Jam-Rock bar denied liquor license over years-old incident

GREEN BAY – The owner of now-closed Jam Rock bar in Green Bay said he was hopeful the worst was over when he appealed the Common Council’s denial of his liquor license.

After all, the council had twice approved a license renewal in the two years following an altercation between owner Recordo Neil and a patron whom Neil said refused to leave the bar and jumped him after it was closed.

Neil said he was disappointed July 7 when the council unanimously denied his appeal for the license renewal for Jam Rock, 700 Bodart St., leading to its closure. He doesn’t like the way the council handled the process, as he didn’t have the opportunity to speak at earlier meetings, he said.

“It’s horrible. It sucks,” he said. He doesn’t know what he will do next. He might go back to school, he said.

His attorney Heather Lynn Richmond said improvements have been made and the bar had fewer police calls this year than some other bars in the area.

The alders spent all but 10 minutes of the hour-and-40-minute meeting discussing Jam Rock’s appeal, with most of their time focused on a Jan. 27, 2024 incident with no apparent witnesses to an altercation, except for Neil and the patron who allegedly refused to leave and fought with Neil.

Neil said he was scared when a patron, who was larger than Neil, wrestled with him. The man had boasted about “how gangster he is,” Neil told a reporter.

The patron also said he was killer from Chicago and told Neil he had killed “for less than 20 bucks,” Neil said. This information hasn’t been verified.

Neil said the patron told him he’s “not paying for his drinks because these [women] don’t pay for these drinks.” Neil went to get a gun from a back room to encourage the man to leave, but he didn’t plan to use it, he said. When the patron fought with Neil, Neil dropped the gun, according to the video footage.

Neil’s attorney said the black business owner was targeted, as other bars had more police calls and disturbances but weren’t in jeopardy of losing their liquor licenses. Many of the calls at Jam Rock were for disturbances outside the bar, Richmond said.

Before voting to deny Jam Rock’s license renewal, the council had viewed the surveillance video of the January 2024 altercation.

Council President Alyssa Proffitt said, “Two years ago, I was in favor of letting the court system settle this. And here we are, two-and-a-half years later, post this disturbance. This license has been renewed time and time again. But now we’re seeing something different in the video footage. I am not in favor of granting this license. That video footage spoke volumes to me.”

A criminal case accusing Neil of 2nd-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon and substantial battery was dismissed in April after a witness was unavailable, Assistant City Attorney Rachel Maes said during the hearing at the Common Council meeting.

Neil hasn’t been convicted of these charges. Maes said the charges have been refiled in a new criminal lawsuit.

The surveillance video suggests no witnesses are present during the altercation. From the camera angle, it isn’t clear how many of Neil’s punches made contact with the patron, who had wrestled with Neil rather than leaving the bar.

Neil told a reporter he did not punch the patron 13 times, despite being accused of this.
“It was a scary situation. The guy is taller than me, bigger than me. He pushed me from halfway across the bar and jumped on me when my back was turned, and wrestled with me when all I wanted was for him to get out of the bar,” Neil told a reporter.

“I didn’t show my weapon to hurt anyone,” he said. It was, “‘Hey, get out of my bar.’ He saw me with a gun and he still attacked me. He has no fear. He was drinking. He was intoxicated. I regret everything that happened,” Neil said.

Neil’s attorney said Jam Rock had 13 police calls in 2024, “very few in 2025 and so far in 2026 even fewer,” while bars down the street have had more yet their liquor licenses aren’t in jeopardy.

She said a bar in the 1100 block of Main Street had 34 calls this year involving warrants, thefts and disturbances. One at 201 N. Washington St. had 69 police calls this year, she said. “It’s only Mr. Neil who’s being targeted,” she said.

Neil said he didn’t want to make this a racial issue. “Where I come from in Jamaica, I didn’t understand racism. Never saw it. I didn’t grow up with it,” he said.

Operating a bar in Green Bay hasn’t been a cake walk for Neil. “Every year I’ve had to come before council to justify why they should give me liquor license,” Neil said.

“There are times when my bar is closed and something is happening in the neighborhood. They blame my bar for it, and I couldn’t figure out why. There are so many other bars on the block and I get all the complaints when the complaints didn’t start in my bar or didn’t happen in my establishment.”

Alder Hinkfuss said she didn’t recall the council approving the last renewal “pending results” of a court case stemming from the January 2024 incident. She also noted improvements had been made.

The timing of the non-renewal is confusing, she suggested. “If I were to get a license and it gets renewed, I’m assuming everything starts over, correct?”

City Attorney Lacey Cochart said the council could consider the testimony presented, including about the 2024 incident captured on surveillance video. But Neil suggested the video wasn’t accurate. He said the clock on the video was off by an hour. Instead of 4:30 a.m., it was 3:30 a.m., he told a reporter.

District 6 Alder Joey Prestley said the council had “wanted the court to sort this out,” but it was taking too long. “We can’t wait any longer,” he said.

Prestley said bar owners have to prove they can operate the liquor establishment safely. “It is alcohol. It is a substance that is mind-altering that can lead to great harm.”

Like several other alders, Prestley seemed to presume Neil’s guilt. “You’ve had this mistake, this issue. We’re going to hold you to an even higher standard,” he said.

Several other alders focused on Neil’s alleged failure to have a working age-identification scanner and didn’t supply the video within the five-days required, while his attorney said the problems had been corrected.