The Charles Village bar with a history of underage drinking violations (and a city councilman as a co-licensee) was finally in front of the Liquor Board yesterday on new violations – and Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke was ready for them.

Clarke, who represents the North Baltimore community, brought 10 police officers to testify about overcrowding, minors being served alcohol and other past problems at Maxie’s Pizza and Grille located on Charles Street near Johns Hopkins University and frequented by students from many area schools.

Clarke had also brought the head of the Charles Village Civic Association (CVCA) to ask the licensees to work with community members on a Memorandum of Understanding placing restrictions on their license.

(Such MOUs have been frequently used – and at times strongly recommended – by the Liquor Board to ensure co-existence between bars and nearby residents.)

Finally, Clarke brought anecdotes from fed-up 14th District constituents and others about the bar, whose pending violations included an employee telling underage patrons to “hide in the restrooms.”

“No, It’s a Plea”

But as the Liquor Board’s deputy executive secretary, Thomas R. Akras, galloped through a recitation of the charges and agreed-to penalties – fines and fees of more than $8,000 and a six-week suspension – it dawned on Clarke that she was not going to get a chance to speak.

“No testimony?” she said, addressing Akras.

“No, it’s a plea,” he answered, explaining that he and the commissioners had worked it all out with the licensees and their attorney, Frank Boozer.

A furious Clarke gave a name to what she was witnessing. “It’s a done deal,” she declared.

She noted that she and CVCA president, Sandra R. Sparks, had never been informed of the deal and that they had come to the board to request a five-month suspension as well as an MOU with the community.

“Can-Drink” Wristbands to 18-year-olds

The bar, located at Charles and 31st streets, faced multiple violations that Akras read into the record.

On October 24,  he said, the bar served liquor to an underage patron and also gave an underage patron a blue wristband indicating he could drink, even though the teen had showed ID indicating that he was 18.

This was the same occasion when an employee told underage patrons to “hide in the restrooms” to avoid police, also a violation. Another violation resulted from a November 20 incident in which the bartender served an underage police cadet a beer.

Never Took off Their Coats

The violations had been scheduled to be heard last month, but amid reporting revealing that veteran City Councilman Robert Curran (3rd) was a co-licensee, the item was pulled from the docket.

Attorney Boozer stood yesterday with co-licensees Curran and Joyce Yun Chong, of Pikesville, who kept their overcoats on throughout the proceedings and never uttered a word.

Chong’s husband, Chil Song Chong, was in the audience. When asked, Boozer told the commissioners Chong is not at Maxie’s often and identified him as the owner of a restaurant at the Horseshoe Baltimore Casino.

(Chil Song Chong’s “Ruby 8 Noodle and Sushi Bar” doesn’t have its own liquor license but is permitted to serve alcoholic beverages as part of the Horseshoe’s unique 24-7 arena-type liquor license.)

What Clarke and Charles Village Wanted

When Liquor Board Chairman Thomas Ward granted Clarke permission to speak (“We’re always happy to hear from you,” he declared), she said the establishment should be closed “for the duration of the school year until June 1.”

She added that they could be permitted to stay open (“I don’t care if they sell pizzas”), but just should not be allowed to sell liquor.

Calling the fine “irrelevant,” Clarke said, “The condition of resuming operations” should be an agreement reached with Charles Village to amend Maxie’s license to ensure it corrects chronic problems it causes for the community.

Among area schools, “Loyola College is most concerned” about Maxie’s, she added. Neighbors have complained as well.

“The bar backs up to the 2900 block of St. Paul Street, which already has three frat houses,” she said. “At closing time there are herds of kids, young people, loud and presumably inebriated, and hailing cabs and cars and going south” to after-hours clubs.

“The place has such a reputation for serving minors, even when they show an ID card saying they’re 18,” Clarke said.

The Liquor Board file on Maxie’s includes reports going back to early 2012 of underage drinking and overcrowding from liquor inspectors, the city fire marshal and the police department.

“I think we need to close it and start again,” Clarke told the board.  “They need to prepare themselves to resurrect themselves.”

“A New Attitude”?

While Ward said Clarke had made “a well-reasoned and persuasive argument,” he essentially rejected it.

He assured the councilwoman that the board – under his chairmanship since last June – would watch Maxie’s closely and be tougher than the previous board, which he described as “somewhat permissive.” He said the agency now has “stronger” staff and procedures and “a new attitude.”

“We began to close bars,” he said, also noting that they issue warnings and watch for improvements and do not initially tell an errant licensee “we’re going to drop the whole ceiling on you.”

“So the answer is no?” said Clarke, with evident disgust, vowing to come back when the license is up for renewal in June.

She asked how it is that the she and Sparks were not included in discussions of the plea deal. Ward said he was “told by staff” that all the concerned parties had been contacted. Clearly they hadn’t been.

Executive Secretary Michelle Bailey-Hedgepeth later said that it was the responsibility of the community to ask to be included in the discussions.

“It’s been on the docket for weeks,” she said.

Wasting Officers’ Time

Clarke said she came to yesterday’s hearing expecting the matter to be decided in public and decried the waste of police officers’ time.

“We would like the police department to be policing our neighborhoods, not our bars,” she said, pointing to the officers. “I mean look at this, you’ve got the equivalent of an entire shift at the Northern District here.”

Asked about the way the Maxie’s violation hearing went down, Community Law Center attorney Rebecca Lundberg Witt said last night she was disturbed by it. She said a Liquor Board penalty should take into account, among other things, the community’s experience with a licensee.

“If the board and the licensees are prearranging deals for violations, community members are not going to feel as though their input is relevant, and they’ll stop coming to hearings, which is the opposite of what the Board should be encouraging,” said Witt, who monitors Liquor Board proceedings and writes the blog Booze News.

“I could see why community members and their representatives could find it a bit insulting to have the matter all decided beforehand,” she added.