Dramatic Introduction for Drug House Ordinance

Livermore City Council Chambers, Monday, October 14

High Drama prevailed inside and outside the Livermore City Council Chambers as Mayor Marchand's Drug House Abatement Ordinance was submitted for introduction.

The law, officially known as the Abatement of Property Used for Unlawful Drug Activities Ordinance, was initiated by the Livermore City Council. Its stated intent, according to the Staff Summary, is as a tool of last resort when conventional law enforcement had not eliminated an existing problem and designed to allow the City Attorney to take work with property owners, or take civil action against uncooperative property owners.

Acting City Attorney Jason Alcala, Assistant City Attorney Kevin Young and Police Chief Michael Harris summarized the language of the ordinance and answered questions by members of the city council. The three of them were responsible for crafting the ordinance.

During Public Comment, Ken Bradley, a property manager who runs AVR Properties, voiced his opposition to the ordinance. According to Bradley, the purpose of the ordinance already exists in the California Health and Safety Code under section 11571. Bradley also lamented a lack of public outreach by LPD, saying there has not been any for years.

Ken Bradley also stated that the ordinance only targets landlords, a charge which was denied by Jason Alcala, who stated it does, in fact, allow for action against owner-occupants.

Following public comment, Councilwoman Laureen Turner continued to express her concern over the language of the ordinance while she was in favour of its intent stating that the language of the ordinance does not reflect the staff summary.

Jason Alcala responded stating that the ordinance would have police would investigate the nuisance before referring it to the City Attorney.

But Turner was not finished. Her questions for Police Chief Harris included asking how many times it would have been used in the past year. Harris described two residences, one which had sixty calls, including a homicide, and another that had over 30 calls in which it would be have been used.

Vice Mayor Stuart Gary and Councilman Bob Woerner continued the questioning of the team that crafted the ordinance. When Woerner asked for clarification of Laureen Turner's question regarding how many times the ordinance would have been used in the past year, Chief Harris admitted to two, but conceded it may have been more without commitment.

In conclusion, Mayor Marchand described a property in which the landlord, upon hearing word that crafting of this ordinance was being considered, took action to evict a problem tenant that had been dealing drugs out of his property. “It's already working,” proclaimed the mayor.

The City Council accepted the ordinance by a margin of 4-1, with Laureen Turner the lone council member opposed. The Ordinance will be voted on in a future meeting of the Livermore City Council.

“Without this there are plenty of ways to take action,” Ken Bradley said later, outside the Council Chambers. “Better communication would get them much further ahead.”

But Rebecca Ferris disagrees. Ferris, a thirty year resident of Park Street in Livermore, spoke of her decades long fight against drug dealers in her own neighbourhood. Ferris told of how she had sent letter after letter to the property owner of a drug house neighbouring her own informing him of her intent to sue under California State Law. Ferris felt herself a prisoner own home, and the letters had no effect till the police informed the owner of that her written letters were accurate. At that point, the landlord took action and the problem was solved.

“Thank God for the Drug Task Force,” Ferris said of the Special Investigations Unit of the Livermore Police Dept., reinstituted in late 2012. Ferris expressed her passionate support for the ordinance. “It's another tool the city can use to get rid of these problems.”

The Abatement of Property Used for Unlawful Drug Activities Ordinance can be read online on Page 97 of this document.

Special Thanks to Jeremy Thomas who contributed to this report.

Previous Related Stories:

Turner in Opposition to Drug House Ordinance

Declaring War on Drug Houses