REACTIONARY POTPOURRI

Monday 8:30AM -No Council Agenda posted on Internet site.
10:00AM; NO POSTED AGENDA!
10:55AM: Is there a Council Meeting to night? Must the public go to City Hall to find an agenda. Or try the Library later in the day?
11:30 AM No Agenda posted. The Library did not have its packet by closing time Saturday. Perhaps a trip there will be in order. The Public be Damned.

Do laws protect society? If not why not? Punitive legislation is enacted daily by the Federal , State, local legislatures.Most deal with budgetary matters, the raising and spending of money, But two articles the last two days in the Courier point out the inability of the citizens to protect themselves from those who have little regard for civil rights.

The first had to do with the abandoned buildings, and especially those that are a safety hazard. The recent North Ave. collapse and subsequent $300,000 removal cost born by the tax payers pointed out the magnitude of this issue.

There may be Federal and/or State Laws that address this problem and what the community's legal rights in rectifying problems. The City must have on record Ordinances from time immemorial referring to prevention and treatment of abandoned property, including fines as well as a chain of authority with power to ameliorate the situation. .

The vague it is difficult to deal with it comments attributed to Administration and Councilman Storch in the paper are not satisfactory,

First every ordinance on our books that has not been revoked pertaining to this issue must be collected and collated along with any State and Federal laws. Any legal decisions that impact on this problem should be included. It should be the charge of the Corporation Counsel to obtain this material ASAP or sooner.

A separate Commission appointed by Mayor and Council shall b e given this material with the direction to review and propose "legislation"(Ordinances) that will give a workable solution to this problem. Among questions that must be answered and these are only the tip are; when does property abandonment legally begin? Criteria must be determined or codified if it exists. At what point in time is the owner of record (deed holder) freed of any legal responsibility for the property. Can dummy corporations protect their principles from legal responsibility.

The other problem is the one of a curfew. The Public Safety Director and Corporation Counsel have suggested that they( the laws) don't work and there are legal problems. Once again let us establish a specific Commission and supply it with all needed material and I am sure that this public group will come up with a plan to make our streets safe.

We have nothing but our time to lose by being proactive.

4:00pm: Speaking of time still no Agenda posted on our site!!!