[Vision2020] Oppose Proposed Noise Ordinance Modifications

[Janesta]

Kai,

I had a similar issue regarding noise, however, it was music. 13 years ago,
I rented an apartment downstairs from me
to three young men, who shall remain nameless as they are grown, successful
businessmen. Anyway, they had stereo
speakers were so loud, they would literally shake the paintings on my walls!
I was strict with the volume. Weekend curfew for the stereo
was 1:30pm. Most of the time the music was tolerable, one week they had
friends visit, and we thought we were on another planet!
Nothing worked to make them be quiet. It was parteeeeeeeee for those guys!
Nothing... *grin* except... Jimi Hendrix  at 6:00am...
All Along the Watchtower, Purple Haze, and the Star Spangled Banner... at
full volume... over, and over, and over again.
Repetiveness was the key. Try waking with a hangover to that! *laughing*

In all seriousness? We do not need this noise ordinance as it is written.
Living near the park, there are times people play, what to me,
is terrible music on the echoing stage for hours on end. I still don't think
we need this new law. What we do need is a police station that
is staffed until 8:00 pm every evening, so that those of us who work, can
conduct our business. I am beyond frustrated the call center, in
terms of business after 5:00 pm.

Janesta


On 10/1/07, Garrett Clevenger <garrettmc at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Kai,
>
> If the police aren't responding when you call to complain, then it doesn't
> seem like they have time to patrol for such violators on their own.  This
> proposal won't solve that problem, unless they plan to hire more police for
> that purpose!
>
> There are inconsiderate neighbors out there that may not understand your
> frustrations.  I'm glad taking the law into your hands worked for your
> neighbor situation.  If you do that in Moscow if this law passes, you better
> hope the police don't cite you on the spot!
>
> If people are making noise on public property, that is a different
> question.  Police should keep the peace in public.
>
> Remember, we live in a college town...
>
> I'd rather hear the occasional party scream then gunshots again.
>
> Take care,
>
> Garrett
>
> Sorry Garrett, but a dozen drunken kids standing outside and screaming at the top of their lungs at 3 a.m. in a residential neighborhood is a bit beyond a
>  "free speech" issue.
>
> I called the police several times on my college student neighbors and they weren't ticketed because I didn't have to call back within the timeframe required, 48 hours. They have since moved, a young family has moved in and things have been peaceful since.
>
> While living in Spokane, we had a new neighbor move in next door, including their 16 year old son. Soon, we had all sorts of cars rolling down the block with their boom-boom stereos cranked up.
>
> When I asked the kids' father to tell his son and his sons' friends to turn down the volume, I got the "They are kids being kids" answer.
>
> The police wouldn't do anything, despite repeated complaints from many of us on the block.
>
> I finally had had enough and went around to all of my neighbors to tell them what I was going to do. They all agreed
>  with my plan.
>
> One summer Sunday morning, about 5:30 a.m., I rolled my dragbike out of the shop and moved onto my lawn about 25 feet away from my neighbors' open bedroom window.
>
> Then I lit 'er up: Unmuffled motorcycle exhaust at 9,000 to 10,000 rpm makes a LOT of noise.
>
> The dad came screaming out of his house, wanting to know what the hell I was doing.
>
> "Racers will be racers, just getting ready to head to the track".
>
> We never had another problem, the kids turned down their steroes before they got on our block. I even got to know some of them and, on occasion, would fix their cars when they broke down.
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>
>   From: Garrett Clevenger
>
>   To: vision2020 at moscow.com <http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/vision2020>
>
>   Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 12:53 PM
>
>   Subject: [Vision2020] Oppose Proposed Noise Ordinance Modifications
>
>
>
> Moscow's City Council is currently considering modifying Moscow's Noise
> Ordinance to allow police officers to issue citations without warning and
> without civilian complaint.  The justification is because there is an
> increase in noise complaints and police should be able to ticket people
> immediately to bring harmony to the community.
>
> Being a college town, we should expect a bit of noise.  But if you are
> bothered, you can call the police and they will intervene.  The noisy
> people are given a warning and if not heeded, are ticketed.
>
> The proposal seems too extreme for our college town.  It skirts too close
> to our constitutional rights of free speech and right to assembly and is a
> distraction to police work.
>
> It seems unnecessary to grant the police this power and responsibility.  Do
> we really want them to be spending their time trying to find noisy citizens?
> Isn't it adequate that they intervene when neighbors complain?  If there
> has been a rise in complaints, shouldn't that be enough work for the police?
> Why would they want to increase their workload actively finding violators?
> Isn't there a better way to address repeat offenders than passing such a
> sweeping law?
>
> History is full of examples of police states gone bad.  The recent
> incident of 5 police officers tackling and tasering a college student at a
> John Kerry speech highlights the fine line between respect for authority and
> distrust of giving specific people such power.
>
> There is a reason our progressive Constitution has guaranteed citizens
> certain rights and limits the power of the State.  Unfortunately, the
> powers-that-be have consistently been chipping away at those rights, giving
> more power to the state.
>
> The job of the City Council is to protect and defend the constitution and
> the well being of citizens.  Admittedly, that is a fine line.
>
> As a cynic, I am skeptical of laws that effectively reduce the
> responsibilities of citizens.  Currently, it is up to neighbors to notify
> police when others in the neighborhood are disturbing the peace.  With the
> proposed modifications, people will begin to believe the responsibility lies
> with law enforcement.  This is not a way to build community.  It is a slow
> progression of giving away our power to police our community and giving it
> to those who, frankly, have more important things to deal with.
>
> The proposed amendment also takes away the warning noisy people now
> receive before being issued a citation. This, too, seems extreme.  Many
> people don't know they are disturbing the peace and thus deserve a warning
> before being fined for something they didn't know was a problem.
>
> I play in a band and we practice at my house.  None of my neighbors have
> complained.  My next door neighbor has said we should open the window when
> we play.  I try to be considerate so wouldn't do that, but at the same
> time, I don't want to feel intimidated by the police when I am not
> disturbing the neighborhood if for some reason we play louder than the
> police desire.  Psychologically, this repression of freedom of expression
> inherent in this proposed modification damages the principle of life,
> liberty and the pursuit of happiness guaranteed by the Declaration of
> Independence.  This proposal is un-American.
>
> My cousin is a police officer in Boise.  He thought the proposal was
> extreme and potentially ripe for abuse.  He worked in Long Beach, CA when
> a similar law was passed and said it was overturned when police began
> abusing it.
>
> I have no reason to believe our current police force will abuse the
> changes made, but laws aren't about any particular person.  There may come
> a day when this added police power has corrupted those responsible for
> overseeing it.
>
> I don't find it hard to image a similar scenario to this:
>
> Joe Moscow has unpopular political beliefs.  The powers-that-be are
> looking for ways to harass him.  Joe is out mowing his lawn, violating the
> noise ordinance. Unlucky Joe, not disturbing his neighbors, now faces a fine
> or jail time simply because he was targeted.
>
> How are the police going to enforce such an open-ended law?  Are they
> going to enforce it evenly, or are they going to be selective and
> discriminating?  Are they going to target certain neighborhoods or people,
> or are we all going to be subject to police intrusion for making a little
> bit of noise?
>
> I hope our elected officials see that this proposal is about more than
> some noisy college students.  It is about the principle that makes up our
> nation and community.  Do we want laws that uphold the Constitution and
> individual rights, or are we, law by law, slipping into the realm of the
> police state?
>
> As educated people, I hope we have learned from history and won't let fear
> of the noisy neighbor affect our good sense.  Please contact our City
> Council members or attend the City Council meeting and ask them to vote
> against this proposal.
>
>
>
>
>
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