O'Dekirk Has Bad Idea For New Joliet Liquor Store: Ferak Column

JOLIET, IL — As part-time mayor of Joliet, private practice attorney Bob O'Dekirk also serves as the city's liquor commissioner. He has a lot of political clout over existing liquor license holders as well as any proposed bars and liquor stores that desire to open around Joliet.

On the other spectrum, there's David Nelson, owner of David Nelson Exquisite Jewelry, 1312 West Jefferson St. Nelson opened his jewelry store in November 1990. He is one of Joliet's most reputable business owners, and he's certainly one of Jefferson Street's shining gems.

Nelson Jewelry has a Google Reviews rating of 4.8 stars out of 5 and he has more than 5,200 Facebook followers of his business page. People drive from all over to buy their jewelry, watches and wedding rings inside Nelson's jewelry store.

"It is very evident that the store success is built on word-of-mouth. David’s expertise is designing custom jewelry. All work is done on the premises and the end results speak for itself," the Jefferson Street business Facebook page proclaims.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Joliet City Council will meet to review Mayor O'Dekirk's positive recommendation to let someone with no prior experience in the liquor industry open a new liquor store called Angie's Liquors at 1308 West Jefferson Street, in the same complex and shared parking lot as Nelson's jewelry store.

Documents provided to the City Council in preparation for the liquor license vote include the following information in regard to the Angie's Liquors proposal:

• "Approval of the requested liquor license should not alter the essential character of the area or the city as a whole."
• "Police Chief Dawn Malec states that she does not foresee any special law enforcement problems associated with the issuance of this liquor license."
• "Based on the liquor hearing, the Liquor Commission feels that the issuance of the liquor license would be in the best interest of the city and therefore recommends approval of the approval," O'Dekirk wrote in his memo urging their approval of Angie's Liquors.

Last summer, David Nelson Exquisite Jewelry was one of the main Jefferson Street businesses targeted by rioters and looters after the May 31 Black Lives Matter demonstration got out of hand.

That night, people began jumping on cars and throwing rocks and bottles at members of the Joliet Police Department. When the crowd was finally dispersed near the White Castle restaurant, several demonstrators set out to vandalize and steal merchandise from a number of Joliet merchants along Jefferson Street, retail stores at the North Ridge Plaza on Larkin Avenue as well as the Target store on Plainfield Road near the Louis Joliet Mall.

Joliet police made 30 arrests that night and most of them lived in the immediate Joliet area.

Fortunately, Nelson already had taken measures ahead of time to hide his store's valuables before the looters smashed his windows to invade his store late that night. Last summer during an interview, Nelson showed me a hammer that one of the looters used to try smashing his machines before dropping it inside his jewelry store.

After last summer's looting, you would think the city of Joliet would go the extra mile to accommodate Nelson, to make Nelson realize he is valued and appreciated, the same way O'Dekirk goes out of his way to regularly make Terry D'Arcy feel special.

Within the past year, the mayor and the Joliet City Council designated a commemorative street sign in D'Arcy's honor along Essington Road.

Unrelated, someone last summer proposed opening a used car dealership along Essington Road at the site of the Super Wash property, which is within a short walking distance from both Chignoli Auto Sales and D'Arcy Motors.

That project did not meet the Council's approval, and the Super Wash still stands a year later.

With Tuesday night's controversial vote nearing, the person proposing Angie's Liquors wants to be open in September, just in time for the NFL and Chicago Bears season.

Nelson has genuine fears that the future customers of the Angie's Liquors store would be bad news for his business.

He posted the following information on his business Facebook page in recent days:

"Monday July 19th and Tuesday July 20th the more people in attendance, the better for this. David Nelson will be in attendance on Tuesday July 20th at 6:30 p.m." He provided everyone with the following individual emails to write or call in opposition to the Council:

• Bgavin@joliet.gov 724-3745.
• cguerrero@joliet.gov (815) 724-3129
• Lhug@joliet.gov 325-0875
• Tmorris@joliet.gov 724-37420
• Pmudron@joliet.gov 724-3749
• Jquillman@joliet.gov 724-3744
• Sreardon@joliet.gov 724-3720
• jclement@joliet.gov (815) 724-3747

While the great majority of Joliet area liquor stores are reputable and manage to keep the troublemakers away, that isn't true everywhere across Joliet.

This September will mark the one-year anniversary since 20-year-old Joliet resident Xavier Mendoza and a 29-year-old New Lenox man, Zachary Stohr, were both fatally shot at the Ingalls Park Liquor Store on Joliet's Washington Street.

Mendoza was the targeted victim, and he got shot in the head as he sat inside his automobile in the liquor store parking lot. He died instantly.

Stohr was the innocent bystander who just happened to pull into the Ingalls Park Liquor Store parking lot and witness the premeditated killing of Mendoza. The killer then shot Stohr in the stomach, and he stumbled inside the liquor store and collapsed, bleeding profusely. An ambulance rushed him to Silver Cross Hospital. He died a short time later.

The Ingalls Park Liquor store double homicide remains unsolved at the Will County Sheriff's Office. That liquor store is considered Joliet Township, not city limits.

If the Joliet Council goes along with O'Dekirk's recommendation, there's a good chance that David Nelson Exquisite Jewelry will decide to pack its valuables and move somewhere else, maybe even outside Joliet altogether.

That would be a terrible trade off: losing Nelson Jewelers in exchange for gaining an Angie's Liquors next door.

I am not saying that Angie's Liquors should be permanently banned from ever opening in Joliet, but is the building next to Nelson's Jewelers the most ideal location? The answer is no way.

Joliet's City Council needs to reject the Angie's Liquors proposal. It's a bad fit for that particular location, plain and simple.

RELATED: 'Another Liquor Store On Jefferson Street? Asks Nelson Jewelry'