Lost in translation at City Hall

One day shy of her three-month store anniversary, Aubrey Sanders of The Whimsy Bar was contacted by a City of Globe representative for possible city code violations. 

It was a busy morning. “I was getting ready to open, it was homecoming and I open at 11. 

People were sitting for the parade outside of my store. We had cookies and drinks, and we were getting ready for the parade to start at noon,” Sanders said. She said she also was planning special crafts to have ready during the parade. 

Sanders said she noticed a missed call and saw that she had an email from Mary Helen Sanchez, licensing administrator for the city. In the email, Sanders said, “She told me I had 3 ½ hours to respond to her, and 3 hours and 10 minutes had already passed.” 

Instead of emailing back, she said she went down the block to Globe City Hall to address the situation. Sanders is the only employee of her business, so she left her friend watching her kids and the store.

When at the city offices she was able to meet with Sanchez who asked for a list of employees for her event. Sanders said she didn’t specify which event, so Sanders assumed it was the December event she was planning and told her that wasn’t due yet. “I don’t know what the confusion was, or where she got her information from,” she said.  

Sanders is planning a vendor market in December. She explained that all of the vendors will have a business license or will be seasonal 1099 employees. Sanders said the situation snowballed from there. Sanchez told her that she has no employees listed on her business license application – she printed it out and highlighted it to show her.

“At the end of the day, I know I don’t need to give a list of my employees. I don’t know everything about city code, but I do know a bit about city law,” Sanders said. “I know I don’t need to file a permit for my event yet.” Sanders said she was shaking at that point and stated she felt bullied by someone who has all the power to grant the permits and licensing. 

Sanders said she asked several times why she set the deadline for that day with 3 ½ hours to respond, but  never got an answer. 

Before going back to her store, Sanders said she talked to another business owner to vent and he said he would look into it. He reached out to the city manager, Paul Jepson, on her behalf. 

Jepson reached out to Sanders and told her that three days prior to them speaking, they were granted the opportunity to open up the business codes and present changes to city council. They are specifically looking into “mom and pop-type businesses,” Sanders said.  She added that he was helpful and seemed to be attempting to smooth things over. 

Jepson provided further information to Globe Miami Times and said he reached out to Sanders about 4 p.m. Oct. 9. He told her she didn’t need to send the requested information. He said that he can’t say if a deadline like the one Sanders had been given was typical. From his understanding, “The email that Mary Helen sent and in my conversation with Aubrey, was always about the future event (in December).”  

Jepsen added that the city is in the process of changing business license requirements and he understood that Sanchez was not aware of changes being made. 

Business license requirements are about 20-30 years old, according to Jepson, and there is a limited number of people who are exempt.  Adding that , because they’re looking at exempting “mom and pop” type businesses from needing a business license, they put a freeze on enforcing it at certain levels. This was originally proposed Oct. 7 and took effect Oct. 12. 

The businesses they’re looking at are people who come in and make crafts at home; ie, people without a brick-and-mortar building who don’t craft to make a living. The code would also include vendors who come in for events like Wings of Hope, car shows, and the Farmers Market. 

Council will review changes on Oct. 27.

Sanders said that changing codes will ease the pressure put on business owners and, currently, the information to start a business is not accessible. 

She said it’s confusing because the city is trying to encourage new businesses, yet the process is not reflecting that.

“Maybe this experience is unique, but everyone else I’ve worked with has been lovely. When I was trying to get my business license, I went in and brought the application down to the city. They told me Mary Helen wasn’t in and I was told that they don’t take physical paper forms,” Sanders said. 

She said she was given the website to complete the application, which she did. She said when she called to follow-up, she was told that she needed inspections before they would look at the license application. “This was the first I heard of this and I was in a time crunch to open the store in 3 weeks,” Sanders said.

Being given no direction, Sanders said she kept calling different city employees to try to figure out what the inspections were and was finally able to reach the permit technician who helped her get the inspections scheduled. 

With help from Katrina Estrada, permit technician, Sanders said she was granted her business license on July 9 – one day before her scheduled grand opening. 

Sanders said she has talked to other business owners who told her they have been waiting more than a year to get a business license. Some have been allowed to operate conditionally while they wait. 

Despite the bumps in the road, Sanders has remained positive about the future of her business. She said she is grateful that Jepson reached out to provide answers and solutions she wasn’t expecting, and that “The show will go on!”