City should drop building code ordinance and start over


“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”

John F. Kennedy

After weeks of discussion, argument and confusion, the Atlantic City Council is expected to vote on the final reading of the city’s controversial building code ordinance Wednesday night. In the 10 years that I’ve covered the Atlantic City Council, and including the five years covering city government in northwest Iowa, I’ve never seen the kind of public outcry caused by this issue. I’ve also never seen a city council so determined to pretend it doesn’t exist.
Two weeks ago a petition containing over 1,300 signatures was submitted to the city council, where it was mostly ignored. City officials said prior to the meeting that no accommodations would be made for a possible overflow crowd, leading to fears that some might be stranded on the street. (Only around 30 residents actually attended the meeting). Supporters of the ordinance simply dismissed the petition as the work of the ill-informed and mislead.
The second reading of the ordinance passed by a 4-3 vote, setting up the final reading for Wednesday nights meeting. After sitting through the meetings, talking to officials and residents and, yes, reading the ordinance, I’ve come to the conclusion that the city should not pass this ordinance as it's written.
If there were some urgency, a dire public concern that had to be addressed, then fine, pass the ordinance – but there isn’t. In fact is there seems to be no compelling reason what-so-ever to continue to force the issue. The state itself has moved its deadline for implementing electrical inspections back to February, so why does the city feel it needs to enact its ordinance by January? Instead of acting like petulant children, the council should listen to the concerns raised by the citizens they represent.
I believe building codes are important and I think the city should adopt them as they are approved by the state, but it should drop the fees and inspection sections until a new committee, a real one this time, that includes people with different views and meets enough times to give them a chance to express them, can come up with a recommendation.
That committee should look at fees being charged by other communities and how they are handling this issue. It should also look at how other communities are handling inspections and decide what route the city wants to take.
Councilman Kern Miller said last week that JAS had already been hired to do the inspections and that the ordinance dealt only with the building codes. He’s partly right. The ordinance does deal primarily with the codes, but it also deals with fees. Fees set by JAS.
It’s also true that while JAS has been hired to do the inspections, they can also be fired. At the time the contract was approved it was clearly stated that the contract could be terminated with 30 days notice. The city is NOT locked into a contract with JAS, to state otherwise is not true.
So why not find out what options are out there? The city has done nothing to look into this, they have been locked into JAS from the start. Why? The new committee needs to look at all options, including the city doing its own inspections or joining with other communities to hire an inspector.
On Monday I spoke with Clarinda’s City Administrator who told me he was extremely interested in looking at regional inspector. Isn’t it reasonable to think that officials from other communities might share that thought? Shouldn’t we at least look into the idea?
Councilman Dave Wheatley has made the point that it would be impossible to find a locally qualified person to do the job and furthermore he argues, local inspectors couldn’t be trusted not to succumb to corruption.
Nonsense. Building trades classes are offered at Iowa Western Community College, as well as others, and officials there say that in many cases local building inspector jobs are filled by retired or partially retired contractors who are already familiar with the laws. To say Atlantic could not find a qualified individual locally, or even regionally, just doesn’t wash. Besides how do we know if we don’t try or even ask? Does Wheatley know for sure there is no one qualified in the community? Does he know how long it takes, or what the requirements are to become a building inspector?
As for the corruption issue, if Wheatley chooses to cast himself as a sort of Diogenes looking in vain for an honest man, fine, but I for one have more faith in the moral character of the community.
It’s also worth noting that Wheatley and Miller were the most vocal critics in calling, rightly, for the city to seek competitive bids for engineering contracts. Yet not only was this contract let without a bid, but both adamantly oppose the idea and refuse to consider any alternative. Why?
How much money will JAS make in Atlantic over the years? Is it enough to interest other companies or individuals?
There is also the issue of how the ordinance will be applied. Last week councilman Rueb said homeowners doing remodeling work would not be required to get a permit, but the code is not that clear cut and leaves the question to the discretion of JAS as to whether the homeowner is competent to even do the work. What standard will be applied to make that decision and how do we know it will be applied fairly? Why isn’t Wheatley worried about possible corruption here?
In addition it’s not clear what type of work is exempt. Councilman John Rueb said home remodel work is exempt, period, and went on to read a section of the code. But what if a homeowner wants to move a sink from a counter to an island is it still exempt? What if they want to run wiring to the garbage disposal? Can they? Can a homeowner finish a basement, work that may require installing electrical outlets, lights and switches?
There are simply too many unanswered questions, too much opposition and too much anger to pass this.
Councilmen Wheatley and Miller also made, what I considered, a thinly veiled threat against Livengood and work he is doing on the rehabilitation of the former National Guard Armory. Big Brother will apparently be watching him.
Is this really how we want our representatives to act? Is this how we want our government run? What are supporters of the ordinance afraid of? There is no need to rush, there is no law requiring the city to take this action and there is no need for the city to, as President Kennedy warned, fear its people.