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Mayor Neisen said that both owners were in the audience the night this ordinance
was passed. He asked if the owners agreed they were responsible for the conduct
on their premises. Joe Hartinger answered, "Yes ".
Albert Hartinger added that the show was downstairs before, that the breast nipples
cannot be seen except when the girls are dancing. When the competition started
dropping their shows the Launching Pad started having problems. He felt most complaints
were coming from them.
Mayor Neisen said it is irrelevant where the complaints are coming from.
Al Hartinger said that the girls are not familiar with the rules and that there is
a high turnover. Since the fine was paid, there have been no problems with the show.
Mr. Hartke said that lingerie shows are a difficult business to regulate. The club
owners and local law enforcement officials are usually caught in the middle. He said
Titan holds a training session with the girls and screens them. He apologized for
the incident and said that Titan would tighten up their policies. That spot checks
showed compliance tended to mitigate that the violation was not deliberate. Mr.
Hartinger plead guilty because he lived in the community and did not want to bring
undo wrath on him. The law does provide the owners with vicarious responsibility
but there are others involved in a large establishment. He said the Launching Pad
was keeping 18 and 19 year olds localized.
Attorney Meyers added that if the Council finds that the owners willfully violated
the ordinance they must revoke their license.
Councilman Baumgartner asked why a man is not at the door checking at all times.
They answered that a man is at the door at all times. Chief Grabowski said that kids
are coming in the establishment. As late as last Saturday, a 17 year old walked in
the door and was not checked. Joe Hartinger said that he has tried to get police
officers from Mounds View.
Councilman Baumgartner asked about a sign that used to be at the front door requiring
picture ID's. Al Hartinger stated that the sign was taken down because of problems
with enforcement since some persons that obviously were over 18 were being asked to
produce a picture ID which they did not have.
Councilman Johnson asked if there was any truth to a rumor that a 17 year old was
serving drinks at the Launching Pad. Chief Grabowski answered, "No ".
Councilman Johnson asked some additional questions about the sign requiring picture
ID's. He asked if Mr. Hartinger could not have changed the wording on his sign to
eliminate some of the objections by arbitrarily checking picture ID's. Councilman
Johnson also asked about a recent incident where plain clothes police officers were
in the Launching Pad to see if they recognized any persons under 18. As they were
in the establishment, three girls walked out of the Launching Pad with no ID's and
were stopped by uniformed officers. All three were under age.
Councilman Johnson asked what type of crowd is at the Launching Pad. Chief Grabowski
said that the sheriff's department, the MANS squad and his officers all feel that
there are several undesirables that congregate in the basement.