Code Enforcement

There has been a lot of press coverage on code enforcement the last couple of weeks. I want to provide you with my views on code enforcement in St. George. I have spent a lot of time researching codes throughout municipalities in Utah as well as other states.

Code enforcement has literally been around in America for over two hundred years. 

In fact, while doing my research it was interesting to find some codes that have existed or still exist that should have been removed long ago. For example: In Kalispel, Montana children must have a doctor's note to buy a lollipop. In Memphis, Tennessee a woman is not allowed to drive a car unless a man is in front of the car waving a red flag to warn others. In Pueblo, Colorado it is illegal to grow dandelions. It is illegal in St Louis, Missouri for a fireman to rescue a woman wearing a nightgown. If she wants to be rescued she must be fully dressed. In Lexington, Kentucky it is against the law to carry an ice cream cone in your pocket. Hartford, Connecticut banned men from kissing their wives on Sunday. In Wheatfield, Indiana a woman wearing shorts, a halter top, or bathing suit to a political rally could be charged with a misdemeanor.

I think you get my point. There are some codes that exist that are silly and over the top.  

Simply defined code enforcement is the legal means of balancing the interests of individuals with the interests of the community as a whole.

Code enforcement should be conducted in a manner that first assists individuals to resolve differences. The City Council establishes local regulations with the intent that those regulations will be followed. .

For code enforcement personnel to successfully do their job three things must exist.

1.       The regulations must be clear and meaningful, or eliminated.

2.       The code enforcement officers must be courteous to the public and properly trained.

3.       The public should be respectful of the regulations established by the City Council.

If any of those elements are missing then code enforcement will be a source of contention.

As a member of the city council

A.      I will work diligently to make sure our regulations are clear, meaningful or eliminated.

B.      I will propose a system where the public can report directly to the City Council, on a routine basis, any instance where non-courteous  behavior has been exercised or their rights have been violated.

C.      Request  proper training of all code enforcement officers.

I want to make it clear that I am opposed to anyone having their 4th amendment rights violated by code enforcement or anyone else for that matter. The current St. George code states: 

The ACE (Administrative Code Enforcement) administrator or any enforcement official is authorized to enter upon any property or premises to ascertain whether the provisions of this code or applicable state codes are being obeyed and to make any examinations and surveys as may be necessary in the performance of the enforcement duties. This may include the taking of photographs, samples, or other physical evidence. All inspections, entries, examinations, and surveys shall be done in a reasonable manner based upon cause. If the responsible person refuses to allow the ACE administrator or enforcement official to enter the property, the ACE administrator or enforcement official shall obtain a search warrant.

Compare the language to that of Provo's code.

Enforcement officials are hereby authorized, in accordance with applicable law, to enter upon any property or premises to ascertain whether the provisions of the Provo City Code or applicable state codes are being obeyed and to make any reasonable examination or survey necessary to determine compliance with the Provo City Code or applicable state codes. This may include the taking of photographs, samples, or other physical evidence. All inspections, entries, examinations, and surveys shall be done in a reasonable manner. If a property owner or responsible person refuses to allow an enforcement official to enter property, the enforcement official shall obtain a search warrant before entering the property. (Enacted 1999-40)

Or that of Midvale.

Enforcement officials are hereby authorized, in accordance with applicable law, to enter upon any property or premises to ascertain whether the provisions of the Midvale Municipal Code or applicable state codes are being obeyed and to make any reasonable, lawful examination or survey necessary to determine compliance with the Midvale Municipal Code or applicable state codes. This may include the taking of photographs, samples, or other physical evidence. All inspections, entries, examinations, and surveys shall be done in a reasonable manner. If a property owner or responsible person refuses to allow an enforcement official to enter property, the enforcement official shall obtain a search warrant before entering the property. (Ord. 8/27/2002A (part), 2002)

The language is basically the same in every municipality in Utah and in other states I have researched.

St. George has been a community of general cooperation among our citizens.  Rather than complaining about failures and problems and finding people and situations to point fingers at I intend to focus on solutions. I believe we can resolve the conflict that exists between the citizens and code enforcement in a civil and  productive manner.

Proposal for the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center

Today's editorial in The Spectrum is concerning the drug and alcohol treatment center planned for a Bloomington neighborhood. Bloomington residents are very concerned about this facility being located next door to them, as I also would be if it was proposed to go next door to me.

I believe there is a great need for treatment centers. Addiction is affecting many in our community. Having family members that have struggled with addiction, one of the biggest obstacles we faced was finding a local treatment facility with a high success rate. Addiction affects all families at one time or another and we need facilities we can turn to for help. Should those facilities be in residential neighborhoods?

I do not speak for the current city council members, but if a vote were to be taken I think it would be safe to say the majority would vote against this facility being located in a residential neighborhood.

That being said, we are told that the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act trump any city ordinance. The city council could certainly direct the city attorney to fight this battle in the courtroom. A question we need to all ask ourselves is how much are we as residents willing to pay to fight this battle? If we don't fight then does that set a precedent for more treatment centers being located in more of our neighborhoods?

I want to share the following article that I hope you will all take the time to read. It provides a glimpse of the uphill battle that could be in store for us, if our council directed the city to take this case to court.

Boise County, Idaho Becomes The Newest Event-Driven Bankruptcy

Boise County, Idaho has only 7,400 residents, not nearly enough to pay the $4 million judgement, plus $1.4 million in attorneys fees, that a jury ordered them to pay a group of private developers who wanted to build a 72-bed mental health and drug addiction residential treatment center for teens.

The judgement works out to over $2,000 per household. As a result, on March 1, the county filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. The county's entire annual budget is just $9.5 million. The county announced that the developers plan to immediately seize the county's operating cash, and much more, to satisfy the judgement.

The suit, Alamar Ranch LLC v. Boise County, was brought under the federal Fair Housing Act. The developers argued that the facility's residents would be considered handicapped, and that denying the
permit for the facility would constitute illegal discrimination.

Boise County did not deny the permit outright, but instead attached costly and peripherally-related conditions to the permit, including construction of a helicopter landing pad and having to provide its own fire truck. It would also have limited the number of residents.

Monster judgements against tiny or poor communities can be crushing for residents. Imagine a county having to lay off teachers and policemen, or to double school class sizes or the property tax rate on its hardworking households in order to satisfy a judgement and -- in a final insult -- pay $1.4 million to attorneys.

That said, the Fair Housing Act was intended to ensure that the type facility proposed by the developers would be able to find suitable places to locate. While it is not hard to sympathize with the good folks of Boise County who surely wonder why their bucolic community was chosen for the facility, there are noble intentions behind the law.

County officials immediately announced their intent to appeal. For their taxpayers sake, The City Survival Project hopes they succeed in substantially reducing the judgement but -- for the sake of all future facilities for mentally and emotionally handicapped citizens -- not in reversing it.

Boise County may end up following in the footsteps of another small community that lost a Fair Housing Act lawsuit. Desert Hot Springs, California (pop. 25,000) entered Chapter 9 after losing a large lawsuit to a group of mobile home developers. It eventually had to issue $9.7 million in "judgement obligation bonds." 28 percent of the community lives below the poverty line, and median household income is $26,000.

Steve Steckler, Editor

I also want to share a letter to the editor, also in today's paper. I thought it was very thought provoking.

It appears from the article in Friday’s paper that the Bloomington homeowners are reacting to something they likely have little understanding of.

If they truly understood the mission of the recovery home and the true nature of someone who is trying to be clean from addiction, they would open their arms. There should never be fear in reaching out and helping another.

The guests, or patients, of this proposed home are good people no different than others except they have heroically set their pride aside and exposed their illness in an effort to save their souls and families.

In order for them to have the greatest success, they need to immerse themselves with a positive environment, a neighborhood with people who will smile and encourage them to never give up on their journey to recovery.

Would this neighborhood turn away a home for missionaries? Their errand is no different — to save souls. I would venture that if this neighborhood would consider this as an opportunity to reach out to help a handful of God’s lost children, they would not see any lost value of their houses, but more importantly is what they will find.

Washington County Republican Women Luncheon

I haven't posted since the night of the primary election. With this election being longer than usual, I decided to give everyone a break from posting. Well, the break is officially over. Time to reengage. The general election is Tuesday November 5th. Just 2 short months from today.

Today I had the privilege of attending the Washington County Republican Women luncheon. Casey Lofthouse entertained us and he was fabulous.

I was extremely honored to receive an endorsement from the WCRW along with the following resolution:

WHERE AS, Washington County Republican Women is a women's political organization,

WHERE AS, Washington County Republican Women's mission is to encourage, train, support and elect Republican women,

WHERE AS, Washington County Republican Women have funds designated for campaign contributions,

WHERE AS, in the 2013 General Election there is one Republican women candidate running for St. George City Council,

LET IT HEREBY BE RESOLVED, Washington County Republican Women, as a group, contribute to and endorse Michele Randall for St. George City Council.

A special thank you to Larene Cox and Bette Arial for your encouragement and support. I appreciate your friendship and your confidence in my candidacy. Again, thank you to all of the WCRW!

Downtown & the Sunbowl

I was asked to submit an answer, in 100 words or less, to the following question. What do you think the vision should be for our downtown area, especially the Sun Bowl?

Here in my answer in it's entirety.

The Sun Bowl is a relevant piece of our local history. It should be preserved. In 1947, when the Sun Bowl was built, the Lions Club generated substantial community support and contributions for this great endeavor. The same community effort that initially went into making the Sun Bowl a reality in 1947 can take place today in 2013. Through preservation we can once again utilize the Sun Bowl for many community events. It will take the city, the Lion's Club, and the community working together as a team to preserve a part of our history for future generations to enjoy.

My Opinion

Today the reality of politics has reared it's ugly head. I was saddened when I read the articles accusing Mayor McArthur of intimidation. But what is truly more disheartening is the hateful, vile comments being written about the mayor and anyone associated with him in our city government.

It is a sad commentary on our society when citizens can sit at a keyboard and type all sorts of vicious comments anonymously. Others take to social media and share the story and happily rejoice in the cruel comments being left by their friends, all at the mayor's and his family’s expense.

I know Mayor McArthur and Jon Pike personally. I appreciate both men. I do not believe for one minute that Jon is rejoicing that the mayor is having to deal with this controversy. I also do not believe that Mayor McArthur is a bully. As the mayor himself says he is not the most eloquent speaker. He admits he chose the wrong words to use when speaking to the women at PAWS but I do not think that is justification to publicly crucify and humiliate him.

The issue of the shelter was brought to my attention by community members passionate and devoted to animal rights. I spent an hour at our shelter. I voiced my opinion that there were improvements that needed to be made at the shelter. I spoke to the chief of police, the city attorney, and several council members about my experience and some suggestions I had to improve the shelter. The council, mayor, and Chief Stratton acted in a timely and proactive manner to address the problems and they are currently trying to rectify those issues. Just today a leading animal protection advocate, Kris Neal, said “Work is moving forward at the Shelter. PAWS and One More Chance met with the Mayor and have exchanged ideas and like what's happening and have agreed to leave the door open for future improvements.”

The shelter needed improvement but I also believe this was purposely timed as to become a campaign issue. It is still being used as a campaign issue today. I have heard some say the shelter has been in disarray for 18 years. Others have questioned, “Why was this not a campaign issue two years ago?” I asked several people that ran in 2011 if the shelter was ever brought to their attention. The answer was the same. It was not. Even certain candidates using the shelter to their advantage this campaign cycle did not mention the shelter two years ago. I find that curious.

Overall I feel the shelter concerns are being addressed by our city officials. They will continue to addressed, with or without the political agenda that has been attached to it.

The mayor is a good man with a good family. They are hurting having to read such hateful remarks about their husband, father, grandfather, and brother. This is being sensationalized intentionally and it is unfortunate. I have been on the receiving end of those kind of anonymous comments and it is hurtful. I will never rejoice in someone else's pain. I believe we as a city are better than this form of gutter politics. It is time we stop slinging mud!

Animal Shelter

Today at city council work meeting Best Friends Animal Society will be discussing the St George animal shelter.

I went and toured both the St George shelter and the Ivins shelter on Monday. I showed up at the St George shelter unannounced at 8:30 in the morning. They were very friendly and let me in even though they don't open until 10:00 and it was a Monday morning. The smell was overwhelming. They were still in the process of cleaning cages when I arrived. They had many animals waiting for adoption; cats, dogs, 2 ferrets, and a rabbit.

It is extremely noisy in the area the dogs are kept. They have ordered sound absorbing panels for the shelter but they have not yet arrived. The shelter staff realize their shelter is outdated and they are not opposed to a new shelter but they can only work with the resources they have. I don't think there would be opposition to a no kill shelter if they had the room to hold the animals they receive.

Also the shelter would greatly benefits from kennels with access to the outdoors. It would significantly improve the smell and condition overall.

There is a distinct contrast in the St George and Ivins shelter. Obviously Ivins is a newer facility and I was told the price tag was about 375,000 dollars. There was also a lot of donated labor and materials.

Ivins is very fortunate to have the "Friends of Ivins" group to raise funds for them. It also helps alleviate the burden on the taxpayer. St George would benefit from a group willing to do the same for our shelter. In order for a similar type of group to commit to a project like Ivins the St George shelter would have to commit to a no kill shelter. Ivins also told me they are not an entirely no kill shelter. There are times they have to put an animal to sleep due to health issues and viciousness.

With the number of scouts in our area trying to come up with Eagle projects the shelter could benefit from these projects. Ivins has had several Eagle projects their shelter has benefited from.

There is a lot of work to be done and I think it will take a team effort to accomplish what is ultimately desired. With the city and the community working together I believe we can find solutions to improve the shelter.

Growth

A topic of interest to many residents is growth in our city. There are times I would like to rewind to the days of the late 70's when my family moved to this area. St George was a small town and most everyone knew each other. The crime rate was extremely low, there was open space everywhere, there was only one high school, and we had a drive in movie theater. We must never leave our traditions in the past, even if they only serve as reminders of the "good ol' days."

 Much has changed over the last 3 decades. Change does not have to have a negative connotation attached. We have grown tremendously over the years. And we have benefited from that growth, and also encountered new challenges.

 I believe we need balanced growth. We have to make sure we have the resources necessary to support growth ie: water, power, infrastructure, and public safety. We cannot grow at an unsustainable rate. We have to plan wisely for the growth ahead.

 Another candidate seeking a seat on the council this year has said, “Growth is the moving force/cause behind most all municipal concerns in one way or another.”  I am in agreement with that statement.  Balanced growth will be our best ally for the future. If we work together as a team, in an open transparent manner, I have complete confidence we can successfully resolve any challenge or municipal concern we encounter. I have said that part of my platform is preserving the valued traditions of St. George. One such tradition has been our long-standing ability to resolve our common challenges. We can do so again.