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The Schaller City Council is picking through its code book for the first time since 1984 and is holding several sessions for citizens to opine at length about what is wrong/right with the city code.
The full session, the second in the series, goes on for hours… this is the fourth ten minutes of that second session.
00:00
What is a nuisance?
02:04
I think Odebolt is probably one of the tougher towns for this type of item
03:48
“Okay, let’s go”
04:15
“uh, if you want to open another can of worms…”
04:36
‘Every time I start to talk I get interrupted”
05:05
“It’s time to just say no more golf carts on the street.”
(Golf cart discussion begins…)
07:31
Two gentlemen that no longer have a driver’s license were specifically allowed to drive golf carts
09:12
I think you guys know what we want.
09:40
Things start to get a little tense
Question, Are cities required to publish a city code? Question, What are the requirements for maintaining the code of ordinances? Question, If the city has not made any changes to its code, why does it need to comply with the codification process? The answer to these questions may be found at www.iowaleague.org. Iowa law requires cities to codify or otherwise ratify their code every five years. Schaller's current code may be unenforceable. The mayor and council should consult with the city attorney before moving forward in their clean-up campaign.
ReplyDeleteThe mayor and council spoke about interpretation of city codes and the hiring of a new police officer. The interpretation of nuisance codes is fairly simply and straight forward to a person trained and experienced in code compliance. The method of enforcement has changed (progressed) since Schaller's code was published in 1984. This is where the mayor and council should yield to the expertise of a police officer with code compliance experience. The mayor and council confuse nuisance codes with building codes. They are two separate sections of Schaller's municipal code. The building code requires a different approach to inspection of dilapidated structures. It's easy for the mayor and council to say, it looks like a dilapidated building and should be torn down. The process isn't that easy, nor should it be in the case of a person's constitutional, property rights and right to due process. The police officer has a duty to protect you, the citizens of Schaller from unlawful government intrusion and at the same time enforce state laws and city codes. This isn't a difficult task for a police officer if the government (City of Schaller) provides the tools and resources necessary to do the job. The mayor and council haven't, up to this point been willing to provide those tools and resources. The city's new police officer may or may not have police or code compliance training and experience. If not, I suggest the mayor and council part with the money and provide the training. The citizens of Schaller deserve professional police services.
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