Yesterday, the Council members were emailed a new version of the Public Nuisance Ordinance. I also attended a Community Meeting in the Darbo Drive neighborhood hosted by the East Isthmus Neighborhood Planning Council and several neighborhood associations. Tonight, there is a Council Briefing on the ordinance and apparently they will be looking for input on the ordinance. However, I have to say, that I am less and less convinced that this law is a good thing to do or that it will help address the problems cited by the police department.
Last Friday, I taught a Housing Law Seminar in Appleton. Among the attendees were 3 Oshkosh police officers and someone from their planning department. They were concerned after learning about landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities that it was going to be difficult to actually implement the ordinance. After all, they can’t ask a landlord to change a written lease in the middle of the lease, because the tenant doesn’t have to agree to any changes. And a landlord can’t evict someone for something that isn’t a violation of the lease, and if the lease isn’t in writing, the only thing someone can be evicted for whatever was orally agreed to, which is often very little.
Meanwhile, here in Madison, the police department and city attorney’s office are busy trying to convince us that there are other things that can be done besides evicting the tenant. However, when pressed, they have a hard time coming up with many examples of what could be done. So far, we’ve heard about cutting bushes, posting the property with no trespassing signs, fixing the locks, increasing lighting and having the landlord visit the property more often.
Bottom line is, this ordinance will lead to more tenants being evicted and make it harder for people with arrest and conviction records to find housing. Which led the folks working with tenants in the Fox Valley to ask, where are they supposed to live? (There is no good answer to this question.) And leads me to ask if there isn’t a better solution to the problems presented. Do the police and building inspectors really need this tool? And will the unintended consequences of this ordinance (tenants being afraid to call the police) outweigh any good that it will do? I have that, and many more questions to ask tonight.
