Council
rejects citation powers for aldermen
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on this page:
Committee
recommends against ticket-writing
aldermen. |
Nov.
27, 2006 -- The Common Council has rejected
an effort
to authorize aldermen to enforce city ordinances by issuing
tickets to scofflaws.
The
vote was 11-4.
Ald.
Michael McGee, sponsor of the measure, assured his colleagues
that he was not seeking broad arrest powers for aldermen.
“There
are some real serious issues in the district that I represent,"
he said. "We should have the ability to enforce certain
quality of life issues."
Ald.
T. Anthony Zielinski said he agreed with McGee "110%."
Zielinski said he would issue citations himself.
"You
see truants, going up and down the streets at all times...and
no one’s issuing any citations and no one is doing
anything about it, you know, hey! If we have this authority,
I’ll go out there, if I have to," he said.
The
proposal would seek state legislation allowing aldermen
to issue citations. Ald. Robert Puente, a retired police
officer, cautioned that council members likely would have
to undergo substantial training if they were going to
enforce ordinances.
Ald.
Michael Murphy, said the proposal raised separation of
powers issues. “ We’re a legislative body
that makes laws for the city," he said. "Now
we’re going to be entrusting ourselves to enforce
those laws. I’m not an attorney, but I’d be
concerned about that."
Murphy
also said the power to enforce city ordinances could be
abused.
"Clearly,
the potential could exist where there could be retaliation,"
he said. “That is the reason why there should be
a separation of powers on this issue.”
Besides
McGee and Zielinski, aldermen supporting the measure were
Willie Wade and Willie Hines Jr.
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Committee
deals blow to proposal for ticket-writing aldermen
Nov.
13, 2006 -- A proposal proposal to seek ticket-writing
power for aldermen sputtered last week when a Common Council
committee recommended that the matter be placed on file.
Ald.
Michael McGee said giving aldermen the power to enforce
city ordinances could allow better service to constituents.
He emphasized he was not asking for seeking aldermanic
authority to arrest people.
."We
get a lot of calls from our constituents – they
expect us not necessarily to have police powers, but to
address drug houses, to address some of the serious public
safety issues, but even some of the smaller nuances of
public safety," he said. "For instances, if
you go into a store and you see one of the store owners
selling single cigarettes, for instance, to a juvenile,
we have to go through the arduous task of calling the
Police Department, and then they would have to have factual
evidence...We are sworn public officials, we have seen
it with our eyes."
McGee
Ald.
Michael Murphy, though, opposed the idea. “I think
there’s too much opportunity for abuse,” he
said before the 4-1 vote. . “The potential exists
where we become maybe more vigilant for certain people
versus others.”
McGee's
proposal calls for the introduction of state legislation
that would allow Milwaukee to grant to aldermen the right
to enforce certain, unspecified ordinances.
Murphy
Ald.
Ashanti Hamilton supported the proposal. Constituents
often contact aldermen instead of police, he said.
"It
can be situations like block parties, it can be just kids
hanging out in the street," Hamilton said. "To
actually be able to respond to certain situations and
actually get things done without overpowering the police
and without overwhelming them – a lot of it is not
public safety issues, it’s quality of life issues."
Ald.
Michael D'Amato said he is sometimes frustrated by the
way people behave and treat their neighborhoods.
“It
would be tempting to have this power and issue these citations,”
he said. He added, though, that “We almost protect
ourselves from ourselves” by having others write
the tickets.
Aldermen
have opponents and constituents who support other candidates,
he said.
“Even
the best of us look at things biasedly, given the game
that we’re in,” he said.
Civil
service employees who often write up ordinance violations
do not face those pressures, he said.
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