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Council says ‘no’ to hearingTripodi says it’s time move forwardBy MARK LAWStaff writerSTEUBENVILLE - City Council as expected turned down a request on Tuesday for an Ohio Department of Liquor Control hearing with the public on the liquor license application by the Baron Cafe.The vote was 5-2, with only councilmem-bers Edward “Skip” Mixon and Aldo Isidore voting for the hearing.Vincent J. Tripodi, Baron Cafe owner, thanked council for its vote.“On behalf of the Baron Cafe and its employees, I want to thank City Council for having the confidence in us to move on and put this behind us,” Tripodi said. He refused any further comment after the meeting.The Baron Cafe at the Fort Steuben Mall is in the same location of the now-closed High Hat Cafe. An investigation by thecounty prosecutor’s office into the High Hat revealed suspected drug dealings, and it was closed on April 17 after a drug raid. Tripodi reopened the restaurant as the Baron Cafe and named Stephen Lamatrice, the former High Hat owner and cousin of Tripodi, as the manager.Jefferson County Prosecutor Stephen Stern said he was disappointed by council’s vote.“I am disappointed that the majority of City Council were not interested in hearing the facts the public hearing would have produced,” he said. “Now the prosecutor’s office will probably have to assume the re-Deartna J. WattsMOVING AHEAD — Vincent J. Tripodi, owner of the Baron Cafe, looks over his shoulder at his fellow workers after Steubenville council voted against having a hearing on his liquor license application.sponsibility to the public that has been abandoned by City Council.”Stern has submitted his files and investigation into the High Hat to the liquor control board.Councilman Craig Petrella said he contacted Gary Ufferman, liquor control’s acting deputy director of licensing, about the Baron Cafe’s liquor license application. Ufferman told Petrella that Stern had contacted the state liquor control department and Stern was told he could submit any information.Council also voted to send Stern a letter asking him to submit information to the liquor control department.“We do not need to have a hearing,” Petrella said. “If anyone feels we are blocking information to the Ohio Department of Liquor Control, they are completely wrong.”Attorney Jeffrey Brown submitted a letter to council stating there is no need to request a hearing.“There has been a lot written and said in the media about the need for a hearing,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, most of what was written and said was about the High Hat Cafe and not the Baron Cafe. Very little was written or said about Vince Tripodi.”Brown said the Baron Cafe employs 43 people and an additional 15 to 20 people will be hired if the liquor license is granted.“Let’s not hinder or frustrate Vince Tripodi and the Baron Cafe in its quest for a liquor license so that he and his employees can earn an honest living,” Brown said. “As we have stated before, it is the goal of Vince Tripodi and the Baron Cafe to maintain a drug-free environment.”The issue of the hearing for the Baron Cafe liquor license was tabled last Tuesday to give city Law Director S. Gary Re-pella and Police Chief Jerry McCartney a chance to comment on the application.Repella sent an opinion stating the application may be rejected by liquor control because of previous liquor violations by the High Hat and that Lamatrice was the High Hat owner.McCartney said because Tripodi has no criminal record and is “a citizen of good standing” in the city and the county, he did not believe a hearing is needed.
Newspaper Details
Herald Star
Steubenville, Ohio, US
Wed, Jul 17, 1996
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Cincinnati A.
OH, USA 28 Oct 2023
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