Monday night the Bloomington city council approved Total Wine's liquor license for a store that has sat empty for nearly a year. Proponents from Total Wine and the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association (a lobbying group for 2,100 small liquor stores and bars) re-hashed their arguments for the city council as if the seven council members were hearing them for the first time.

Scores of audience members sat patiently, at first, as they waited for their issue to come up on the agenda--the pavement management program. One by one, two by two, they left in exasperation as the Total Wine/MLBA lawyers and lobbyists sparred from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m..

But shortly before the vote, things got interesting. MLBA president Frank Ball accused Total Wine of selling below cost. And he had proof that Total Wine was commiting infractions even on the day of the city council license vote. He gave an example of a 750 ml. bottle of Kendall Jackson wine purchased Monday morning at the TW in Roseville for $8.99. The wholesale price is $9.60, he said. Ball then showed receipts of the purchase and included two more examples of TW selling below cost (Budweiser 24-pk for $15.24; wholesale $15.95) and Coors Lite.

At the end of Ball's comments, council member Jack Baloga said that he too is a purchaser of Kendall Jackson. "I purchase it for less than $8.99 75 percent of the time," he said. The tables started to turn when Baloga mentioned that he was getting those below-cost prices at liquor stores other than Total Wine. He asked Ball, "So it's not uncommon to sell below cost, even for members of your own association?"

Council member Dwayne Lowman said that he too buys Kendall Jackson for less than $8.99 per bottle in Bloomington liquor stores no less. "If we're going to bring up these below cost price issues, we ought to be enforcing them across all retailers, not just Total Wine," he said.

Council members had a whole year to sort out the reasons for their vote. Most of them referenced the decision by the administrative law judge recommending approval of the license. Both Lowman and Baloga voted for approving Total Wine's liquor license without conditions.