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Resident urges 10-year limit on door-to-door permit background checks; mayor clarifies Longview ordinance requires checks without a statute-of-limitations
Summary
At citizen comment, a resident asked the council to amend the city’s door-to-door solicitor permit ordinance to limit background checks to 10 years; the mayor clarified the council recently added a background-check requirement that disqualifies applicants with felonies or certain misdemeanors but contains no expiration period.
During the citizen-comment period on April 24, Longview resident Lane Clark urged the council to amend the city’s door-to-door solicitor-permit ordinance to limit criminal-background checks to a 10-year lookback so people with past convictions could have a clearer path to permits.
Clark said the current ordinance contains “nothing in place” limiting how far a background check may go and recommended the council adopt a 10-year limit to avoid unduly restricting people who have rehabilitated. “Everyone needs a second chance,” he said.
The mayor provided a clarification after citizen comments: the council adopted an addition about a month earlier requiring applicants for door-to-door permits to pass a background check and to be ineligible if they have a felony or a misdemeanor involving fraud, theft, burglary, sex-related offenses or crimes involving violence or the threat of violence. The mayor added the ordinance as adopted contains no statute-of-limitations or lookback period.
No formal action was taken at the meeting; the matter was presented as a citizen recommendation and the mayor’s remarks were offered as background for the council and public.
