As part of Union City’s quality-of-life campaign, the city has taken a strong stance against liquor serving establishments that might contribute to late-night rowdiness in the city.
However, the Board of Commissioners, who recently raised the price of renewing a liquor license by 20 percent and tabled another ordinance to shut down the bars and restaurants one hour earlier, has to sit as an impartial Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
An ABC board is responsible for issuing, renewing, and transferring liquor licenses as well as enforcing state ABC rules and regulations and local ordinances pertaining to the control of alcoholic beverages.
But is the Board of Commissioners able to represent an impartial hearing board? Some critics do not think so.
Ramon Gonzalez, an attorney with Bazzani and Gonzalez law firm in Union City, does not feel the tavern owners are given a fair shake in front of the board, and has repeatedly stated that the city should appoint a separate one.
"This board cannot be impartial," said Gonzalez, who has represented many tavern owners before the Union City ABC Board.
Often while trying cases, Gonzalez will cite Stack as public safety director and Commissioner Ray Lopez as a police officer on a leave of absence as reasons why they cannot present an impartial board. "They praise the police officers and then have to determine the credibility of those officers," said Gonzalez. "There is no appearance of impartiality when the commissioners sit on the board."
Stack does not think the city needs a separate board to hear ABC cases. "I think that the people in Union City do not want to see an ABC Board without the commissioners on it," said Stack. "We deal firsthand with the problems in the city."
In recent cases, Stack and the commissioners have shown fairness toward the tavern owners by postponing the beginning of many suspensions until after the New Year, on request of some establishments.
According to the ABC handbook, published by the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety’s ABC Department, any town with a population of more than 15,000 residents can appoint a separate ABC Board.
"If a municipality has more than 15,000 citizens, they are eligible to form a separate board if they choose to," said Deputy Attorney General in Charge of Licensing David Bregenzer, adding that there is nothing in the statute that says they have to.
However, Stack still does not feel that the city needs a separate board. "I make judgements based on the case put before me," he said. "I think that I have done that fairly so far."
According the ABC Department handbook, the municipal ABC Board would consist of three members serving three-year terms.
There are currently 19 municipalities that have ABC boards. In Hudson County those municipalities are Hoboken, North Bergen and West New York. Secaucus also established a separate board this year.
"We wanted to be more efficient," said Secaucus Business Administrator Anthony Iacono, explaining that formerly, to have an ABC hearing there had to be a council meeting.
Iacono said that the hearings were getting backed up waiting for municipal meetings. Now Secaucus has regularly scheduled monthly meetings for ABC hearings.
While Union City had had more than 20 hearings posted just one month ago, the city has caught up and now only has four cases pending.
"I’ve posted them on the calendar as soon as I get them," said Stack, who held a separate meeting to hear ABC cases last month. "By the end of the year we will be totally up-to-date."
About four ABC hearings are regularly scheduled at the end of all of the Board of Commissioner’s meetings.
With a separate board, Iacono said that the tavern owners can appeal the decision of the board to the mayor and Town Council before appealing to the state ABC Board.
Without the separate board, the establishment owners have no second appeal within the municipality and must appeal to the state.