Controversy over Karen's Place

At its regular meeting on December 6, the Oberon City Council denied a liquor license to Karen's Place for 2022, and one of the bar's owners is seeking redress. Without a new license, Karen's Place faces an uncertain future after Dec. 31.

Owner Elvis Thumb reported that the council denied the license because the council alleged that drug-dealing was taking place at the bar, and because Thumb did not pick up garbage around town.

Cell phone footage of the Dec. 6 council meeting Thumb shared with the New Rockford Transcript and Benson County Farmers Press backs up those claims.

"You should have followed the rules to start with," council member Faron Stensland remarked. When pressed about what specific rules they didn't follow, Stensland replied that Thumb didn't pick up the trash in neighbors' yards, which he said had been a stipulation of approving the license in the past.

Thumb questioned the implication that all of Oberon's garbage comes from Karen's Place, noting that legally he cannot go on private property to remove trash.

"We had dealing going on in that place since before your mom was running it," Stensland alleged. When asked what kind of dealing, Stensland replied, "drug dealing." Stensland neither provided evidence nor cited any criminal charges that had been filed.

When pressed to answer whether he was accusing Thumb of dealing drugs, Stensland is heard saying, "I'm not accusing you...that's what all your clientele comes and does."

Oberon's current officials are mayor Robert Santos and council members Matt Friesen, Faron Stensland and Nevada Hustad. The fourth council seat is vacant due to a resignation.

Council member Nevada Hustad made a motion to renew the liquor license for Karen's Place, which died for lack of a second. She told the Benson County Farmers Press that she had always voted in favor of the license's renewal.

Mayor Robert Santos declined to comment on the matter. Council member Matt Friesen had not returned calls as of press time on Wednesday, Dec. 22. Contact information for Faron Stensland was not immediately available.

Thumb said that his mother, Karen Peterson, purchased the bar in 2003, and he has been a 50 percent owner since 2007. Peterson passed away on April 24, 2021, and now Thumb operates the bar, which has been a part of Oberon's main street for over 100 years.

Other than an elevator owned by Fessenden Cooperative Association, Karen's Place is the only privately-owned business in the city limits of Oberon. There is a post office which is open two hours a day, and a new school on the outskirts of the city limits, but otherwise no other commercial operations.

Thumb has filed a lawsuit against the City of Oberon in an attempt to resolve the matter.

"I can't afford to sit back and wait," Thumb said. If the city council doesn't act before December 31, he will be forced to close the bar until the court case is settled, or until the city council votes to renew his license. If the bar closes, part of Thumb's livelihood is at stake, and his employees' jobs will be in limbo.

Thumb also said that the council had previously denied a gaming license that would benefit the Devils Lake Blue Line Club, a youth sports organization.

The next regular meeting of the Oberon City Council is set for Monday, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m.

Editor's Note: This report was a collaboration of efforts by staff at the Benson County Farmers Press and New Rockford Transcript.