VFW post’s license revocation hearing delayed by council

A Veterans of Foreign Wars post has a few more days to prepare a defense of its liquor license -- but only a few more days, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman emphasized.

Members of VFW Post 10057 crowded the City Council chambers Wednesday for a hearing on numerous reports of fights, crime and regulatory missteps at the club on H Street.

The post's lawyer, however, couldn't make the meeting because of a funeral, and council members agreed to postpone the matter until Jan. 28.

"The main issue is we don't have an attorney present," said Albert Young, who manages the post's bar. "These are pretty serious accusations, and we need someone to speak for us."

The post has attracted a lot of attention from city inspectors and Las Vegas police in recent years.

In December, the council approved a 10-page complaint listing grievances against the post dating back to 2005. The list includes everything from alleged assaults, robberies and drug dealing to employees repeatedly not being able to show valid work cards.

Council members have been asked to declare the post a public nuisance and impose disciplinary action, which could include revoking the club's 40-year-old liquor license.

In a letter to the city, however, Young complained that some of the instances cited against the post were simply inaccurate -- an alleged fight on Sept. 2, for example, was actually a group of people helping someone who was having a bad drug reaction, he said.

And drug dealing arrests on July 30 and Sept. 18 stemmed from information the post provided to police, he wrote, echoing the frustration post members feel in being called out for instances in which they asked for help.

"The complaints that were made are typical to the Las Vegas area," Young wrote. "Our question to you is, why us? There have been robberies, drug use, assaults all over the Las Vegas area."

The council didn't have to extend the hearing date.

The post had until Dec. 27 to file a response to the city's accusations, but didn't do so until Jan. 10.

Missing that deadline amounted to "an admission of all matters and facts contained in the complaint," according to city code.

Young said the post had a hard time finding an attorney.

"We didn't have counsel at that time," he said. "We did the best we could."

Councilman Ricki Barlow, who represents the area in which the VFW post is located, said delaying the proceedings would be more fair to the post's members.

This is the only delay they're going to get, Goodman told Young. "There will be no further extensions. There will be no further continuances," the mayor said. "It will take place on that day."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or (702) 229-6435.