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�� � Council Memo Date: 03/27/06 Item: 11. Alcohol Compliance Program March 20, 2006 Item Description: Consider Appeal Process from Liquor Citations L BACKGROUND At least twice a year, the Police Department does liquor compliance checks to determine if any of the 40 on-site liquor licensees in the City are serving alcohol to persons less than 21 years old. If the Police find that an under-age person is served alcohol, they write a citation and send the licensee a letter informing them of their opportunity to appeal the suspension of alcohol sales under their liquor license. This appeal letter has referred licensees to an appeal to the City Manager since before I arrived here as City Manager. (Copy attached.) [i_ 1�;4LJ� Does the Council wish: l. To hear and decide all appeals from liquor citations, or 2. Do you want the City Manager or his/her designee to hear all appeals, or 3. Do you want the City Manager or his/her designee to hear all appeals initially but to allow licensees the further opportunity to appeal to the Council? I�I, ANALYSIS The following factors favor the Council hearing and deciding all appeals: . Council can take a more high profile role in regulating liquor service. . By hearing each appeal, Council can monitor the operations of licensees and Police compliance checks. The following factors favor the Council having the City Manager, his designee, or some third party initially hear all appeals: . Conserves Council agenda time for bigger picture issues; . The Council being a five-member political body, having staff or some non-elected person hear appeals may help de-politicize the hearing process. IV. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The City Code contains different Council approaches to the question of who hears appeals. Tobacco �omnliance. Similar to alcohol compliance, the Police do twice-a-year tobacco com- pliance checks. This is also a similar regulatory function to alcohol compliance in that the