Monthly Meetings Minutes
MINUTES OF THE ABLE COMMISSION MEETING
The filing of the meeting and posting of the agenda were in accordance with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. The notice of the meeting was filed with the Secretary of State on October 5, 2022. The agenda was posted on March 22, 2023, on the front and back doors of the 50 Northeast 23rd Street building in Oklahoma City, the door of the ABLE Commission’s Office Reception area, and the ABLE Commission website.
Chairman Brooks called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. at the office of the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission at 50 Northeast 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105. A quorum was met with the presence of the following Commission members: Jonathan Brooks; Andrew Revelis; Matthew Crook; Bob Usry; Keith Mitchell and A. Ainslie Stanford II.
The visitors that were in attendance were: J.B Jarboe, Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits; Justin Naifeh, Republic National Distributing Company; Collin Graham, Oklahoma Restaurant Association; Alex Adkins, Beer Distributers of Oklahoma; Lynn Williams, Karen Nichols and Jose Posa, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation: Robert Jernigan and Dirk Van Veen, Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma; Attorney Randy Malone, Oklahoma Beverage Law; Lisette Barnes, Oklahoma Beer Alliance; Jose Almanzar, Homeland; Spencer Guinn, Guinn Strategies/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma; Edward Tuya, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; Terrin Tillman, ROCMND Youth Services; Heidi Shadid, LDF/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma; Ellen Spiropoulous, Phillips Murrah; and Gordon Green, Capital Distributing/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma.
The following ABLE Commission employees in attendance were: Director Brandon Clabes; Deputy Director/General Counsel Lori Carter; Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Treadwell; Captain Greg Bynum; Lieutenant Pedro Zardeneta; Captain Scott Smith; Lieutenant Cody Rekstad, Licensing Supervisor Carla Clanton; Executive Secretary Shae Isaacs; and Legal Administrative Assistant Kimberly Yates.
A roll call of the following ABLE Commissioners was announced: Chairman Jonathan Brooks, Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis, Commissioner Matthew Crook; Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry, Commissioner Keith Mitchell and Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II. All Commissioners were present. A quorum was then established for the ABLE Commission meeting March 24, 2023.
Deputy Director Lori Carter acknowledged that the ABLE Commission is compliant with the Open Meetings Act. A notice of the meeting and agenda were posted 48 hours prior to the meeting and in accordance with Oklahoma statute 25 O.S. §311.
Commissioner Usry made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 17, 2023 Commission meeting. Commissioner Revelis seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Matthew Crook – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2023:
Director Brandon Clabes provided the following information to the ABLE Commission:
· Director Clabes met with many different entities, committees and agencies including: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI), Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), Department of Public Safety (DPS), Rose State College Board of Regents meeting, Oklahoma Sheriff Association, Senate Appropriations hearing, Oklahoma State University (OSU) Department of Hospitality and Management Program and OSU Director of Public Safety Mike Robinson; Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES); Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBNDD); Department of Corrections (DOC); Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET); Representative Ross Ford, Senator Paul Rosino; Jeff and Kristy Murrow; Attorney General Gentner Drummond; Cabinet Secretary of Public Safety for the State of Oklahoma Tricia Everest; Oklahoma House of Representatives Floor Leader Jon Echols; along with several constituents and concerned citizens of the public.
· Director Clabes interviewed with several news stations regarding the ABLE Commission’s recent enforcement actions.
· Cheryl McNair, a Data Analyst with OJA, gave a presentation to the ABLE law enforcement staff regarding the data driven report system, PowerBI. The program is a research tool that will be beneficial in processing reports in a more efficient manner versus the manual form reports that the agents are currently using.
· Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued an opinion on March 15, 2023 that is important to the alcohol industry. A copy of the opinion was supplied to the Commissioners.
· The ABLE Commission Captains and a legal department representative is scheduled to receive their accreditation with the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (OLETS) this coming week. This system will assist the agency with criminal and background checks. More information will be distributed when that is completed.
· A conversation was held with Representative Ross Ford regarding a vape registration bill, House Bill 3615. The ABLE Commission will be responsible for the registration of the businesses throughout the state if it goes into effect later this year. At this time, there is not a vape manufacturer that has been approved through the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).
· Director Clabes has submitted a project request to implement the GeoSafe and Association of County and City Information System (ACCIS) programs. He is currently working with Robin Cheatwood with OMES in order to make this happen for ABLE.
· Captain Kent James is coordinating the revision of the ABLE Commission’s policy and procedures manual along with Lieutenant Ray Fells and Agent Doug Kimberlin. Updates of this very important project will be provided at a later date.
· The next ABLE Commission meeting will be in 4 weeks on April 21, 2023.
- The Licensing Supervisor and Project Manager, Carla Clanton, presented the Accela IT update. Ms. Clanton stated that she continues to meet with Accela on a bi-weekly basis regarding new and existing issues with the system. ABLE has reached the 1 year anniversary of the new Accela licensing system transition. She is still waiting on the Spanish option to be added to the program. Also, a form has been created in order to continue to track issues with Accela. She will update the Commission with the future progress and when the on-site training will take place. The latest count of registered ABLE licensed users that have registered in the new online system is 108,000.
The Enforcement Report was presented to the Commissioners:
- Assistant Director Fairchild, Captain Kent James, Captain Michael Randol and Captain Erik Smoot’s reports were previously supplied to the Commissioners.
- The following ABLE Commission Captains presented an update of their respective departments and tasks that have been completed since the last Commission meeting: Captain Scott Smith, Oklahoma City district; and Captain Greg Bynum, Trade Practices Unit.
Director Clabes stated that the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators conference is scheduled for June 11-14, 2023. The conference will be held at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel.
Deputy Director/General Counsel Lori Carter presented the following legal report to the Commission:
Deputy Director Carter stated that there have been 52 cases resolved and 5 cases still pending thus far for the month of March. She continues to work with the legislature on the ABLE Commission’s budget request and is still tracking bills from the House and Senate that may affect the ABLE Commission. She mentioned a few of the bills that she is currently tracking for ABLE: Senate Bills 483, 639, 796, 800, and; House Bills 2238 and 2640. She attended a legal course in employment law to better assist the agency and continues to interact with the legislature on behalf of the ABLE Commission. She will provide future reports.
The ABLE Commission/OSBI Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Treadwell, presented a PowerPoint presentation and covered the following topics: revenue, transfer of revenue, expenditures, and refunds.
Chairman Brooks moved to Item #13, comments from the public.
- Robert Jernigan with the Retail Liquor Association stated that he is in support for a budget increase for the ABLE Commission and made a statement regarding Senate Bill 796.
- Dirk Van Veen with the Retail Liquor Association made a statement regarding enforcement assistance with detecting false identifications and inquired about how to follow up with complaints that have been filed.
- Samantha Guinn with the Institute for Responsible Alcohol Policy made a comment regarding Senate Bill 792 and alcohol mail order shipments.
- Spencer Guinn with Guinn Strategies/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma concurred with the sentiments of Mr. Jernigan and Ms. Guinn regarding Senate Bill 792.
Chairman Brooks moved on to Item #15, Executive Session to discuss ABLE Personnel Action pursuant to 25 O.S. § 307 (B)(1). Commissioner Mitchell made a motion to move into Executive Session. Commissioner Usry seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Matthew Crook – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
Commissioners entered Executive Session at 11:08am.
Commissioners exited Executive Session at 12:04pm.
Commissioner Crook dismissed himself immediately after executive session was complete. A quorum was still met with his absence.
Chairman Brooks called the meeting to order at 12:04pm and called for a motion to return from Executive Session. Commissioner Usry made the motion to return from Executive Session. Commissioner Revelis seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Matthew Crook – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
Chairman Brooks stated that he and the Commissioners were very satisfied with the outstanding performance of Executive Director Clabes for his first 6 months.
No action was taken after Executive Session.
Commissioner Revelis made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Stanford seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
The meeting was then adjourned at 12:15pm.
Meeting minutes were signed by Jonathan Brooks, Chairman.
MINUTES OF THE ABLE COMMISSION MEETING
The filing of the meeting and posting of the agenda were in accordance with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. The notice of the meeting was filed with the Secretary of State on October 5, 2022. The agenda was posted on February 15, 2023, on the front and back doors of the 50 Northeast 23rd Street building in Oklahoma City, the door of the ABLE Commission’s Office Reception area, and the ABLE Commission website.
Chairman Brooks called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. at the office of the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission at 50 Northeast 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105. A quorum was met with the presence of the following Commission members: Jonathan Brooks; Andrew Revelis; Bob Usry; Keith Mitchell and A. Ainslie Stanford II.
The visitors that were in attendance were: J.B Jarboe, Southern Glazers Wine and Spirits; Sidney Lee, Quorum Call; Patrick Gaines, Craft Brewers Association; Justin Naifeh, Republic National Distributing Company; Collin Graham, Oklahoma Restaurant Association; Robert Jernigan, Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma; Attorney Randy Malone, Oklahoma Beverage Law; Attorney Trey Kouri; Stacy Potter, Responsible Beverage Service and Sales Training; Samantha Guinn, Institute for Responsible Alcohol Policy; Spencer Guinn, Quinn Strategies/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma; Lauren Kidwell and Edward Tuya, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; Anne McKinney, Oklahoma Beer Alliance; Brett Robinson, Haley Faulkenberry, Chad Hitchcock and Kevin Hitchcock, Beer Distributors of Oklahoma; James Wilkins and Heidi Shadid, LDF/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma; Ellen Spiropoulous, Phillips Murrah; Gordon Green, Capital Distributing/ Beer Distributors of Oklahoma; Tommy McDaniel and Russell Thorpe, Oklahoma Distillers Guild.
The following ABLE Commission employees in attendance were: Director Brandon Clabes; Deputy Director/General Counsel Lori Carter; Assistant Director Brent Fairchild; Captain Erik Smoot; Captain Greg Bynum; Captain Kent James; Captain Michael Randol; Captain Scott Smith; Lieutenant Cody Rekstad, Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Treadwell; Licensing Supervisor Carla Clanton; Customer Service Representative Taylor Hamlin, Executive Secretary Shae Isaacs; and Office Assistant Kimberly Yates.
A roll call of the following ABLE Commissioners was announced: Chairman Jonathan Brooks, Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis, Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry, Commissioner Keith Mitchell and Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II. A quorum was then established for the ABLE Commission meeting February 17, 2023.
Deputy Director Lori Carted acknowledged that the ABLE Commission is within compliance of the Open Meetings Act. A notice of the meeting was posted pursuant to the Oklahoma statute 25 O.S. §301-314 48 hours prior to the meeting.
Commissioner Revelis made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 20, 2023, Commission meeting. Commissioner Mitchell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT FOR JANUARY 2023:
Director Brandon Clabes provided the following information to the ABLE Commission:
· Director Clabes introduced the ABLE Commission’s newest employee, customer service representative Taylor Hamlin, and welcomed her to the agency.
· Director Clabes met with many different entities, committees and agencies including: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations (OSBI), Office of Juvenile Affairs, Metro Tech Superintendent Aaron Collins and Training Coordinator Jeremy Cowley, Lisette Barnes, Oklahoma Beer Alliance; LDF Company, Beer Distributers of Oklahoma; Oklahoma City Anheuser-Busch; Costco; Pope Distributing; Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services; Representatives Ross Ford, Andy Fugate, Max Wolfley, Mike Osburn, Ronny Johns, Danny Williams, Jared Deck, Dale Kerbs, John George, Robert Manger, Danny Williams, Jared Deck, Collin Duel, Kevin West and Chairman Kevin Wallace; Senators Jessica Garvin, Kristen Thompson, Darrell Weaver, Shane Jett, Grant Green and Paul Rosino; Jeff and Kristy Murrow; Cabinet Secretary of Public Safety for the State of Oklahoma Tricia Everest; Oklahoma House of Representatives Floor Leader Jon Echols; along with several constituents and concerned citizens of the public.
· Director Clabes recognized Captain Erik Smoot to model the new ABLE Commission agents’ uniforms that will be utilized for field work.
· The ABLE Commission is still in the process of expanding our Oklahoma Law Enforcement Telecommunications System to every ABLE Commission Captain and the legal department representative for criminal and background checks. More information will be distributed when that is complete.
· The ABLE Commission is working with the Office of Juvenile Affairs regarding a new law enforcement system called PowerBI. It will eliminate the need for paper reports and is data driven. More information will be provided once available.
· Captain Erik Smoot is currently working with the Council on Law Enforcement and Training regarding creating alcohol training videos for police academies to be part of their basic training. Once the video is complete, it will be distributed to the Commission.
· Captain Kent James, Lieutenant Ray Fells and Agent Doug Kimberlin are organizing the policy and procedures for the ABLE Commission.
· The next ABLE Commission meeting will be in 5 weeks on March 24, 2023.
- The Licensing Supervisor and Project Manager, Carla Clanton, presented the Accela IT update. Ms. Clanton stated that that she continues to meet with Accela on a bi-weekly basis regarding new and existing issues with the system. She has requested for more involvement with the upgrades to the ABLE version of Accela and product changes. She is still waiting on the Spanish option to be added to the program. As of the meeting date, there are 11 open cases and 17 closed or resolved cases. She will update the Commission with the future progress and when on-site training will take place. The latest count of registered ABLE licensed users that have registered in the new online system is 99,828.
The Enforcement Report was presented to the Commissioners:
- Assistant Director Fairchild presented a PowerPoint presentation over the ABLE Commission’s law enforcement districting mission and how the manpower is allocated among the agents. The presentation covered the following topics: ABLE Agent personnel placement and deployment, new district re-districting, allocating assets, map location of current assets, asset placement and factors determining deployment, administrative and criminal violations per county from 01/04/2019-07/01/2022, assignments issued from 01/31/2018-08/15/2022, population of the state compared to current asset locations, current ABLE licensed businesses per county, and balance between regulation and enforcement.
- Chairman Brooks inquired about a future plan and balance between regulation and enforcement with anticipation of possible new agents.
- The following ABLE Commission Captains presented an update of their respective departments and tasks that have been completed since the last Commission meeting: Captain Kent James, Tulsa district; Captain Michael Randol, McAlester district; Captain Scott Smith, Oklahoma City district; Captain Erik Smoot, Alcohol and Tobacco Training Unit; and Captain Greg Bynum, Trade Practices Unit.
Captain Erik Smoot also gave an update on the upcoming National Conference of State Liquor Administrators conference scheduled for June 11-14, 2023. The conference will be held at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel.
Deputy Director/General Counsel Lori Carter presented the following legal report to the Commission:
Deputy Director Carter stated that there have been 13 cases resolved thus far for the month of February. There are 51 pending cases for March and April. Also, the legal department will be transitioning all hearings for Mondays only due to the availability of the Administrative Law Judge. There are approximately 55 bills that are being tracked that may affect the ABLE Commission. Deputy Director Carter is also currently working with the legislature on the ABLE Commission’s budget request. She continues to interact with the legislature on behalf of the ABLE Commission and will provide future reports.
The ABLE Commission/OSBI Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Treadwell, presented a PowerPoint presentation and covered the following topics: revenue, transfer of revenue, historical revenue, expenditures, refunds, and departmental updates.
Chairman Brooks moved to Item #13, comments from the public.
- Edward Tuya with Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services thanked the Commission for the information distributed during the meeting and explained how it affects his agency.
- Ellen Spiropoulous with Phillips Murrah expressed how enforcement is affected at the business retail level and thanked Assistant Director Fairchild for the information that was distributed during his report.
Chairman Brooks moved on to Item #14, Executive Session to discuss ABLE Personnel Action pursuant to 25 O.S. § 307 (B)(1). Commissioner Mitchell made a motion to move into Executive Session. Commissioner Revelis seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
Chairman Brooks called the meeting to order and called for a motion to return from Executive Session. Commissioner Mitchell made the motion to return from Executive Session. Commissioner Stanford seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Mitchell – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
No action was taken after Executive Session.
Commissioner Revelis made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Usry seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Chairman Jonathan Brooks – Yes
Vice Chairman Andrew Revelis – Yes
Commissioner Robert “Bob” Usry – Yes
Commissioner Keith Revelis – Yes
Commissioner A. Ainslie Stanford II – Yes
The meeting was then adjourned.
Meeting minutes were signed by Jonathan Brooks, Chairman.
