Under pressure from the city, many downtown bars repealed their controversial ID policies that required patrons to provide valid driver's licenses or passports to enter.
City officials expressed concerns at a meeting in October about racial discrimination that surfaced from the ID policy some campus area bars initiated last summer. The policy kept those with only state-issued identification from entering bars.
According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, Wando's and Johnny O's recently removed signs from their windows saying state-issued identifications would not be accepted.
Logan's Madtown on Johnson Street discontinued the policy on Nov. 4., Verveer said.
"These bar owners are interested in doing the right thing," Verveer said. "They have asked me and other city officials if what they are doing is legal and appropriate."
Verveer told the Wisconsin State Journal Wando's owner Jay Wanserski said he repealed the policy out of fear the city would revoke his liquor license if he continued the policy.
Several city committees, such as the Alcohol License Review Committee, have addressed the issue recently, while former Alder Brenda Konkel initiated a group on Facebook discouraging the policy.
Verveer said he "[does not] blame establishments for abandoning policy given the controversy it has developed."
Verveer said Mayor Paul Soglin held a meeting last Tuesday to discuss the ID policy, at which he called on the city attorney to conduct further research so that the city can take a formal position on the policy.
"[Soglin] has taken very seriously the concerns raised by members in the community," Verveer said. "He made it a personal issue for him to make sure the city does ascertain any violations of the law."
