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<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The police wouldn't do anything, despite repeated complaints
from many of us on the block.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Then I lit 'er up: Unmuffled motorcycle exhaust at 9,000 to
10,000 rpm makes a LOT of noise.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The dad came screaming out of his house, wanting to know what
the hell I was doing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>"Racers will be racers, just getting ready to head to the
track".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=garrettmc@verizon.net href="mailto:garrettmc@verizon.net">Garrett
Clevenger</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 01, 2007 12:53
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Oppose Proposed
Noise Ordinance Modifications</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>Moscow</ST1:CITY>’s City Council is currently considering
modifying <ST1:PLACE w:st="on"><ST1:CITY
w:st="on">Moscow</ST1:CITY></ST1:PLACE>’s Noise Ordinance to allow police
officers to issue citations without warning and without civilian
complaint.<SPAN> </SPAN>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal></DIV>There is a City Council meeting tonight, Oct 1 at 7
pm to discuss it.<BR>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>Being a college town, we should expect a bit of
noise.<SPAN> </SPAN>But if you are bothered, you can call the police and
they will intervene.<SPAN> </SPAN>The noisy people are given a warning
and if not heeded, are ticketed.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>The proposal seems too extreme for our college
town.<SPAN> </SPAN>It skirts too close to our constitutional rights of
free speech and right to assembly and is a distraction to police work.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>It seems unnecessary to grant the police this power and
responsibility.<SPAN> </SPAN>Do we really want them to be spending their
time trying to find noisy citizens?<SPAN> </SPAN>Isn’t it adequate that
they intervene when neighbors complain?<SPAN> </SPAN>If there has been a
rise in complaints, shouldn’t that be enough work for the police?<SPAN>
</SPAN>Why would they want to increase their workload actively finding
violators?<SPAN> </SPAN>Isn’t there a better way to address repeat
offenders than passing such a sweeping law?</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>History is full of examples of police states gone
bad.<SPAN> </SPAN>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>There is a reason our progressive Constitution has
guaranteed citizens certain rights and limits the power of the
State.<SPAN> </SPAN>Unfortunately, the powers-that-be have consistently
been chipping away at those rights, giving more power to the state.<BR><BR>The
job of the City Council is to protect and defend the constitution and the well
being of citizens.<SPAN> </SPAN>Admittedly, that is a fine line.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>As a cynic, I am skeptical of laws that effectively
reduce the responsibilities of citizens.<SPAN> </SPAN>Currently, it is
up to neighbors to notify police when others in the neighborhood are
disturbing the peace.<SPAN> </SPAN>With the proposed modifications,
people will begin to believe the responsibility lies with law
enforcement.<SPAN> </SPAN>This is not a way to build
community.<SPAN> </SPAN>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>The proposed amendment also takes away the warning noisy
people now receive before being issued a citation. This, too, seems
extreme.<SPAN> </SPAN>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>I play in a band and we practice at my house.<SPAN>
</SPAN>None of my neighbors have complained.<SPAN> </SPAN>My next door
neighbor has said we should open the window when we play.<SPAN> </SPAN>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.<SPAN>
</SPAN>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.<SPAN> </SPAN>This proposal is un-American.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>My cousin is a police officer in <ST1:CITY
w:st="on"><ST1:PLACE w:st="on">Boise</ST1:PLACE></ST1:CITY>.<SPAN>
</SPAN>He thought the proposal was extreme and potentially ripe for
abuse.<SPAN> </SPAN>He worked in <ST1:PLACE w:st="on"><ST1:CITY
w:st="on">Long Beach</ST1:CITY>, <ST1:STATE
w:st="on">CA</ST1:STATE></ST1:PLACE> when a similar law was passed and said it
was overturned when police began abusing it.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>I have no reason to believe our current police force will
abuse the changes made, but laws aren’t about any particular
person.<SPAN> </SPAN>There may come a day when this added police power
has corrupted those responsible for overseeing it.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>I don’t find it hard to image a similar scenario to
this:<SPAN> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>Joe Moscow has unpopular political beliefs.<SPAN>
</SPAN>The powers-that-be are looking for ways to harass him.<SPAN>
</SPAN>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.</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>How are the police going to enforce such an open-ended
law?<SPAN> </SPAN>Are they going to enforce it evenly, or are they going
to be selective and discriminating?<SPAN> </SPAN>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?</DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>I hope our elected officials see that this proposal is
about more than some noisy college students.<SPAN> </SPAN>It is about
the principle that makes up our nation and community.<SPAN> </SPAN>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?<SPAN> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal>As educated people, I hope we have learned from history
and won’t let fear of the noisy neighbor affect our good sense.<SPAN>
</SPAN>Please contact our City Council members or attend the City Council
meeting and ask them to vote against this proposal.
<SPAN><BR></SPAN></DIV>Thank you,<BR><BR>Garrett Clevenger<BR>
<DIV class=MsoNormal><O:P></O:P></DIV>
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