CCMin_94Jul13 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Page 2 City Council Minutes July 13, 1994 1.3 misdemeanor penalty to the seller but there is no penalty to the tobacco license holder. The revised ordinance provides for penalties to both the seller and the license holder. City Attorney Filla explained that the revised ordinance is similar to that of other cities because it provides first for administrative fines rather than taking the seller and/or the vendor through an expensive court misdemeanor process. He further explained that this system would apply only to situations where tobacco had been sold to a minor as a part of city compliance checks and police reports of crime, not to individual complaints. Fake ID's are not used in compliance checks. Councilmember Hustad commented that there seemed to be a large jump in penalties between the third offense (5 day revocation) and the fourth offense (license revocation) for license holders. He wondered if the city could have any flexibility in determining the length of the revocation. Councilmember Jacobs stated that he believes the proposed penalties are too lenient. He suggested that a fine and suspension be the penalty for a second violation within 12 months and revocation be done for the third violation in 12 months. The Council debated several alternative penalty systems for license holders with respect to number of compliance checks, fine amounts, and suspension lengths. The Council asked staff to reword the ordinance to the following penalties for vendors: 1) first offense, $200 fine; failure to pay in 30 days results in 2 day suspension; 2) second offense, $500 fine and a five day suspension of license; failure to pay in 30 days results in a 10 day suspension; and 3} third offense, revocation for up to one year. The penalties for the seller would be a $25 fine on the first violation, a $100 fine for the second violation, and prosecution of a gross misdemeanor on the third violation, all in a twelve month time frame. The ordinance will be reworded for consideration at the Council's next meeting. All tobacco vendors in the City will be notified of the date, time, and subject of the meeting. Councilmember Jacobs asked if there was some way that the city could reward those license holders that consistently pass their compliance checks, perhaps by lowering the establishment's tobacco license fee. Administrator Hoyt responded that license fees are not punitive; they reflect the real costs of administration and compliance checks. There may, however, be alternative methods of recognition, i.e. publicity, that could be employed. PROPOSED RIDE ALONG PROGRAI~i FOR THE FIRE DEP1?-RTHENT Administrator Hoyt explained that the fire/rescue department would like to provide opportunities for citizens to ride along in