Woman Says Greenfield Bartender License Application Is Sexist

GREENFIELD, WI -- A bartender who works in Greenfield is circulating a petition, saying the community's bartender licensing process is sexist against women.

Angela Vazquez contacted Patch.com this week, citing a local ordinance that requires women to pay an $8 licensing fee for every last name a woman has ever held.

"To apply for a license in Greenfield, women have to pay $8 for every last name, which is unfair because men don't change their last name," Vazquez told Patch. "I want to make a change for women bartenders in Greenfield that is equal to all men and women. We as women should not be penalized for having been married - some more then once."

Vazquez has started a petition calling for Greenfield to change its local licensing procedures so that women and men pay the same amount.

You can review that petition here.

Vazquez, a bartender at the Meyers Family Restaurant in Greenfield, said she first learned about the local ordinance when she went to apply for her bartender's license in June 2018. It's then that she learned that she'd have to pay $24 for her current last name, her maiden name and another name she had from a previous marriage.

According to local ordinances, "Whenever a personal history search is required prior to the issuance of a City license or permit, an additional $8.00 for each personal history search to be conducted shall be collected by the City Clerk." The ordinance was signed into law in March 2014 by Mayor Michael J. Neitzke and City Clerk Jennifer Goergen.

Vazquez said she questioned the fairness with Greenfield officials, only to be told that "every city" had this kind of ordinance. She told officials that she holds a similar license in Milwaukee and also in West Allis, and that she had not been similarly charged based on her former last names.

Greenfield Alder Pam Akers said she was contacted by Vazquez on Wednesday, and said she reached out to her Thursday evening over the issue.

Akers told Patch that she agrees that the issue affects female license applicants and even a few men who have also had last name changes. Akers said she planned to bring up the bartender licensing issue at the next legislative committee meeting and told Patch that she received confirmation that the issue will be on the April 29 meeting. The meeting will be held at Greenfield City Hall, room 100 at 6:30 pm.

Vazquez said she went to Greenfield City Hall to find out how to make a change in the local law. She's now circulating the petition in an effort to raise public awareness over the issue.

"To me, this is discrimination against women and it shouldn't be. It's unfair and sexist," she told Patch.