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Council adopts employment, court-citation and camping ordinances; emergency clauses approved on several items
Summary
The council adopted an employment-qualification ordinance revision and three ordinances clarifying court cost and citation procedures and prohibiting unauthorized camping on private property; emergency clauses were proposed and adopted for some items.
The City Council considered and voted on a package of ordinances addressing hiring qualifications, court-citation procedures and unauthorized camping on private property.
Employment ordinance (Ordinance No. 38-85): A staff presenter identified as Kelly described revisions to the employment ordinance that retain felony disqualifications but narrow the automatic disqualification for misdemeanors involving moral turpitude to those within the last five years where the misdemeanor is relevant to the job’s duties. Kelly told the council the change would allow Human Resources discretion to evaluate fitness for specific positions—e.g., a recent DUI could be disqualifying for a driving-sensitive role but not for a general office role. Council moved to approve Ordinance 38-85; the motion carried.
Court citation and compliance ordinances (Ordinance Nos. 38-91 and 38-92): Trevor presented two related housekeeping ordinances intended to clarify differences between failure-to-pay citations, site-and-release citations and cost-arrest warrants and to ensure compatibility with updates to the citation system (GeoSafe). Trevor said the ordinances make explicit that individuals must be afforded the opportunity to request a cost hearing to determine ability to pay and distinguish failure-to-appear and cost-related arrest processes. Council moved and approved both ordinances; the record shows motions, seconds and roll-call votes.
Camping/encampment ordinance (Ordinance No. 38-93): Trevor and Police Chief Lance Arnold said the ordinance clarifies that camping on city property without permission is unlawful and creates an easier enforcement path when someone is encamped on private property without verifiable permission from the record owner or lawful possessor. Chief Arnold emphasized the ordinance is intended to protect private-property rights and includes procedural steps requiring officers to offer resources and an opportunity to leave the property before any criminal charge. Mark Smith, CEO of Housing Solutions, urged the council to coordinate outreach and resources for people experiencing homelessness, noting countywide shelter capacity constraints and increasing homelessness counts in the region. Council adopted Ordinance 38-93 and approved the emergency clause by roll call.
The meeting record shows motions, seconds and roll-call votes for all items; the transcript did not include full roll-call tallies or the names of all individual movers and seconders for each motion.
