AND THE MAYOR TELLS THE TRUTH FOR ONCE!

313. Welcome all to Blog 30. Today the focus is going to be about texts between Mayor Paine and Melissa Hyatt. Also we going to expose what I thought all along thanks to the Mayor, who for the first time told the truth about a very important part of this scandal.

314. First, I want to share a story which was published on June 25, 2023 in the Duluth News Tribune. This story is different than the Palace story. One is about discrimination and the other is about a mayor and others plotting to close a legal business. But as you read this story, you will see many similarities between the two.

Duluth couple sues city over 911 calls

Family alleges unlawful arrest

BY TOM OLSEN - Duluth News Tribune

Complaint: Officials ‘turned a blind eye’ to racism

The Kirks first shared their experience with the News Tribune in 2020, and data obtained from the police department at that time revealed there had been at least 73 calls to the vicinity of their Cody neighborhood home since 2012.

At various times, according to police reports and the lawsuit, the Kirks were falsely accused of operating a meth lab in their home and abusing their two children. They say the harassment started around 2007, when Aaron, who is Black, moved into the house that Amy, who is white, had owned for several years without issue. 

Records show that officers were called to the home on one occasion when a neighbor accused Aaron of trying to steal her roofing supplies and another time when she claimed he was erecting a fence on her property. She also accused the father of sending his young child to steal her Meals on Wheels deliveries and once called 911 to complain that one of the girls was drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, among other calls on a long list. 

The complaint notes that numerous police reports over the years described the calls as “unfounded” and that other neighbors told officers they believed the reports to be racially motivated. Nonetheless, according to the Kirks, they continued to come under suspicion from police. 

Representatives of several city departments attempted at one point to broker peace between the two residences. However, the complaint alleges that officials “turned a blind eye” to the racial discrimination and instead chose to focus on the Kirks’ small dog, Shaggy, who had drawn numerous complaints from the other household.

The lawsuit also faults police for failing to arrest, cite or refer for prosecution one of the neighbors who was responsible for the vast majority of the calls and allegedly made threatening comments to officers about buying a gun to shoot the dog. “No adequate police action was taken by defendants with respect to the racial threats and false reports of crimes, all of which were designed to force plaintiffs out of their home and neighborhood solely because of Aaron Kirk’s race,” Fishman said. 

Records previously obtained by the News Tribune showed that police established a new plan for calls related to the Kirk residence in 2017, asking supervisors to call before officers responded unless there was a belief about an active emergency. However, the Kirks said the policy was not always well-enforced. “It’s getting on my nerves,” Aaron Kirk, a mental health case manager, said at the time. “There’s nothing going on here. We don’t have to keep starting over from square one.” 

While declining to address the specifics of the Kirks’ case in 2020, Lt. Chad Nagorski spoke with the News Tribune more broadly about neighbor disputes. He acknowledged that police officers can’t always be arbiters of private disputes but said the agency encourages parties to work out differences. He added that officers do sometimes need to show up if there is a question of danger, even when there is a known history of false reports. “We still have to go check those out,” Nagorski said at the time. “But we need to figure out what that response is going to be, where it doesn’t continually bring that (person) into question.” 

Public records show the neighboring house was sold in August 2021. Charges dropped after Aaron’s arrest The complaint culminates in Aaron’s arrest by a Duluth police officer in July 2020. Kirk, according to the document, was driving along Grand Avenue when he honked his horn after being cut off by another motorist, who then displayed his middle finger and called him a racial slur. 

The complaint states that Kirk accelerated to get out of the confrontation but was followed by the man into the parking lot of a nearby business. The other motorist again used the slur and threatened him with brass knuckles, prompting Kirk to retrieve a tire iron for self-defense, according to the suit. The other motorist left, but they again came together a short time later near a bank, at which point an officer arrived on the scene. The complaint alleges that the other driver fled as Kirk talked with the officer. 

Having not been placed under arrest or told to stay, Kirk eventually left the scene — only to have officers arrive at his home within an hour and place him under arrest for fleeing an officer, according to the complaint. Kirk was issued a citation for disorderly conduct, obstructing the legal process and reckless driving, and spent four days in jail as a result of the allegedly unlawful arrest; all charges were eventually dropped. 

The defendants include current and former police chiefs Mike Ceynowa and Gordon Ramsay, current and former human rights officers Carl Crawford and Bob Grytdahl, six other police officers and the other driver in the 2020 altercation. The suit seeks unspecified damages on on six counts involving racial discrimination and violations of the federal Fair Housing Act by the city defendants, along with a count of assault against the other driver. The defendants have yet to file any answers to the complaint.

315.

My Comments

I want to start off with saying that I don’t know any of the people from this article. I also want to say that I don’t have much faith in the reporting from the two local newspapers (or any newspapers for that matter). When you read these kind of stories you immediately get a feeling, reaction or judgment. That’s human nature. So, as I said many times, my approach in reading articles like this is to take a few steps back and try to look outside the box somewhat. This story has been going on for about 10 years, so there is a lot more to it than what we are reading in this article. I am not taking any sides in this because of that. I am only interested in the truth and in this case the Kirks have decided to sue in federal court. We will see what happens. It may go to trial, there could be a settlement before that, who knows. In the end, hopefully the truth prevails.

One more thing. Did you ever notice that when people sue the City of Duluth or Superior the lawyers representing them are from larger cities and in some cases, out of state? It’s because these local governments spread their legal business to many firms. They use our taxpayer dollars to weaponize the legal community. Ask anybody who has tried to hire a local lawyer to represent them in a lawsuit against the city. The law firms don’t want to jeopardize their ongoing business with the city and the few firms that don’t do business with the city don’t want to take the cases because it could hurt their chances of getting business in the future. Just another slimy way for government to make your life harder and more miserable. It’s not illegal and it’s your money, the taxpayers that enable this. Just saying.

316.

GIVING UP OUR LICENCE?

Before getting into the newest batch of texts between the Mayor and Melissa Hyatt, we need to talk about the circumstances surrounding the renewal of our license. Licenses in Superior start every year on July 1 and end June 30 the following year. The best way to explain it, is by a timeline.

317.

MARCH 18, 2022

That is the day the one and ONLY shooting at the Palace took place. One shot that went into a wall just below the ceiling. No Injuries. Nobody hurt.

March 18, 2022-Until closing on June 30. 2022

That is when the barrage of news reports started and seemingly never stopped. Also during this time the Mayor and Chief were almost tripping over each other to get to a microphone to let the world and press know how bad the Palace was. I really think this was the most covered story in 2022 by the local press. Looking back, In the 15 years I lived in Superior, I have never seen a story with such little significance, get so much traction and coverage. And then you have two shootings at Kwik Trip on Hammond Avenue, and almost no press at all. Makes you wonder doesn't it? 

“LETTER FROM PAINE”

318.

APRIL 12, 2022

This was the day everything changed. As soon as I read it, I thought back to the meeting I had a year earlier with Officer Jago and Captain Winterscheidt and told my wife and lawyer that I thought that somehow Melissa Hyatt was involved in this. I also thought, about a thousand times in my head,what is it we did wrong? What else could we have done to prevent this? We had a maximum number of employees and a doorman. And I really could not come up with an answer. My thoughts then shifted to the Mayor. Why is he blaming us? We are the victims of a crime. Why is he treating us like criminals?

APRIL 12-21

I had a few calls with my lawyer. He told me not to worry, “it’s just the mayor being the mayor”. He also kind of dismissed my Melissa Hyatt theory as well. I really wasn't buying it, but I had no evidence, just a gut feeling. He said he would discuss this with the city and I probably would have to go to a meeting with the Mayor and get a slap down and then move on. I just was not convinced, but what else could I do? He also told me not to talk to the Mayor or City Council.

APRIL 22, 2022

I got an email from my lawyer (see below)

Brian,

I had a chat with the city attorney about this and he says it’s serious. We better meet with the City and get yelled at. I’ll fill you in on the details of what you can expect from this “work out.”

MAY 11, 2022

I sent this email to my lawyer,

Hi Parrish,

I don't know where you are at with the city, but after a lot of thought, I have come up with a possible solution.

First off, I want to say that since the morning of March 18th when I heard about the shooting, it has affected my staff, the customers that were there and my wife and myself. It has also affected all of their children and loved ones and friends as well. It has affected our sleep, eating habits and pretty much all aspects of our lives. I can't express how much I am grateful that nobody was hurt. I'm also grateful and a bit surprised that not one staff member left our employ.

I understand that they have spoken about closures and hours changing. I don't think that solves any problems. Economically, it hurts the city, the state, the federal gov., my staff, suppliers, maintenance company, us and more. I have kept this from my staff and just about everybody else. I would like to keep it that way. I don't see any winners if this gets out. It will blow up social media, people will take sides and untrue rumors will rule the internet. It might also deter other business from reporting things to the police and it could deter other businesses from coming here.

I am also worried for my staff. Any changes to our hours will affect their income and some could quit. That won't be good because they know who the bad guys are, and they know how to handle situations.

Three of our bartenders have small children at home and one other employee pays child support. They can't afford a drop in pay and that worries me. There is no doubt that the shooting has hurt business and their pay.

My solution for this is to pay the city a 10,000.00 settlement and in the future all complaints and situations are dealt with in real time with the police and/or the city so we can work on real solutions. I can't tell you how much I detest bad people who perpetrate acts of violence. I have ideas on how to deal with some of these problems and they would require participation from the city, the police, business owners and most important in my opinion, the justice system. I want our business and all business in this city to be as safe as possible.

My explanation

There are a few reasons I wrote this letter. I wanted to know if money was part of the punishment they wanted to impose. It's not unusual in these situations. I also wanted to show that I was willing to sit down and meet with them about their so-called concerns about safety. As I said on other blogs, I will do a blog about safety and I can assure you they have not once in the 13 years I have held licenses showed any concerns about safety.

May 17, 2022

319. Below are a couple of excerpts from a City Council meeting May 17, 2022. Both, in my opinion are stupid.

MAYOR’S REPORT 6.1 6.2 Report from Mayor Paine MAYOR PAINE recommending the approval of R22-13598, a resolution introduced by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry of the City of Superior supporting the Proclamation of World Migratory Bird Celebration Day in the City of Superior. MOTION to approve by Councilor Bender, seconded by Councilor Johnson, and carried. 

10.3 CHIEF OF POLICE ALEXANDER recommending the non-renewal of alcohol and amusement device licenses relevant to Palace Bar, LLC for the license period of July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023; and further recommending that a public hearing be held before the Common Council at its Regular Meeting on June 7, 2022 on the matter.

320.

MAY 18, 2022

I got this email from my lawyer (See below)

Brian,

I owe you a return phone call. Before I do that, I have excerpted the substantive provisions/restrictions for the last “work out” that the city did.–See below. Regarding your proposal, the city isn’t going to accept $10,000.00. They’re looking for something more akin to the last proposal, although they probably don’t care about the human trafficking component. I know you don’t like the “reduced hours,” idea, but I would consider it a win, if they went for something like that. Anyway, I’ll try to call you this afternoon, or tomorrow.

Parrish

CONDITIONS

FAILURE TO STRICTLY ADHERE TO CONDITIONS

MY COMMENTS

This was not an offer from the city. This was an idea my lawyer had, based on events that happened at Lady Vi’s. At that time I was adamant about not taking a deal that would have the same punishment as a business that was involved in human trafficking, drugs and guns. In fact, there should have been no punishment at all except for the criminals involved. We had maximum staff and a bouncer. What else were we supposed to do? But you know who takes no responsibility? The cops. They never do. And I am not necessarily blaming them. But they knew who those two guys were. I didn’t. Also keep in mind we had never received any kind of offer to have a serious meeting about any of their concerns. In my opinion, they were planning this crime of taking down our business for quite some time. They were just waiting for the right time and this was it (or at least they thought so).

MAY 19, 2022

321, I got an email from my lawyer. (See below)

Brian and Sheilagh,

The city attorney just gave me the attached today. You can approach this one of two ways.

1. The first is to concede nothing and fight at every turn. That would involve appearing at the council meeting and if they revoke the license, you’d start a lawsuit. As part of the lawsuit, you’d seek an injunction. In order to obtain an injunction, you would have to prove irreparable harm and a substantial likelihood of success. That would be a tough and time intensive case and you’d probably need a big firm where they could assign an attorney who is essentially tasked with working on your file full time.
   
2. The other option is to enter into some form of compromise agreement. So we control the narrative, I suggest we provide a draft of the agreement first, then meet with the city next week. As I indicated, paying money is not an option. The agreement is going to have to include some form of reduced hours or temporary shutdown. If you make most of your money on the machines during the day and early evening, then reduced hours is an option. If you make most of your money during the late evening, then you might want to consider proposing a one-month shut down, resuming to regular hours thereafter. I can’t make any predictions about what the city would accept. These are just my own “damage control” ideas.

Regardless, I want you two at the June council meeting and possibly employees that make a good appearance. We need faces at the council meeting and you should also be calling your councilor. If you’re in town, we should meet tomorrow. I have an opening at 10 am.

Parrish J. Jones

322. Below is the email from the City Attorney Frog Prell.

"FROG PRELL LETTER"

COMMENTS

There are two letters here, one from Clerk Ramos and one from the Chief. I assume both were written by city attorney Frog Prell. I want to focus on the Chief’s letter. This letter was written in May, 2022. Since then, we have uncovered evidence that most of what he is saying is either not true or certainly exaggerated. And all that evidence was obtained from the city itself. We did not have any of that evidence back then, but the Chief did and yet he still signed off on this letter. The criteria the Chief is using in his letter would also apply to all of the most popular bars in town, which means there should have a bunch of bars who’s licenses should not have been renewed. Just go back to Blogs 22 and 27 and see the facts. Of course as I have always said, I don’t want any bars in town shut down. In my opinion, this is all part of a scheme started by the Mayor to shut us down. An opinion now supported by facts, their own facts. And for the Chief to sign off is shameful and irresponsible. 

What we have been able to prove through our Blogs is that the Palace was really not any different than all of the most successful bars in town. The only reason we were targeted was because of the sick and demented relationship between Mayor Paine and Melissa Hyatt. People ask me all the time what is that relationship. I don’t know. I could take a hundred guesses but I think we will find out in time. The best way to answer the question for now is, who cares? Sure, it would be nice to know to satisfy our curiosity but regardless of that, this story is about an out of control, corrupt Mayor using his power to help an equally out of control and unstable friend, Melissa Hyatt. And in the process he has tainted most of the upper management at the city including city council. I am really surprised and disappointed that somewhere along the line that someone in power did not, at some point say “Hey, wait a minute, there is something fishy here, we should not be closing anybody down without a full investigation”. But nobody did and here we are. It is sad when all the people you are supposed to trust to protect you, turns out you need to be protected from them. Very sad indeed.

323. On that note, one thing the Chief said in his letter was so lame and stupid that I decided to give him “A Special Kind Of Stupid Award”. It’s so full of crap that it’s laughable.

Here it is

“In October of 2021, an angry patron was reported to have "stabbed" an interior Palace Bar wall several times with a knife - yet another incident featuring the use of weaponry.”

COMMENTS

If this is one of your criteria to shut down a bar then I would say you would have to shut down just about all of them and all gas stations (ever been in their bathrooms?) In fact, you would have to shut down many other businesses as well. So Chief, enjoy your award. You earned it. That was a special kind of stupid.

324.

MAY 22, 2022

I sent my lawyer this email

Hi Parrish,

I thought about this all-day Saturday, and I think we should not present plan 2. That's the offer to close for a month. I think we present our story and see what happens. Let me know what you think. I hope to meet with that councilman when he gets back to town.

Brian

COMMENTS

I could not in good conscious agree to all kind of stipulations that were comparable to a bar that had serious charges brought to them by the city.

325.

MAY 23, 2022

I got an email from my lawyer.

Brian & Sheilagh,

I already mentioned the prospect of a sale and temporary shutdown while Jordan gets approved. Anyway, the City Attorney and I have been chatting and no one is committed to anything. Both Frog and I agree that Jordan needs to be part of the discussion. We want to try to have a meeting at City Hall tomorrow afternoon, with you, Jordan, Frog, the Chief and I. The Mayor is out of town). Are you folks available?

Parrish

COMMENTS

My lawyer and I had phone conversations about me selling the business to Jordan Wheat because the Mayor said there was no way he would sign off if me or my wife were on the license. I will speak at length on this in the next blog. 

326.

MAY 24, 2022

THE MEETING FROM HELL

I hate talking about this meeting because it really wasn't a meeting. It was an exercise, probably concocted by city attorney Prell so the city could say “Well, we gave them a meeting” in the event that down the road there could be litigation. I knew within 10 minutes this was a set-up. There was no offer, no agenda, no nothing. I have been in hundreds of meetings over the years with some of the most important CEO's and sales managers in the sporting good industries like NIKE, ADIDAS, STARTER and many many more.(I will talk more on this on the next Blog). At the meeting there was Frog Prell, Chief Alexander, Cpt. Winterscheidt, my lawyer, Jordan Wheat, my wife and me. The one person not there, who was responsible for this sham was not there. He was in Vegas baby, on your tax dollar.(see Blog 6). That would be the feckless, weak and now chicken, the embarrassment that goes by the moniker Mayor Jim Paine. This meeting did not have to be that day. He made sure he was out of town because this man-boy did not want to face us. Why would you schedule a meeting when you knew you were not going to be in town? To see this very, very busy Mayor’s schedule for that time period, click the link below.

See Paine Schedule May 2022

When I was little boy my mother used to say to me “My name is Tucker, not Sucker”. I hated that, because that meant I’d been screwed again by someone. I guess it was her way of trying to teach me to be more careful. Even thought she was not alive the day of that meeting, I think I could her voice. Guess what she was saying?

MAY 26, 2022

327. I got an email from my lawyer. He was sending me an email he got from Frog Prell. (See below)

From:Prell, Frog Sent:Thursday, May 26, 2022 8:38 AM
To:Parrish J. Jones Subject:Palace 

Good morning Parrish,

There was an incident behind the Palace Bar early this morning that involved a man shooting a 9mm semi auto handgun (no injuries). The arrestee had been inside the Palace before the shooting incident.Just thought I’d let you know.

COMMENTS

This of course is referring to the infamous NON-SHOOTING-SHOOTING. I did an entire Blog on this incident(Blog 23). Frog’s email was at 8:38 AM, only few hours after the incident occurred and the police reports were finished. Can you imagine how much Frog, the Chief and the Mayor were slobbering over this news? I have a reenactment of them above. There is just one little problem with Frog’s email. It didn’t happen at the Palace. All the Police reports substantiate this. Usually public officials wait until all the facts come in before making accusations. In the future maybe Frog should adhere to that. But since this fit their narrative, I guess he couldn't help himself.

328.

MAY 27, 2022

Got another email from my lawyer.

I spoke with Frog yesterday. The city wants the license and aren’t interested in a compromise agreement. We need to decide whether to fight them on the 8th, or surrender and revamp the operations with an eye toward applying for a new license under Jordan’s name. I’m in Florida right now, but I’ll be checking my email periodically.

Parrish

COMMENTS

One day after the incident, justice Superior style was served. Even the leaders of Russia, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba are jealous and put Superior on their “do not visit” list.

329.

MAY 28-JUNE 1, 2023

After talking to my lawyer, I decided to surrender the license and concentrate on selling the company to Jordan Wheat. The plan, before all this happened was to sell it to her anyway. I will talk more on that on the next blog. The vote to renew our license was to take place at a council meeting on June 8, 2022. That only gave us twelve days to figure some kind of defense. We were working to come to a resolution and never thought that they were going to take our license. In other words there was no Plan B. So, as much as I didn’t want to give up on getting a license, I really had no choice.

330.

JUNE 2, 2022

Another email from my lawyer.

Brian and Sheilagh,

The Mayor thinks I’m hatching some scheme and that gambling is going to continue on premises. It’s always been my understanding your gaming license is tied to your liquor license and that the gambling will terminate when the license expires. Do you agree?

My response to him.

Yes it is....we will be completely closed...no beer, no liquor, no gambling, no staff...no nothing.

he must be thinking of the businesses that were doing that during the pandemic shutdown.

shortys and the palace were completely closed at that time. by the way, were any of them charged?

COMMENTS

What is wrong with this guy? Talk about being paranoid, uninformed and stupid all at once. All the Mayor had to do was walk down the hall to the license office and he would have found out that the gaming is part of the license, they are not separate.

331.

JUNE 6, 2022

Email from my lawyer.

From:prellf@ci.superior.wi.us

Mon, Jun 6, 2022 at 8:20 AM

Thank you, Attorney Jones, for your June 6 letter. With your client’s withdrawal of his license renewal applications for the beer, liquor and amusement device licenses relevant to the Palace Bar premises, we will ask the common council to receive and file your communication with no need for a public hearing.

Very truly yours,

Frog

COMMENTS

The only takeaway from this is the following: “ With your client’s withdrawal of his license renewal applications”. Frog will mention this in many future corespondents as a legal point.

JUNE 29, 2022

The Palace’s final day in business. We then turned our efforts into selling the business to Jordan Wheat. More on that in the next blog.

332.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE BLOG?

The main purpose of the Blog is to get the truth with actual facts. Yes, there is lot of editorial as well, but getting the facts right is the most important part for me. From the very beginning, that fateful letter from the Mayor on April 12, 2022, I knew in my head and heart something was very wrong here. I knew the Palace was not any different than the other busy and successful bars in town and I also felt that somehow Melissa Hyatt had involvement in this as well. I never thought it was as much as I was about to uncover. We have proved that the Palace was no different when it came to incidents in Blog 22. The other part was trying to prove that this was a scheme between the Mayor and others including Melissa Hyatt to take away our license. A lot of what you have read indicates that is what happened, but I wanted more proof and today I have it. On Blog 28 I put in a few new texts between the Mayor and Melissa Hyatt but I didn’t. So today I will. Keep in mind these texts were done while we were still open.

TEXT # 1

JUNE 21, 2023 (6:24AM OF COURSE)

COMMENTS

First off, nothing she said was true (nothing new from this windbag). But what I take from it is this unelected rumor spreader once again says “WE”.

TEXT # 2

FROM THE MAYOR

COMMENTS

I might want a lawyer’s opinion on this one.

TEXT # 3

JUNE 23, 20222

COMMENTS

Notice the time Melissa Hyatt send the text 7:21PM. That’s rare for her. And the Mayor responds at 7:40PM. Now that’s service. Again no truth coming from the Menace of the Mid-West, Melissa Hyatt. It doesn’t even make sense. On a liquor license you can name anybody as the agent. Chains as well as others usually use the store manager or someone that works there. It’s like, “in case of emergency call”.



So why would she be furious even if I had. But I never even thought about that. She’s an idiot. And by the way Maiden Melissa, every license I had at Shorty’s or the Palace, I was listed as the agent.

The most important text of all the ones I’ve gotten is by far this one. The mayor says “that was their plan before we pulled the license”. That is him admitting that his intent all along was to pull the license. That’s why we were left in the dark and were never at the very least offered a chance to see if the situation could be rectified. That’s why he didn’t show up at that meeting. What would be the point if he already knew the outcome. There was never an offer to have an adult meeting because there never was gonna be one. And the second part of his text when he says “It won’t do much good for her to apply” is just as damming, but I will deal with that in the next Blog.

333.

IN CLOSING

This blog also exposes the very dishonest way our neighbor, Melissa Hyatt, the Superior Police Department, Mayor Jim Paine and City Council functioned in regards to Palace Bar.

From a neighbor who could have had a discussion instead of a spy ring to quell any problems she had with Palace Bar. To the lack of engagement the Superior Police had with ownership on events that took place. There was no real urgency in anything they did to crack down on problems. They preferred to listen to the crazy rantings of the neighbor instead of solving issues in real time. And then there’s the Mayor and City Council. The Mayor sent his minions out to do his dirty work. Never once a face to face sit down with us like he gave Melissa Hyatt. Everything was a secret “Behind the scenes” communication. NEVER a solution to solve their perceived matters at any point in time. The City Council never heard our side of the story because the Mayor’s attitude is always, “My way or the highway!” It’s amazing to me how people frankly don’t matter to those involved. To take away a business with no opportunity to find a solution is truly disgusting. To take away a business that is the sole existence of a livelihood for us is truly disgusting. To sweep a business under the rug and go to bed at night thinking that you solved a problem by closing it down is truly disgusting!

See you on the next Blog.

Brian