Revere License Commission critics to have their say today

REVERE – A proposed City Council takeover of the License Commission has become a rallying point for commission critics upset with the July 1 liquor establishment closing time rollback.Ward 4 Councilor George Rotondo said the council needs “to look strongly at some of the practices that have taken place inside the commission and to scrutinize them.”The council legislative affairs committee reviews the proposal at 4 p.m. today in the Council Chamber.Rotondo declined to elaborate Friday on that comment, but acknowledged he will ask City Solicitor Paul Capizzi to advise councilors on the legal procedure involved in a council takeover of the commission.?I?ll be looking for some direction from Paul and to the state for some direction to see if this can be achieved,” Rotondo said.Council assumption of the three-member commission?s duties requires the council to draw up and approve a request, known as a home-rule petition, to the state Legislature to sign off on the takeover. The petition must also be signed by Mayor Thomas Ambrosino, a rollback supporter.Commission Chairman Michael Pepe, who sits on the commission with Linda Guinasso and Thomas Henneberry, said Rotondo has not spoken to him about the takeover proposal or his concerns regarding the commission.?I don?t understand it,” Pepe said, noting that the commission invited councilors to discuss the rollback at a Jan. 10 hearing. Council President George Colella and Councilor at Large Robert Haas attended the hearing and spoke in favor of the rollback.The commission voted unanimously for the rollback citing police concerns about drunk driving and late-night crime. Pepe said his vote was swayed in part by bar owner Dan Dillon?s comment at the hearing that the “transformation of a customer from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. is like Jekyll and Hyde.”The January hearing lasted 80 minutes and included testimony from a half-dozen police officers and elected officials who spoke in favor of a roll back. A half-dozen bar owners spoke against the 1 a.m. closing time.Following the February vote, bar owner Bill Dolan shouted at the commissioners, “You?ll put a lot of people out of business.”That warning prompted Chamber of Commerce Director Laurie Leone Friday to urge businesses for and against the rollback to attend today?s meeting and offer comments.Bar owners have filed state and federal legal challenges to the rollback while police said the 1 a.m. closing time has cut down on early morning police calls.The rollback leaves Saugus and Boston as 2 a.m. call destinations for drinkers.The commission meets at 5 p.m. on Thursday to hold public hearings and review the status of liquor and other licenses granted to Wonderland Greyhound Park.The dog track owes the city nearly $800,000 in back taxes and other overdue bills and the commission is delaying a vote on revoking the licenses as long as track management adheres to a payment plan.Pepe said the commissioners on Thursday will seek Capizzi?s advice on the commission?s obligations for reviewing a payment plan.Wonderland President Richard Dalton in August said the track plans to initially pay $175,000 and then pay $5,000 a month to erase the debt.City Chief Financial Officer George Anzuoni on Friday said Wonderland has yet to make a payment.