Chicago aldermen push to require licenses for event promoters after deadly mass shooting at album release party
Chicago Police are still looking for the gunmen in a deadly mass shooting last week in the River North neighborhood. As detectives investigate, two aldermen are renewing their push for new policies they believe could have prevented the shooting and make the city safer.
Artis Restaurant and Lounge remains closed by police order since the shooting killed four people and wounded 14 others following an album release party for rapper Mello Buckzz on July 2.
Two City Council members said a proposed ordinance they've been fighting to pass for years would not have allowed for that party to be thrown in the first place, but not everyone is on board with their proposal.
Artis Lounge doesn't have a liquor license, and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) – whose ward includes the restaurant – said the party never should have happened.
"The purpose of a liquor license is to make sure we can hold that establishment accountable for their activities. If you turn over the keys to somebody else, how do we hold them accountable for what happens at that venue?" Reilly said.
Reilly and Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said they've been pushing for an ordinance for more than a decade that they believe could have prevented the shooting.
"My colleagues and I have been trying to get at problematic liquor license holders for more than a decade," Reilly said.
Their proposed ordinance would create more oversight on the liquor license renewal process, including compliance for businesses that have broken rules, by creating "more robust review of the suitability of the premises and the qualifications of the licensee, including compliance with any applicable remedial measures."
While Reilly and Waguespack acknowledged their measure wouldn't prevent businesses from hosting similar parties in the future, it would make them follow specific rules for hosting such events.
"There are no guardrails today, and that's a problem," Reilly said.
"Ninety-nine percent of licensees are in compliance all the time anyway. It really just goes after a very small percentage of scofflaws; people who are ignoring the law," Waguespack said.
The ordinance also would require businesses with liquor licenses to register event promoters with the city. According to the proposal, "licensees must also submit contact information for each promoter and an exterior safety plan" that would be approved by the city.
"That would actually require promoters to get a license from the city, so the city knows who the promoters are, where they live. And if they have a bad event that breaks laws or leads to tragic death, we can revoke that license and make sure that that person is no longer coordinating these kinds of events in the city of Chicago," Reilly said. "We are really trying to get after the problematic promoters who have no regard for the neighborhood or city laws and just want to make money."
Pat Doerr, director of the Hospitality Business Association of Chicago, said he is on board with licensing and keeping record of promoters.
"You've got to have a license and a permit to hang an American flag in this city, but if you throw a party for 3,000 people at a place, you don't have to have insurance or any proof you know what you're doing. It's a vast oversight in city code and has been for a long time," Doerr said.
But Doerr said they've fought against the ordinance's proposed changes to the liquor license renewal process, and will again, calling what's been proposed more red tape for city businesses already wound up in it.
"It is already very hard to operate in this city," he said. "We're always happy to talk, and we will take those meetings and point out that the solution is a huge hammer that … probably won't deter the bad actor nails."
No arrests have been made in the shooting at Artis Lounge. Police said the case remains under investigation.
