When the issue of packed
It probably didn’t help that the situation itself—over 14 registered sex offenders living in one apartment in downtown Long Beach—was sprung on the public within a matter of a few days, and that drive-time radio hosts John and Ken came to town and hosted their show from the front of the house.
That same night, the City Council was awash in questions regarding what they could legally do to prevent further “clown houses” (as John and Ken like to say), and bust up the current one. Could zip codes or neighborhoods be used for the anti-clustering regulations? Does the city even have the authority to regulate the placement of sex offenders by defining single family residential uses? Could the ordinance be retroactive (to dismantle the house that started the whole thing)?
The answers from the City Attorney were NO, YES, and YES.
The City Council, led by 2nd District Councilmember Suja Lowenthal, will likely vote tonight to pass an ordinance that is retroactive, and is citywide in scope, to dismantle the clustering of sex offenders within the same houses and apartment buildings.
Gadflies Up in Arms
Procedural rules is what really gets the Long Beach gadfly community excited, and when they are changed, the gadflies will get riled up, and not many others.
In December, the Mayor suggested that agenda items on important topics be given two weeks notice, instead of the Thursday night prior “surprise-fest” that goes on right now. The City Attorney went back, and offered up two different proposals for sooner announcing of Council Action items. A tentative agenda would be released at least one week prior to the matter being taken up.
Both ordinances have exclusions for routine items like ceremonial duties, alcohol licenses, or other communications items would not be put on this “tentative agenda”.
Seems reasonable…so why would the gadfly community be up in arms?
The reason is that there are two ordinances. Ordinance “A” is everything I have already stated, and allows an exception for placement on the regular agenda when three councilmembers decide it needs to be placed on there for expeditious reasons. Ordinance “B” has all that, and it permits 2 councilmembers and the Mayor jointly to bypass the ordinance, or the City Manager and the Mayor jointly and independently.
Ordinance “B” is a lot more power for the Mayor and the City Manager, which some imply means more secrecy on the 14th floor.
Since Mayor Foster was elected, each City Councilmember has been particularly deferential when it comes to the Mayor’s wishes in regards to power.
We’ll see if they continue that way tonight.
The Council meeting begins tonight at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall.