The Rochester village president has denied a liquor license to the business owner that recently evicted his son.
At issue is the future of the building that once housed The Alibi, a bar and restaurant at 320 E. Main St. in Rochester. The building’s most recent tenant was Ben Suerdieck, who was evicted June 13 by a Sangamon County judge for failing to pay $9,075 in rent.
The landlord also alleged in a court filing that Ben Suerdieck had failed to maintain the property, lost water service to the building because he did not pay utility bills and was so behind on taxes that the state restricted his ability to renew his liquor and gaming licenses.
Ben Suerdieck did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Illinois Times.
The week after Ben Suerdieck was evicted, his former landlord, who sought to reopen a business in the building, had his application for a liquor license rejected. The decision was made by Village President Joe Suerdieck, who is also the municipality’s liquor commissioner and the father of Ben.
Village Trustee Harry Hendrickson said the action would appear to be a personal vendetta. But he added he can’t say for sure because Joe Suerdieck has refused to give an explanation to anyone on the village board.
Joe Suerdieck declined comment when contacted by Illinois Times.
While Suerdieck’s title is village president, he is informally called “mayor” by other village trustees and members of the community.
“All I could think of is there’s some sort of conflict of interest and the mayor should have recused himself. … and passed it on to us trustees, but we didn’t know anything about it until it was already denied,” said Trustee Chadd Carver.
Carver said the mayor owes the community an explanation for his action.
“There is no legal conflict of interest here,” village attorney Stephen Hedinger said. “Is there a personal conflict? Well, these things happen in small towns where everyone knows everyone. They are going to have to work their way through this sticky situation.”
Mark Clemens, a partner in Superior 3 Treasures LLC, which owns the building at 320 Main E. St., told Illinois Times he plans to appeal the denial to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. He declined to comment further, citing pending litigation.
But he made his frustration clear at a June 26 village board meeting.
During the meeting he said, “On June 16, I went and talked to Joe (Suerdieck) at his shop here in town. We had a nice conversation, very civil conversation. We both spoke our minds. And it was again brought up to me that he had recused himself from these proceedings and would let the village board decide. On Thursday, June 23, of the following week, I received a letter from the village president and liquor commissioner stating, ‘I have determined that your application has been denied.’ When asked for a further explanation, the village attorney said, ‘The Mayor chose to exercise his discretion in that manner.’
“I would like the trustees to note that on three separate occasions, I was told that the village president and liquor commissioner had either recused himself from this process or was asking for the board to give their input and … leave it up to the board of trustees to decide. When the Sangamon County judicial system ruled against the village president’s family, he decided to misuse his power and deny a valid applicant.”
Trustee Carver said it is his opinion that all members of the village board, except Suerdieck, believe a liquor license should be issued.
“He passed his background check, and he passed everything he needed to get the liquor license,” he said of the new applicant.
Carver added there is concern that the village may be sued, and if such a lawsuit were successful, he believes Suerdieck should resign.
“It would look like he’s just mad at this guy for kicking his son out and is going after him. But I don’t know that that’s the case. It sure smells bad, though. … I think it totally opens us up to a lawsuit. And that should be a major concern.”
This article appears in Growing a garden for children.
Wa, wa, wah! You have to be careful who you piss off in a small town, cause everybody knows everybody, and chances are, they’re related somehow! Now you got an empty old gas station, nobody wants, maybe should have worked something out with Ben? Do things amicably, instead of being a Dick and changing locks on the building, while the man’s trying to resurrect his business!
Maybe Ben should have paid his rent???
Superior 3 Treasures LLC bought the property on 1/11/23 under the Retail description of “Investors! Here???s your chance to own a lucrative commercial space in Rochester, presently operating as The Alibi Bar & Grill. This full service, 2000 Sq Ft building was completely rehabilitated in 2016, and tenant is currently serving a modified gross lease through 2025.” Five months later, they decide to kick out the tenant. Sounds like their intention from the beginning was to take over the business location. Good for the local mayor!
Michael Gorbett, or maybe Ben should have paid his rent and water bill. Him being a crappy businessman doesn’t mean his dad gets to be dictator. Wonder why privileged people like them think they should be able to do whatever they want?
Michael Gorbet: Typical Sangamon County BS. People around here need to Grow Up and starting doing the Right thing instead of always playing politics. This situation plays out daily around here and honestly people are sick of this behavior.
Being an elected official is Public Service and you work for the citizens, not your ego or your political party. If you cant do the job we have plenty of people who can do it correctly.
If you think this is bad you should investigate Pawnee’s mayor Jeff Clarke. He does this kind of stuff all of the time. Look into his sexisim towards female owned bar owners, his behavior after the large Pawnee fire and so much more. Its incredible what he gets away with.