The Niles Village Board of Trustees postponed a vote on a measure that would remove Mayor Andrew Przybylo as the village’s liquor commissioner.
Village Attorney Danielle Grcic told the board Dec. 10 that her office had concluded after a review of state law that Przybylo is not eligible to serve as the village’s liquor commissioner because he holds a liquor license in Wheeling.
“I never wanted to be [liquor commissioner] in the first place,” Przybylo said. “It can be a position leading to graft.”
The proposal made by Trustee Dean Strzelecki would prohibit the mayor from serving as liquor commissioner if he has a liquor license anywhere in Illinois.
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Grcic said she had asked the Illinois Liquor Control Commission to determine whether her analysis of the 1934 Illinois Liquor Control Act is correct, since the issue appears to never have arisen before.
The board voted unanimously to table the proposal until its January meeting to give state officials a chance to respond to Grcic.
The state law, last amended in 2012, requires municipalities to appoint a liquor commissioner if its mayor is involved in the sale of liquor and bans him or her from picking a replacement or participating in the discussion or vote on any items involving liquor.
However, that law does not specify whether it applies if the mayor holds a liquor license outside his or her jurisdiction, as in Przybylo’s case, Grcic said.
There is no timeline for state officials to get back to her, Grcic said.
Przybylo owns Kiki’s Cafe Monte Carlo, at 1201 W. Dundee Road., Wheeling, which has a liquor license. When Przybylo was elected in 2013, he owned part of White Eagle Banquets in Niles, which also had a liquor license. Przybylo did not serve as liquor commissioner while he owned that business, which he and his family have sold.
Niles trustees rejected an effort to renew attorney Linda Shain’s contract with the village to serve as liquor commissioner in June. That made Przybylo the village’s liquor commissioner.
The issue came to a head Oct. 4 when Przybylo, acting as liquor commissioner, fined Music Box Club, 6873 N. Milwaukee Ave., $3,000 and ordered it to close at 2 a.m. rather than at 4 a.m. after a man shot a gun several times at the club just before 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 22.
Przybylo could have revoked the club’s liquor license, but chose not to.
An appointed liquor commissioner should be a lawyer and have experience in the hospitality industry, Przybylo said. That will ensure that businesses get a chance to correct any problems before facing sanctions, the mayor said.
Przybylo said the measure removing him as liquor commissioner should be amended to also prohibit any trustee who owns a liquor license from voting on measures that concern liquor.
That would impact Trustee George Alpogianis, who is the co-owner and operator of Kappy’s Restaurant in Morton Grove, which has a liquor license. Alpogianis announced Nov. 5 that he would run for mayor of Niles in 2021.