The fate of Minnesota's largest Latino concert venue, El Nuevo Rodeo, will be decided Friday before the Minneapolis City Council.
Since 2003, the 16,000-square-foot hot spot on E. Lake Street has booked big-time Latino pop and country acts that attract a bustling Mexican cowboy crowd. But lately, it's been fighting for its survival as Minneapolis officials seek to shut it down.
In 2008, the city began investigating El Nuevo Rodeo for a pattern of offenses, said Ricardo Cervantes, deputy director of licenses. Its findings -- including liquor violations and security issues -- eventually pointed to a proposed liquor license revocation.
"We want businesses to be successful, but not at the cost of putting anybody else at risk," Cervantes said this week.
Responding to the city's concerns, owner Maya Santamaria beefed up security, installing thousands of dollars' worth of video cameras. Still, the city moved forward with the revocation, citing new problems. Santamaria contested, landing the case before an administrative law judge in late January.
The judge heard testimony from various parties, including the club's paid off-duty cops, who said El Nuevo Rodeo generates fewer police reports than downtown clubs do. Neighborhood and business groups backed the club as a positive cultural force in the community. The judge sided with Santamaria, saying the city didn't provide sufficient evidence for revocation (however, he approved several minor actions).
"I feel like justice was served," Santamaria said. "I was pleasantly surprised. I thought, 'Thank God, he got it.'"
Santamaria said she is still baffled by the city's initial push to shutter her establishment. "For one thing, I think there is a lot of anti-Hispanic sentiment, whether people like to admit it or not," she said.
