New mayor, stronger liquor regulation.

Though the liquor commission has a strong influence on DeKalb, many people have little knowledge of the committee. Prior to Mayor Frank Van Buer taking office in mid 2006, the liquor commission of DeKalb was a marginal body with only five members.

“I wanted to make sure the liquor commission was an active committee,“ Van Buer said. He changed the number of members from five to seven and made it a more serious and involved committee.

What is the liquor commission?
The committee is made up of seven members, a liquor commissioner and a deputy liquor commissioner. Van Buer, by law, is the liquor commissioner.

“I serve as the judge and the jury in the case of an infraction,” Van Buer said. To assist the liquor commissioner with the position’s multiple duties, Van Buer appointed a deputy liquor commissioner, Cory Warren.

“Cory Warren is in charge of all the preliminary work for liquor licenses,” Van Buer said. This includes an intensive background check to make sure that the business is up to code.

After the investigation is complete, a report is given to the mayor, who then makes a decision based on the information provided as to whether or not they are approved for the license.

Recently the liquor commission has been dealing with the different classes of liquor licenses.

“We had a meeting about three weeks ago to try and determine if a Class A license should be split into two,“ Warren said.

As of now, a business with a Class A license can sell liquor that can be taken off site and can be consumed on site as well. The idea was raised to split the Class A license so there would be one license that allowed the sale of packaged liquor and another for the consumption of liquor on premises, but the idea was not passed at that time.

“A lot of decisions that the liquor commission makes directly affects students,” Warren said.

Certification of servers
The liquor commission also deals with the issue that employees of liquor-selling establishments should have prior training before serving alcohol. Many NIU students are employed by the local bars and restaurants.

If the liquor commission should choose to make training a requirement, they will have to take some sort of course to get certified for serving liquor in DeKalb.

“It’s probably a good idea. That way they know what they are doing and they have an upper hand in dealing with alcohol,” said Kylee Schwanke, a sophomore nursing major.

Jeff Dobie, owner of Fatty’s Pub and Grille sees things from a different perspective.

“If they require every server to be trained, that’s a little much,” Dobie said. “It’s a good idea, if they lowered the cost.”

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