing.
At the meeting, one application was given approval for a beer license due to a name change of ownership. Greggory Kittle, representing Walgreen’s, said that all building and fire codes have been met at the store at 2289 Gunbarrel Road. The company is now known as Walgreen’s Boots Alliance.