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Posted on 12/01/2008 3:21:46 PM PST by BGHater
Council members caved in to demands from an angry crowd and delayed approving a neatness ordinance until officials explain every word of the 26-page document to Kenneth City residents.
In what was estimated to be the largest crowd to ever attend a Kenneth City Council meeting, an outraged group of residents railed at the proposal that would regulate the upkeep of both the exterior and interior of all property in the town.
The proposal basically sets standards for upkeep and appearance and gives town officials the right to enter homes. If the owner refuses to allow the official to enter, the town can go to a judge for an "administrative search warrant" to allow access to the interior of buildings. Violations would cost up to $250 a day.
Angry residents likened the proposal to rules created by Communist or Nazi dictatorships. One person said the result would be to create a network of spies to snitch on neighbors to council members and other town officials. Someone suggested the town should change its name from Kenneth City to "Petty City."
Still others said town attorney Paul Marino was overstepping his bounds. Marino, who drafted the ordinance at the urging of the mayor and council, defended himself, saying he felt the audience was trying to shoot the scribe and that he was only doing his job. One person in the audience claimed that council member Al Carrier had driven by his house as a way of threatening him to drop his opposition to the ordinance. Carrier did not respond to the charge that he was abusing his office.
Others said the council needs to explain every part of the ordinance to residents and that after that, the residents should be consulted about redrafting the new rule, if necessary, to tailor it to Kenneth City's needs. As it is, the ordinance is a virtual copy of others in places like Fort Walton Beach and Belleair Beach.
Residents will get their chance to hear the ins and outs of the proposal at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Community Hall, 4600 58th St. N. The meeting is not only open to the public, but Kenneth City officials seemed to challenge residents to attend.
"Let's see if you all show up for a workshop," Marino commented, adding he would go through the document paragraph by paragraph if that's what the council wished.
And Carrier said, "If you are not here, you have nothing else to say."
Council members will not be able to make a final decision at Wednesday's workshop. But they can decide whether the proposal needs to be sent back to the drawing board, totally dismissed, or scheduled for a vote.
Election is coming
Until the November meeting, passage seemed to be a slam dunk. But with an election in the offing, it is unclear how officials who may want to be re-elected will react to a large crowd of dissatisfied residents. Up for possible re-election are Mayor Muriel Whitman and council member Phil Redisch, neither of whom has indicated future plans. Council member Harold Jividin's seat will also come open, but Jividin cannot run for re-election because of term limits.
Qualifying opens Dec. 12 and closes at noon Dec. 19. Candidates for the council must have been registered voters and residents of Kenneth City for at least two years before qualifying to run. Candidates for mayor must have been registered voters and residents of Kenneth City for at least three years before qualifying to run.
Council members earn $300 a month. The mayor is paid $500 a month. Council members serve a term of two years and the mayor serves for three years. The election is at-large and nonpartisan. For information or to pick up a packet, call Town Clerk Nancy Beelman at 544-6655 or go to Town Hall, 6000 54th Ave. N.
The election is March 10.
Lol.
It would be real funny if they tried to enter the Hater Castle or any part of my Kingdom.
I can only dream.
The always popular Nuremberg Defense.
Sounds like interior decorators now want their OWN army of bedroom police. Where is the ACLU now? Where is the homosexual lobby? Where are the people who oppose wiretaps?
Waiting for the posters who say “if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn’t mind...”
These “leaders” need to be run out of town on a rail.
Whatever happened to Roberts Rules of Order for city council meetings? A “workshop” sounds decidedly un-promising. Trust me. Too, citizens should be suspicious of parallel yet unaccountable incursions to their wallet and freedoms. Taxpayers deserve to have their monies that go for all those entities do their job, rather than yet another layer of beauracratic nonsense.
“Sounds like interior decorators now want their OWN army of bedroom police. Where is the ACLU now? Where is the homosexual lobby?”
They ARE the ACLU homosexual lobby.
RIGHT HERE!
In this little dung heap of a town do you think this was the first indication of liberal fascism? There have to have been other signs the council and leadership was out of control. The part that it would have passed easily if it wasn't an election year makes you wonder how out of whack their minds are to begin with about the role of government.
Frankly they should be inspected daily in such a gulag.
I’m not a violent guy by any means but if any government official ever entered my house to check on my dusting habits he had better have kissed his wife and kids goodbye before arriving at my door.
That's immaterial. Unless those people have been neutered, they'd better throw out everyone who is up for election and maybe do a recall on the survivors. This sounds like HOA wannabees trying out their wings.
And Carrier said, "If you are not here, you have nothing else to say."
I would bet good money that this "workshop" is where they get to use the Delphi Technique to "convince" the masses to support their Nazi rules. (Yes, the Delphi Technique is related to Alinsky).
Tampa, across the Bay, has a lot of this mentality too, except when it comes to many of the minority areas where anything goes or is ignored for some unknown reason.
It sounds like they had a pretty good crowd.
It sounds like they had a pretty good crowd.
bookmark
The Delphi Technique.
L
We had a fancy schmancy urban retiree show up at the Board of Supervisors in our frontier county and ask for an ordinance to prevent people from storing firewood outside with tarps over them. He didn’t like the view of his neighbor’s wood pile from his home.
I told him that we have people living under tarps in some areas of the county and he needs to adjust to some new realities.
..was thinking of Hegel, myself
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