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Minocqua Brewing Company being shut down by MAGA county zoning board
Last edited Thu Aug 3, 2023, 11:56 AM - Edit history (1)
If you've been following the Minocqua Brewery on Facebook, you know that they are an unabashedly liberal company in the heart of MAGA country in northern Wisconsin. They have been officially shut down by the right-wing county zoning board for bullshit reasons. Here's the owner's plea.
Hi Friends,
The worst case scenario happened yesterday.
Three white conservative men, barely a quorum of a county zoning committee consisting of only five white conservative men, voted to revoke the Minocqua Brewing Company’s permit to do business.
The evidence of political targeting and selective enforcement by the Town of Minocqua and Oneida County is staggering, and we presented it all at yesterday’s meeting.
Our supporters sent over 8,000 emails to the county board pleading for them to come to their senses.
Over 5,000 of you signed a petition pleading for this board to take their partisan blinders off and simply act like rational adults.
The folks who showed up at both hearings to shut us down overwhelmingly supported our business and spoke clearly and passionately about why what these men were doing was wrong.
Not trusting that the zoning committee would allow me to speak after they posted a public agenda that intimated that they wouldn’t allow me to speak, I had 8 volunteers recount every logical angle of why, through either gross incompetence, maliciousness, or a combination of both, our permits were illegally processed, and why the violations used as evidence against us should be nullified.
These three men, barely a quorum, LISTENED TO NONE OF IT.
They knew they would revoke our permit to do business before they arrived at the meeting yesterday, but they needed a “public hearing” to provide legal cover to do their dirty work.
All of this is absolutely galling, and enough to make one speechless.
So what are we doing now?
We are appealing this decision to the county administrative committee that oversees the zoning committee.
In conjunction to that probably-fruitless effort (most of the administrative committee is also deeply Republican and part of the Old Boy’s Network), we will be asking a federal court for an injunction to stop the county from enforcing this hateful decision.
Why a federal court?
This is 100% a First Amendment constitutional issue. Our town and county are retaliating against us for being loudly progressive in a deeply red MAGA Republican area.
We now have to dive fully into intense legal action, and my company’s top source of revenue, our Tap Room in Minocqua, has technically been shut down.
I will try to stay open as we’re filing appeals, but I’m not sure how long that will last.
I think what has been done to my company is wrong, and I believe they did this to stop my company’s public activism that helped elect Governor Evers, State Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz, and to stop our upcoming lawsuit to rid Wisconsin of its parasitic private school voucher system.
From my point of view, this is much larger than a local zoning battle. What was done yesterday was an affront to everything I take pride in as an American…transparency, due process, fairness, industry, a can-do spirit, independence....
...and from an even deeper set of values, I strongly believe that these guys just broke the Golden Rule, which is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
If you believe in my company's simple goal to exist without harassment, I could use some help to offset what I believe will be some very hefty legal expenses. Please chip in here if you can.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saveminocquabrewing
Thanks for your continued support.
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC
The worst case scenario happened yesterday.
Three white conservative men, barely a quorum of a county zoning committee consisting of only five white conservative men, voted to revoke the Minocqua Brewing Company’s permit to do business.
The evidence of political targeting and selective enforcement by the Town of Minocqua and Oneida County is staggering, and we presented it all at yesterday’s meeting.
Our supporters sent over 8,000 emails to the county board pleading for them to come to their senses.
Over 5,000 of you signed a petition pleading for this board to take their partisan blinders off and simply act like rational adults.
The folks who showed up at both hearings to shut us down overwhelmingly supported our business and spoke clearly and passionately about why what these men were doing was wrong.
Not trusting that the zoning committee would allow me to speak after they posted a public agenda that intimated that they wouldn’t allow me to speak, I had 8 volunteers recount every logical angle of why, through either gross incompetence, maliciousness, or a combination of both, our permits were illegally processed, and why the violations used as evidence against us should be nullified.
These three men, barely a quorum, LISTENED TO NONE OF IT.
They knew they would revoke our permit to do business before they arrived at the meeting yesterday, but they needed a “public hearing” to provide legal cover to do their dirty work.
All of this is absolutely galling, and enough to make one speechless.
So what are we doing now?
We are appealing this decision to the county administrative committee that oversees the zoning committee.
In conjunction to that probably-fruitless effort (most of the administrative committee is also deeply Republican and part of the Old Boy’s Network), we will be asking a federal court for an injunction to stop the county from enforcing this hateful decision.
Why a federal court?
This is 100% a First Amendment constitutional issue. Our town and county are retaliating against us for being loudly progressive in a deeply red MAGA Republican area.
We now have to dive fully into intense legal action, and my company’s top source of revenue, our Tap Room in Minocqua, has technically been shut down.
I will try to stay open as we’re filing appeals, but I’m not sure how long that will last.
I think what has been done to my company is wrong, and I believe they did this to stop my company’s public activism that helped elect Governor Evers, State Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz, and to stop our upcoming lawsuit to rid Wisconsin of its parasitic private school voucher system.
From my point of view, this is much larger than a local zoning battle. What was done yesterday was an affront to everything I take pride in as an American…transparency, due process, fairness, industry, a can-do spirit, independence....
...and from an even deeper set of values, I strongly believe that these guys just broke the Golden Rule, which is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
If you believe in my company's simple goal to exist without harassment, I could use some help to offset what I believe will be some very hefty legal expenses. Please chip in here if you can.
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/saveminocquabrewing
Thanks for your continued support.
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company
Founder, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
This whole thing so sucks!!! I hope Wisconsin turns deep blue this next election!
