Tucker council member asked for piece of arcade business | Business

TUCKER, Ga. — Local business owner Chris Brennaman said Tucker City Councilmember Vinh Nguyen surprised him with a business proposal concerning Brennaman’s planned arcade on Main Street.

Brennaman owns Infinite Realities comic book store and plans to open an arcade called Infinite Horizons. Nguyen told Brennaman he was planning a similar project and suggested merging the two concepts to avoid competition. Brennaman rejected Nguyen’s offer.

Around the same time, Brennaman said he began experiencing delays with his business permitting. Shortly after Brennaman’s attorney contacted the city of Tucker and complained about his client’s treatment, he received a message that his project was approved.

A spokesperson for the city said the issues with Brennaman’s permits were unrelated to Nguyen’s business proposal. The spokesperson said Nguyen did not direct city staff to delay Brennaman’s project, and no one on city staff delayed Brennaman’s project on Nguyen’s behalf. Decaturish received numerous documents from the city in response to an open records request and found no evidence that Nguyen directed staff to interfere with Brennaman’s plans.

Nguyen said he was not trying to pressure Brennaman into doing business with him, but Brennaman said he did feel pressured. Brennaman said he’s suspicious of the interaction and the subsequent permitting problems.

“Sometimes it’s hard not to put your tinfoil hat on,” he said.

‘A shocking proposition’

Records show that city staff introduced Nguyen to Brennaman after Nguyen learned about plans for Infinite Horizons. In June, Brennaman told Decaturish about his plans for the arcade. The business will sell ice cream, food and drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic.

A city business outreach specialist who had been assisting Brennaman with his permitting sent Brennaman an email on Aug. 13. She cc’d Nguyen on an email address he had established for a business called Lolo’s Sno. Records with the Georgia Secretary of State indicate that he incorporated the business on March 28; however, he doesn’t currently have a business license with the city of Tucker.

The outreach specialist said Nguyen and Brennaman had “common interests.” She also mentioned he is a member of the city council.

The email from the employee did not indicate Nguyen had a business proposal.

“I thought it was going to be comic book related,” Brennaman said. “Maybe he’s a Marvel guy, a DC guy. I’m thinking nerd, he’s just like me.”

Nguyen dropped by Brennaman’s shop on Aug. 15. He told Brennaman he had a similar business idea and was looking at spots on Main Street.

“He assured me he wasn’t trying to step on my toes,” Brennaman said. “I did say that my boots felt more than a little scuffed.”

Nguyen proposed a solution. He could operate the ice cream shop within Brennaman’s store.

“That was a shocking proposition,” Brennaman said. “I wasn’t prepared for anybody to come in and announce they were opening competition to me and let alone it be a sitting city council member. I was also not prepared for the solution to be partnering up.”

Nguyen said he was working on his business idea, which he described as a side venture, before he learned of Brennaman’s arcade. Nguyen and a city spokesperson said city staff suggested he contact Brennaman.

Currently, Infinite Horizons is not expected to go before the city council for a vote, meaning Nguyen will not have to recuse himself from any pending city discussions or actions related to the business.

Nguyen said he took steps to separate his private venture from his public role when speaking with city staff.

“Every single time that I went into a meeting and I talked to staff about this business, I mentioned that I did not want any special treatment,” he said.

‘Weird’

On Aug. 15, the same morning as Nguyen’s visit, Brennaman received an unexpected email from city staff at 11:54 a.m. with a question about his zoning use approval application.

“I’m reaching out as we received your ZUA application for Infinite Horizons, and it states that you intend to have alcohol sales,” the employee said.

She said a full kitchen would be required to sell alcohol, and Brennaman previously indicated he wouldn’t pursue alcohol sales. She asked if he was considering adding a kitchen. Brennaman did not immediately respond.

On Aug. 18, Brennaman contacted Nguyen via his city email to recap the council member’s business proposal. Nguyen responded and confirmed the details. He said he was expecting Brennaman to email him at his business address.

“I want to stress that only if you think your business will still be able to flourish,” Nguyen replied. “If not, my endeavor can wait and I’ll pivot.”

They agreed to meet at Corner Cup in Tucker later that week.

Meanwhile, Brennaman contacted the city on Aug. 19 about his potential zoning use application problem. He said the current city code would allow him to sell beer and wine at Infinite Horizons. He would not receive a response until Aug. 26.

He said the timing of Nguyen’s visit and the email from the city about his zoning use approval was “weird.” However, Nguyen and a city spokesperson stated that these two issues were not related.

Brennaman and Nguyen met at Corner Cup on Aug. 22. Brennaman recorded the conversation and provided it to Decaturish. Brennaman told Nguyen the situation made him uncomfortable.

“It caught me off guard,” Brennaman said during the Corner Cup meeting. “Because my initial reaction was a city councilman coming in and telling me he’s opening competition, then offering an alternative if I don’t want that.”

Nguyen apologized.

“I’ll back off completely,” he said during the Corner Cup meeting, adding later he had “absolutely no intention to feel like I’m trying to strongarm you out.” He said he’d try to find another location, perhaps in Avondale Estates.

When asked about the interview, Nguyen said he understands why people would question the situation.

“I completely understand where this can be taken,” he said. “I tried my best to draw a clear line between my person, the business, and the council work. It’s unfortunate that Chris took our conversation as pressure.”

Brennaman said he became more concerned about the interaction with Nguyen when the city was slow to respond to his questions about permitting.

‘Ghosting’

On Aug. 26, Brennaman emailed the city outreach specialist about the status of his business permit.

“A few weeks ago, I applied for my business permit,” he wrote. “I’ve yet to hear anything back. Is there any movement on that end?”

The employee replied quickly and asked Brennaman to clarify what kind of permit he was seeking. Soon after, the city employee who handles permitting emailed Brennaman in response to his Aug. 19 email about selling alcohol. She said she was awaiting guidance from the city attorney. The outreach specialist also responded and confirmed that the zoning use approval was holding up Brennaman’s project.

Brennaman didn’t hear from the city for several days.

“The fact that the city is essentially ghosting me at this point is making us more than a little nervous,” he said about the email exchange.

Brennaman followed up with another email on Sept. 2. This time, he copied his attorney, Joe Rhodes.

“As it’s been seven days since your last email, I was wanting to find out the status of permitting on your end,” Brennaman wrote.

After waiting for a response, on Sept. 8, Rhodes sent the city a letter. He wrote that the delays were costing his client money and that his business plans complied with the city code.

“In addition to the above facts, my client endured a very awkward interaction with a representative of the city of Tucker,” Rhodes said.

Brennaman confirmed that part of his attorney’s letter was a reference to Nguyen’s business proposal. Brennaman’s attorney sent the letter at 9:26 a.m. on Sept. 8. At 10:55 a.m. that same morning, Brennaman got a notice that his zoning use approval had gone through.

Brennaman said he couldn’t be sure that his approval was due to his attorney’s letter. The city said the two things were not connected.

City Manager John McHenry defended the actions of his staff in their interactions with Nguyen and Brennaman.

“I have looked into this matter and spoken with the employees concerned and I’m satisfied no approvals were withheld based on any form of inappropriate or undue influence,” McHenry said. “Our staff was working diligently and professionally, balancing customer service with due diligence goals, to provide zoning and economic development services in the best manner possible.”

Brennaman called the situation “frustrating.”

“It felt like it was offensive that I wasn’t even deemed a response,” he said. “The fact that all that time went by, and it made me, as both a resident and a business owner, feel so disrespected, as if nothing that we had contributed mattered.”