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**stormdriver** · 06-30-2006, 02:55 PM

http://www.packersnews.com/archives/...26659083.shtml
and more recently...
http://www.packersnews.com/archives/...26670200.shtml

I don't know if making this a racial issue is really all that smart, but it is Wisconsin after all. Let's hope one way or the other, this crap gets resolved, and we get some better news to share. I hate the offseason...

**Professor** · 06-30-2006, 05:45 PM

what exactly do the articles say in a synopsis? For some reason I can't get to the links.

**stormdriver** · 06-30-2006, 06:50 PM

The FiveSix Ultra Lounge nightclub may get another chance after Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt on Thursday called for the City Council to rescind a previous decision regarding the club’s liquor license.

The move comes amid mounting controversy surrounding FiveSix and its owner, Green Bay Packers linebacker Nick Barnett.

At its June 6 meeting, the council voted to deny liquor license renewal for FiveSix, which has had numerous police calls and complaints from neighbors.

But accusations of unfair treatment and even racism have surfaced, particularly after a city committee on Monday recommended that Hip Cats — a similarly troubled location — be able to keep its license under an approved abatement plan.

The controversy grew earlier this week when Barnett received a written warning for jaywalking after a television interview at his club. Two members of the local media who were with Barnett didn’t receive one.

Although Schmitt evaded questions connecting the two events at the Thursday news conference, national media attention surrounding the story had some speculating that the city was engaging in damage control.

“Oh sure,” said Alderman and council President Chad Fradette, commenting on the connection. “It’s making the city look stupid.”

Fradette, along with Aldermen Chris Wery, Celestine Jeffreys and Thomas Weber, voted against denying license renewal during the council’s June 6 meeting. But as new information has surfaced regarding FiveSix — and with the mayor’s call for rescinding the decision Thursday — some other aldermen said they might change their minds.

“I definitely have decided to back Nick on his second chance,” said Alderman Jerry Wiezbiskie, adding that he’s also fully supportive of Schmitt.

Alderman Thomas De Wane said he’d be happy to give Barnett a second chance — if he sees that steps are being taken toward improvement for the club.

Fradette thinks the council will have enough votes to rescind the decision and allow license renewal under a mutually agreed-upon abatement plan. The mayor’s public statement Thursday — which Fradette characterized as “not quite an order, but it’s more than a request” — should change some minds, Fradette said.

The mayor could have vetoed the council’s decision within five days, his office said. But at that point, Schmitt didn’t have all the facts about the process, he said.

“I think there’s a lot of information that came through between then and now. … Quite honestly, that’s the first time I had an experience with a quasi-judicial hearing,” Schmitt said. “I thought the remedy was much quicker. I thought we could work it through the normal channels.”

The jaywalking warning was issued by Dave Schmitz — the same city police officer who testified about FiveSix at the June 6 council meeting.

During that meeting, Schmitz talked about a variety of incidents at FiveSix, ranging from a New Year’s Day parking lot shooting to loitering, underage drinkers and weapons being allowed inside. He also accused Barnett of using his cell phone to take a photo of an individual who testified at the May 31 Protection and Welfare Committee meeting.

“It could affect it, if there’s more to this story than is being fleshed out,” Fradette said about further action on FiveSix. “It seems like there’s more to this from Officer Schmitz and Nick Barnett.”

Fradette said he doesn’t think the jaywalking warning was racially motivated.

City Police Chief Craig Van Schyndle also dismissed racism speculation Thursday, saying that the warning shouldn’t have been issued but that it wasn’t racially motivated. The warning has since been wiped from Barnett’s record.

Just a handful of written warnings and citations were issued for jaywalking in the past year, Van Schyndle said. The reporter and photographer with Barnett didn’t receive a written warning because it was Schmitz’s first contact with them, he added. But since Barnett owns the club, he knew jaywalking was an issue.

Schmitz has been reassigned and will no longer be involved in policing FiveSix, Van Schyndle said.

Barnett, who is black, declined comment on possible racism during Thursday’s press conference.

Some city officials are concerned that perception becomes reality in such cases.

“I’m worried about the perception of the city. I am,” Schmitt said Thursday. “I was getting phone calls about this that weren’t true.”

The council could move to consider rescinding its action and look at an abatement plan for FiveSix at its Wednesday meeting. Someone from that body would have to make a motion to do so.

As for Barnett, he expressed the desire to move forward Thursday. Many of the club’s problems are being fixed, he said.

“I’ve been over there and I’ve been in communication with the neighbors over there,” he said. “… I’m satisfied that we are headed in the direction we are right now.”

**stormdriver** · 06-30-2006, 06:51 PM

Green Bay police are searching for an unknown person or persons who spray painted a racial slur and several swastikas on the west wall of the FiveSix Ultra Lounge in downtown Green Bay early Friday morning.

At 5:40 a.m., a passing motorist telephoned the police to let them know that the club, 405 W. Walnut St., had been defaced on the back wall facing an alley, Lt. Andy Lewis said.

Police were unable to contact the club’s owner — Green Bay Packers linebacker Nick Barnett — and city crews painted over the vandalized portion of the wall, Lewis said.

Graffiti, a common problem in the downtown area, is best combated when the markings are removed or covered up immediately, Lewis said.

The incident comes less than a day after the Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt asked the City Council to reconsider its decision to deny Barnett a liquor license at the FiveSix club. Earlier this week, Barnett also received a warning for jaywalking, which was later rescinded by the police after Chief Craig Van Schyndle called the citation a “mistake.”

There are no suspects and no one in custody.

**Professor** · 06-30-2006, 07:07 PM

graffitti and jaywalking what a dangerous city, LOL

**stormdriver** · 07-01-2006, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by professorellisdtrails

graffitti and jaywalking what a dangerous city, LOL

Oh yeah, it's awful. Have you ever been there? Seriously, if you are ever fleeing prosecution and need to hide out, just get yourself a pair of steel toed boots, carhartt jacket and Packers hat, and move to Green Bay. Nobody will ever suspect anything.

**Professor** · 07-01-2006, 09:38 AM

i wonder if they have those reprehensible litterers too, LOL

**stormdriver** · 07-06-2006, 06:17 PM

City OKs FiveSix liquor license

Article:
http://www.packersnews.com/archives/...26728914.shtml
Excerpt:

A month ago, the Green Bay City Council dealt what could have been the fatal blow to the future of FiveSix, the embattled downtown nightclub that has been the source of police calls and resident complaints.

The city — and Barnett — have been through a lot since then. The June 6 denial of the renewal of the club’s liquor license set in motion a chain of events that culminated with Mayor Jim Schmitt a week ago asking the council to reverse that decision.

That’s exactly what happened Wednesday night, when the City Council did an about-face on the issue, voting 8-3 to allow liquor-license renewal within the confines of a mutually agreed-upon abatement plan.

Among conditions detailed in the plan, the club must make “good faith efforts” to expand its nonalcohol revenue.