KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) - A Kearney City Council member has called for the resignation of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission director and for an audit of the agency.
Councilman Bruce Lear requested the resignation of commission director Hobert Rupe and the audit in a recent letter to Rupe and Gov. Pete Ricketts, The Kearney Hub reported (https://bit.ly/1Fv0hiS ).
The letter followed the commission’s decision earlier this month to reverse the city of Kearney’s recommendation to revoke a local restaurant’s liquor license. City officials voted to revoke the restaurant’s license because it sold alcohol to underage patrons three times between 2011 and 2014.
“What you have now is an independent commission that implements its own rules without regard to the input of the communities it’s supposed to serve,” Lear said. “Yet, there is this whole process that’s created for communities to give that input. At some point, you have to call the process what it is. It’s a sham.”
Rupe told the newspaper that the commission voted to allow the restaurant to keep its liquor license because no city representative attended the commission hearing on the matter.
Lear said the city was not told to attend the hearing and had no need to be there, as the commission was aware of the reasons for the city’s recommendation to revoke the license. Rupe’s comments represent a “long history of the liquor commission not providing any support” to communities, Lear said.
Ricketts’ office did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
___
Information from: Kearney Hub, https://www.kearneyhub.com/
Please read our comment policy before commenting.