Tempers Flare at City Council

Tempers were sparked as concerned citizens spoke during the public comment period at the Glasgow City Council on March 4. At least five participants from the public were looking to amend or express concerns about City Ordinance 1881, which relates to overtime parking on the streets of Glasgow.

Ordinance 1881 applies to vehicles parked on the streets of Glasgow without being moved more than five feet over a period of five days. According to Sergeant Tyler Edwards with the Glasgow Police Department, the department had worked on a warning system in the past but felt it was time to start ticketing vehicles.

In late February and early March, the Glasgow Police issued 103 separate tickets for violation of the ordinance. The department commented that they marked the vehicles on Feb. 26 and wrote tickets to every single vehicle in violation across the community. Edwards responded to the question of “Why would it hurt to give a warning?” saying, “We have given a lot of warnings in the past. It has not worked. We are in the ticketing stage now.”

Mona Turner kicked off the comment period asking the City Council about the process to amend the ordinance to provide a warning period before a ticket can be issued. She acknowledged the ordinance and the fact that her two vehicles had sat parked for over the five day period but she contested the timing. Turner pushed back on the idea that the best time to enforce the law was in negative degree temperatures at the end of February. She stated that if it was July she would understand.

“But this does not seem like such a friendly town when you are doing that to your citizens this time of year,” commented Turner.

Mayor Becky Erickson defended the actions, looking to make the case that the ordinance serves both a safety and practical purpose. The practical implication being that the city is better able to remove snow this time of year if vehicles are regularly moved. The other purpose is to avoid unsightly, broken-down vehicles being parked on the streets for extended periods of time.

Charles Lorn pushed back against the plow issue declaring, “I have not seen a plow on my street all year.” He explained that he has a two-wheel drive vehicle that he is unable to drive this time of year so he leaves it parked during the winter. He expressed anger for the ticket stating, “No warning whatsoever and we’re getting tickets?”

At one point, Sergeant Edwards was asked to address the council about the operation and was attacked briefly by the attendees. After stating that many of the vehicles cited had not moved since the first snowfall, a participant interrupted Edwards to asked what proof of the violation he had. The Mayor was forced to intervene and establish that during the public comment period all comments must be to the council.

The Mayor also tried explaining that plowing was a difficult process and that the roads department was operating with one scraper and is short-staffed. An attendee to the meeting then interrupted her with the comment, “You have enough cops though.”

Towards the end of the comment period the Mayor tried to move the dialogue towards constructive feedback asking for solutions to the problems. In response to comments that many of the participants were unaware that such an ordinance existed she asked, “Do you think if we had more education in the newspaper and on the radio that would help?”

Turner responded that past enforcement had been “too lenient” and that it was “cruel to do this at this time.”

At one point in the comments period, Councilman Stan Ozark jumped in saying, “I have had more people talk to me today who said thank you for ticketing those vehicles.” He explained that in his past experience he had been ticketed for the same ordinance. He also stated that he has had neighbors who left unsightly vehicles on the street and he gave his view that the broad majority of Glasgow residents were likely also frustrated with the overtime and broken-down vehicles.

The Mayor looked to end the now 20 minute long comment period stating, “We are sorry you didn’t know about the ordinance. We will try to educate people better, but this is a safety issue.”

Turner then returned to her original question of amending the ordinance and was informed of the process.Councilman Rod Karst stated that the ordinance committee would be scheduling a meeting to address the ordinance in the near future and that notice would be given on that meeting.

Other issues discussed during the meeting included the hiring of a new city attorney to cover the criminal cases. Currently Pete Helland serves as the city’s civil attorney but is unable to take on the criminal cases due to potential conflicts with his law firm. The discussion revolved around the re-advertisement of the position and the possibility of making the position a single attorney for both civil and criminal to increase the pay and in turn increase the incentive to move to Glasgow to take on the job.