MINUTES BEER BOARD MEETING MAY 12, 2015 The City of Jackson (TN) Beer Board met at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. Board members present: Charles Pepper Bray, Harvey Buchanan, and Charles Rahm (Chairman) with Anita Brooks recording the minutes. Also present: Lewis Cobb, Esq. City s Legal Counsel Major Thom Corley, City Police Department Lt. Shane Beaver City Police Department Hilda Little, Coordinator Community Anti-Drug Coalition of Jackson- Madison County Courtney Reedy, Esq. City s Legal Counsel Cpt. Phillip Kemper City Police Department Inspector Ben Smith, City Building & Fire Codes Reginald Hobson, Owner Pandora s Box LLC d/b/a Pandora s Box Restaurant and Lounge Lamar Childress, City s Fire Marshall Lt. Mike Johnson City Police Department Angela Collins-Turner, City Business License & Beer Permit Clerk Mark Donahoe, Esq. Attorney for Mr. Hobson The Chairman called the meeting to order and stated that this was a Show Cause Hearing for Reginald Hobson, owner of Pandora s Box LLC doing business as Pandora s Box Restaurant and Lounge ( Pandora s Box ), located at 63 Heritage Square. Mr. Cobb stated that last year, the Beer Board had three different hearings regarding a beer permit for Pandora s Box before the Board granted the permit. Mr. Cobb presented the following documents for the record: 1. Transcript of the September 2, 2014, Beer Board Meeting pertaining to Reginald Hobson s beer permit request (Exhibit A ); -1-
2. A copy of the official Minutes of the September 2, 2014, Beer Board Meeting (Exhibit B ); 3. Transcript of the December 2, 2014, Beer Board Meeting pertaining to Mr. Hobson s beer permit request (Exhibit C ); 4. A copy of the official Minutes of the December 2, 2014, Beer Board Meeting (Exhibit D ); 5. A copy of Reginald Hobson s beer permit application (Exhibit E ); 6. A copy of the Tennessee ABC regulatory citation dated March 29, 2015, against Pandora s Box LLC (Exhibit F ); 7. A copy of the City of Jackson Environmental Court Misdemeanor Summons issued to Mr. Hobson dated March 20, 2015 (Exhibit G ); 8. A copy of the Order Granting Temporary Restraining Order (Exhibit H ); 9. A copy of the Injunction (Exhibit I ); and, 10. A copy of Mr. Hobson s Notice of Appeal which is to be considered by Judge Kyle Adkins in Circuit Court (Exhibit J ). Mr. Cobb s opening statement was that he was prepared to present evidence that Mr. Hobson was not operating Pandora s Box as promised when he initially requested a beer permit and throughout previous hearings and that Pandora s Box has been serving alcohol illegally, had problems with overcrowding, fights and other chaos. Mr. Cobb called Mr. Childress to testify. Mr. Childress testified that he was notified twice by Jackson Police during weekends in March regarding possible overcrowding at Pandora s Box. Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Childress about the occupancy limit for Pandora s Box and he replied that the occupancy limit for the location was 515 people. Mr. Cobb asked him if he saw an excess of well over the occupancy limit at the business when he conducted a fire inspection at Pandora s Box in March and he replied that he saw that the occupancy limit was well over 515 people on March 29th, and at that time he issued a citation to Reginald Hobson for overcrowding at his -2-
business. He further stated that Jackson Police notified him about possible overcrowding at Pandora s Box around 12:31 a.m. on March 29th and when he arrived at the business he saw that the business was so overcrowded that he and six other police officers could not make their way through the crowd. He stated that he had to shut the business down and that Mr. Hobson appeared in City Court where he admitted that his business was overcrowded on March 29th. Mr. Donahoe asked Mr. Childress if he had ever been called to the location known as Pandora s Box to conduct an occupancy check prior to the incident on March 29th and asked if he had conducted any occupancy checks at the location since that date to see if the owner was in compliance with the occupancy limit. He replied no. Mr. Donahoe then asked him if he conducted an occupancy check at an event held at Pandora s Box on Friday, May 8th to see if the owner was in compliance with the occupancy limit. He stated that he received no calls from the police department to do an occupancy check at the business on May 8th and to his knowledge there were no issues or problems with overcrowding other than when the police called him to do an occupancy check on March 29th. He also stated that Mr. Hobson was agreeable to shutting down his business on March 29th for overcrowding. The Chairman asked Mr. Childress if he knew whether Mr. Hobson had taken any measures to stop overcrowding at his business since his visit to Pandora s Box on March 29th to which he replied that to his knowledge, Mr. Hobson had not taken any measures to stop overcrowding at his business. Mr. Cobb then called Lt. Beaver who testified that he typically has two police sergeants working third shift and on a typical weekend he has an average of 16 police officers working. He stated that one of the main sections in the City that he is -3-
responsible for is what is known as the bar district which is located north of Old Hickory Boulevard on each side of the bypass. He stated that the business they typically have the most problems with as far as having large groups of people fighting and with overcrowding is with Pandora s Box. He told the Board about an incident that happened less than a month ago at Pandora s Box involving large numbers of people fighting. He said that he and his police officers made no special preparations for the night of the incident because they were not expecting a large crowd of people and they were not made aware of any big event going on at Pandora s Box. He further stated that he drove by Pandora s Box on the night of the incident and noticed a very large crowd of people hanging out in the parking lot of that business as well as two irate individuals fighting. He said that he saw the side door of the business was open with people coming out all at once and that there were several groups of people fighting. He said due to safety reasons, he had to wait until more police officers arrived before they could intervene. He said that four or five police officers were not enough to control the crowd and that almost the entire shift (of police officers) was there. He said that it took them about 30 to 40 minutes to get the fights under control and that he made one arrest for fighting. He explained that there were not enough officers to handle the crowd and that he did not want to escalate the situation by making additional arrests. He also stated that he could smell alcohol on the individuals who were fighting as well as marijuana coming from inside the business. Mr. Cobb asked Lt. Beaver that if a business has a large crowd of people who have been overserved alcohol, would it set a stage for violence or fighting and did he think this was a catalyst for the fights that occurred at Pandora s Box that night. Lt. Beaver replied yes it can be a catalyst and that it could have been the catalyst for the -4-
fights that occurred at Pandora s Box that night. Mr. Cobb asked him if Mr. Hobson s security guards made any attempts to help control the fighting. He stated that Mr. Hobson s security guards helped with the fights that were near the door but they did not venture out into the parking lot to help with the fights that were occurring out there. Mr. Cobb then asked Lt. Beaver if he was at Pandora s Box on the night the fire marshal came out and closed it for overcrowding to which he said yes and that although Mr. Hobson was willing to shut his business down and make an effort to get the people out of his nightclub, the performer on stage was reluctant to leave the stage. He further stated that the police had to shut off the power to the stage in order to get the crowd out of the nightclub. He also explained how businesses in the bar area off Heritage Square with large crowds impact traffic. Mr. Cobb asked Lt. Beaver that of the crowd that was gathered at Pandora s Box on the night of March 29th, were any of them seated at a table with white tablecloths eating dinner. He replied no. Board member Buchanan asked Mr. Hobson about his security measures at his business to which Mr. Hobson replied that he was constantly trying to implement new things that will make his establishment safer. He also stated that he had about seven security guards at his business whereas he now has 20 security guards for events that could possibly exceed 200 people. Mr. Donahoe asked Lt. Beaver if it was correct that the parking lot in the Heritage Square bar area serves the patrons of Cody s (nightclub), Pandora s Box and a Latino bar (unnamed) on the weekends. He replied that sometimes the Latino bar wasn t open on weekends. Mr. Donahoe asked him if it was correct that when the Latino bar was open, the patrons of that bar would park in the parking lot that services all three -5-
businesses. He replied that the owners of the Latino bar have a smaller parking lot that holds their crowd but if there is overflow, patrons use the parking lot shared by the other two businesses. Mr. Donahoe asked him if it was accurate for him to assume that before Pandora s Box opened at its present location, he and his officers regularly patrolled the parking lot areas where Cody s and the Latino bar is located on the weekend to which he replied that he and his officers have always patrolled the bar district on the weekends. Mr. Donahoe then asked Lt. Beaver that on the night he was monitoring Pandora s Box before the outdoor fights occurred, did he request the fire marshal to come and check for overcrowding at the business that night. He replied that he did not. Mr. Donahoe asked him if anybody was restricted from driving away on the night of the fights to his knowledge to which he replied not to his knowledge. Mr. Donahoe then asked him if he would agree that it would be reasonable for the security at Pandora s Box to have moved an inside altercation to the outside - that it would have been safer to let the altercation leave the club and he replied that he agreed. Mr. Donahoe then asked him if the altercations that occurred at Pandora s Box happened around closing time and would it have been reasonable for the owner to choose to close or shut down his business if an altercation occurred inside his business. Lt. Beaver replied that the altercations that occurred at Pandora s Box did not happen at closing time and that it would be reasonable for the business to shut down if an altercation occurred. Mr. Donahoe asked Lt. Beaver if he conducted an investigation for further violations that may or may not have occurred when he was at Pandora s Box during the altercations. He replied that he did not conduct an investigation for further violations because there was nobody left in the nightclub. Mr. Donahoe then asked him if he -6-
thought it was necessary to obtain a warrant to search the premises of Pandora s Box and did he ask police investigators or anyone else to conduct a follow-up investigation involving anything as far as the business was concerned. He replied no to both questions and said his main concerns were to get the situation under control and to get the traffic moving so that they could get the police officers back in service as quickly as they could. Mr. Cobb presented a photograph to Lt. Beaver and the Board from a Facebook posting of the crowd at Pandora s Box on the night it was shut down and then asked Lt. Beaver if the photograph was a fairly accurate photograph of the wall-to-wall nature of the crowd at Pandora s Box. He replied that it was. Major Corley was then called to testify and he said the Jackson police have had a repetitive problem with Pandora s Box because of the crowds and the traffic issues. He stated that they have people at the Jackson Police Department who do social media research on acts or performers who come to Jackson and it was brought to his attention that there was entertainment planned for Pandora s Box for an act featuring a rap singer known as Trina who calls herself the BADDEST BITCH. Mr. Cobb presented a copy of one of the rap singer s advertisements from her web site to the Board and to Major Corley and then asked him if this was the information that was brought to his attention. He replied that it was. Major Corley also stated that the rap singer s shows have been associated with violence and was a cause for concern for the police. Mr. Cobb passed around another promotional advertisement from another performer and he asked Major Corley if this was one of the performers that Mr. Hobson booked at his nightclub. He replied that it was. -7-
Mr. Donahoe stated that Mr. Hobson does not have anything to do with the rap singer s advertisements on her web site. Mr. Hobson then stated that he has never seen those advertisements and that it was not something he would publicize. Major Corley stated that when it was brought to their attention that the rap singer known as Trina was going to perform at Pandora s Box, they researched and discovered that some of her concerts were associated with violence. Mr. Cobb asked him if he found reports on the internet of two fatal shootings at this performer s concerts. He replied yes and that with the notoriety of the rap singer and past incidents of violence at some of her concerts, it was a concern for the Jackson Police Department. Mr. Cobb then asked Major Corley if he explained to Mr. Hobson what he needed to do if he wanted to make a request for the Jackson Police Department to provide additional security at his business. He replied that the issue concerning security for Pandora s Box was raised at the December 2, 2014, Beer Board Meeting. He further stated that he remembered Mr. Hobson saying at that meeting that he would have security at Pandora s Box and was willing to work with the Jackson Police Department to have additional security. He stated that after the December 2 nd meeting was over, he gave Mr. Hobson his business card, spoke to him about the process and told him to contact him if he needed officers to provide additional security at his business. Mr. Cobb asked Major Corley if Mr. Hobson ever contacted him to make a request for police security other than Mr. Hobson s request for security on last Thursday to which he replied no. Mr. Cobb then asked him if Mr. Hobson ever requested police security in writing or signed a contract with the City of Jackson for police security. He replied no. Mr. Cobb asked him if Mr. Hobson s attorney contacted -8-
him the day before the rap singer was to perform at Pandora s Box to ask for police officers to secure Mr. Hobson s business and if so, what did he tell Mr. Hobson s attorney. He stated that Mr. Hobson s attorney contacted him about providing police security for the event and he told Mr. Hobson s attorney that at that late date it would be impractical for him to get a contract in place and schedule officers to be there in less than 24-hours. Mr. Cobb then passed around an online article posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 entitled Seven injured in Trina concert shooting. Mr. Donahoe asked Major Corley when and at which concerts those shootings occurred and he replied that they occurred in 2007 and that none occurred in Jackson. Mr. Donahoe asked him if anyone was charged in the shooting incidents including the performer or club owner and he replied that he did not know. Mr. Donahoe asked Major Corley if Mr. Hobson was operating a strip club to the best of his knowledge and he replied no. Mr. Donahoe stated that when he and Mr. Hobson made a request last Thursday to have Jackson police officers to secure the outside of Pandora s Box for an event, Major Corley indicated to them that it was too late to get a contract in place and that he thought the mayor would be out of town. Major Corley then replied that it was his decision not to provide officers to secure Mr. Hobson s business. Mr. Donahoe asked him if there were any issues that occurred from the performance that was held at Pandora s Box on Friday, May 8th to his knowledge and he replied that there were no issues. Mr. Donahoe then asked Major Corley if he agreed that the parking in the Heritage Square area serves at least three different nightclubs in the area. He replied that he would agree that the parking lot serves at least two different nightclubs in the -9-
area because the Latino nightclub was open on occasion and they have their own parking lot. Mr. Donahoe asked him if he disagreed with Lt. Beaver s testimony that sometimes the Latino nightclub s patrons parking would spill over into the other parking lot used by the other two nightclubs to which he replied no. Mr. Donahoe asked him if he had any information that Mr. Hobson knew about the social media posting about the rap singer known as Trina and about the shootings that occurred at some of her concerts prior to Mr. Hobson making the booking. He replied that he was not sure what Mr. Hobson knew before he made the booking. Mr. Cobb asked Major Corley if the fact that the fatal shootings at Trina s concerts did not occur in Tennessee meant it was something that the Jackson Police Department did not have to worry about happening in Jackson. He replied that the fact that there were shootings period gave the Jackson police concern. Mr. Cobb then asked Major Corley that when the Jackson Police Department is making a decision on whether to provide additional security at a nightclub, does the police department take in consideration whether or not the owner of the facility is having illegal activity going on inside the nightclub and, at the time the request was made from Mr. Hobson for additional security, did he have reliable information that there was illegal activity going on in Mr. Hobson s nightclub. He answered that the police department does take that in consideration when they are making a decision on whether to provide additional security and, at the very minimum, he was aware of the violations of the city ordinances that occurred at Mr. Hobson s nightclub. Mr. Cobb asked him that if they had reliable information that the bartenders at Pandora s Box were instructed to sell alcoholic beverages to their patrons no matter how intoxicated -10-
they were, would that have been a concern for them. He replied that it would have been an obvious concern for them. Mr. Donahoe asked Major Corley if he initiated any investigation as a result of any report that he received about Pandora s Box to which he replied no. Mr. Cobb asked Major Corley if he relied on an investigation conducted by Special Agent B.V. Cathey III of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) which revealed illegal activity going on inside the business known as Pandora s Box. Mr. Cobb also asked him if they had former employees of Pandora s Box to testify that there are illegal sales of alcoholic beverages at Pandora s Box. He answered yes to both questions. Mr. Hobson testified that he did not book the rap singer known as Trina to appear at his nightclub. He further stated that someone in his organization booked the rap singer known as Trina for his nightclub and that he did the research as far as putting the business calendar together, as far as who would be a viable candidate to perform at his business, and the time frame that would be good for the area. He also stated that he had researched Trina s music. Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Hobson if the picture of the crowd that he presented earlier in the meeting was an accurate representation of the crowd that was at his nightclub on March 29th. Mr. Hobson replied that it was a fairly accurate representation. Mr. Cobb then asked him if the advertisement promoting Trina s appearance at Pandora s Box was something he put out. He replied that the ad promoting Trina s appearance at his nightclub was marketed by a third party and that he did not pay for the promotion. Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Hobson who put the ad out to which Mr. Hobson replied there were several people who help him promote shows at his nightclub and that they put the ad -11-
out with his knowledge and with his permission. Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Hobson why he selected Trina as the talent to appear at his nightclub in May 2015. He replied that they selected Trina to appear at his nightclub in May 2015 because they were shooting a video with another artist and that he planned to have extra security at the event held at his nightclub on May 8th. Mr. Hobson further stated that he upgraded his in-house security and that he hired an additional security team out of Memphis to secure his business. Mr. Hobson also stated that he tried to hire Jackson police officers and Madison County sheriff deputies to provide security at that event. Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Hobson how his business became so overcrowded in March. He replied that he had no idea there was going to be that many people at his establishment. He further stated that the third-party promoter of the event printed an excessive amount of tickets and there was no way for them to know how many people were coming to his nightclub that night until they arrived. He also stated that he had no idea that the overcrowding at his nightclub was an issue until about midnight because he was busy taking care of other things that evening. Mr. Cobb asked him if anybody on his staff was disciplined for the overcrowding incident. He replied that there were people on his security staff who were no longer with them for not doing what they were supposed to be doing. Mr. Cobb asked Mr. Hobson if he instructed his bartenders to sell alcoholic beverages to people who were intoxicated and if his bartenders poured cheap liquor into empty expensive bottles or mixed alcohol with other beverages to sell. He replied no to both questions. The Chairman expressed his disappointment with what has taken place at Pandora s Box. Mr. Hobson stated he was serving food at his business and that his -12-
head restaurant chef use to work at the Flat Iron Grill and his other chef use to work at Twist. He further stated that he shoots a live television show at his establishment every Monday night where you will see a live band and tablecloths. He told the Board the steps he has done differently to ensure overcrowding does not happen again at his establishment and he explained the changes he has made with his enhanced security and the security measures he implemented at his nightclub on May 8th. Mr. Hobson also stated that he had no problems or issues with the event that was held at his nightclub on May 8th and explained how he was going to conduct his business in the future as far as security at his nightclub was concerned. Board member Buchanan moved to revoke Mr. Hobson s beer permit for the business known as Pandora s Box Restaurant and Lounge. Board member Bray seconded the motion and the motion to revoke Mr. Hobson s beer permit passed unanimously. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. CHARLES RAHM, CHAIRMAN -13-