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'Publish before you punish' moratorium fails after council debate over ordinance access
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Summary
Council debated a resolution to moratorium enforcement of ordinances not readily published online; members split over whether the measure was redundant with ongoing municipal‑code updates and whether staff should first produce ticket-count data; the resolution failed on a roll-call vote.
The Highland Park City Council debated and failed to pass a resolution that would have placed a moratorium on enforcing ordinances that the city had not published or made accessible to residents.
Councilwoman Martin raised the issue and asked the city attorney to interpret a highlighted municipal provision; City Attorney Bosnick said ordinances are required to be published in general‑circulation newspapers prior to second reading and adoption and that ordinances are available online once enacted. Council members and residents disputed whether certain recently adopted or revised ordinances were actually visible and easily findable on the city’s website.
Council members focused on two practical questions: how the municipal code is published/updated online and how often code violations are being issued for provisions residents cannot locate. Council President Thomas said he would ask the code‑enforcement officer for two months’ (30–60 days) of ticket counts to show the scale of the issue. Councilwoman Manuka argued the municipal code update (via Municode) is ongoing and that the resolution would be redundant, while Councilman Ashanti said he saw no harm in moving the measure forward to speed publication.
After debate, the roll call on the moratorium recorded split votes (Councilman Ashanti and Councilwoman Martin voting yes; Councilwoman Manuka and Council President Thomas voting no) and the motion did not pass.
Council requested staff follow up with the code‑enforcement data and said the council will continue work to make ordinances more accessible online; no enforcement changes were adopted tonight.
The council also agreed to remove the matter from the table and to seek further legal and administrative clarification before any future action.
