Caro councilman on microdistillery: ‘We stopped business’

Caro City Council member Joe Greene accused his fellow elected officials of discrimination, overstepping its bounds, and colluding to effectively run a $1.2 million investment out of town.

Joe Greene, member, Caro City Council, even took an opportunity to step away from the council’s table to address the board and those in attendance as a member of the community – a first in his 10 years as an elected official.

His message?

Caro elected officials blew an opportunity presented to them by Scott Romain – a Caro native who proposed to build a $1.2 million rum microdistillery/restaurant in downtown Caro, a project many have recently said would bring much needed business activity into town.

Instead, Caro City Council voted Sept. 19 against recommending the project receive the necessary liquor licenses. The official reason given to the state was that it was too close to a church.

“When we did this, it came to be that we were taking on the state’s responsibility to approve the liquor license – we said it was within a certain distance of a church or school,” said Greene, who cast one of two votes recommending Romain be granted the licenses.

“We were the judge and jury before they even had a chance to move that far,” Greene said. “We stopped business.” (Read more)

(This story originally appeared in the Oct. 19, 2016 print edition of The Tuscola County Advertiser and can be read online in its entirety here.)