Editor’s note: Mayor Anthony Calderone responds to questions about the correct number of Class A (full food service) liquor licenses issued in Forest Park.
In a March 30, 2012 memo to the Village Council, Calderone listed 14 establishments designated “Class A.” Later in the summer, Piggyback Bar-B-Que was also granted a Class A license. The Mayor explains below:
The village of Forest Park has not issued 15 class A licenses rather we have issued 14 and all are accounted for. This was an oversight in my memo of March as Tapas 7232 should not have been included in that mix.
We performed an extensive audit [Tuesday] on all liquor licenses. What we discovered is this; when I proposed a new designation for a class of license specifically class “A” as written in my memo to the council [March 30, 2012] I listed the names of those businesses that would fall into this new category. Whenever we make any change to our village code amending the liquor code we audit the licenses to make certain they reconcile with the actual number and classes of licenses. During that audit we discovered that Tapas 7232 or Wine Bar was eligible for a class A1 of which we had one license available and accordingly a A1 license was issues to them instead of a class A.
The village in fact has issued 14 class A licenses and all are accounted for.
Tapas 7232 is the holder of a class A1 and so the math with respect to my memo back in March should not have included this business as one that was being placed in the A category.
At any time, you can visually inspect a license at any establishment as they are required to be in plain view. On the liquor license that classification will be printed on same.
The village of Forest Park has not issued 15 class A licenses rather we have issued 14 and all are accounted for. This was an oversight in my memo of March as Tapas 7232 should not have been included in that mix.
We cannot always provide you with factual information without doing research first, in this case our research has revealed accuracy with respect to the total number of licenses and classifications with regard to the total number of establishments who have been issued said licenses.
In sum, our liquor code ordinance matches all issued licenses and classifications.
Anthony T. Calderone
Mayor, Forest Park
