Pubdate: Thu, 25 Oct 2007
Source: Holmen Courier (WI)
Copyright: 2007 The Holmen Courier
Contact:  http://www.holmencourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4136
Author: Adam Bissen, Staff writer

CITY LOOKS AT ORDINANCE TO BATTLE DRUG/GANG HOUSES

Onalaska lawmakers are moving slow on an ordinance  supported by 
police officers and landlords to allow  speedy eviction of tenants 
convicted of drug or gang  activity.

Sgt. Keith Roh, an Onalaska police officer, helped  introduce an 
ordinance to the city's Administrative and  Judiciary Committee that 
grants landlords the right to  evict tenants after five days if they 
live in homes  used for drug or gang activity. Now, landlords must 
wait 30 days to begin the eviction process.

Roh said he got the idea to introduce the ordinance  after speaking 
with police officers from La Crosse,  where a similar law is already 
on the books.

The Onalaska ordinance was referred back to committee  when it came 
up for its first Common Council vote Oct.  9.

"We looked at it, and I'm still trying to figure out  what's the 
basis for passing the ordinance," said  Alderman Bob Muth, chair of 
the Administrative and  Judiciary Committee and a former drug 
investigator for  the Onalaska Police Department. "I'm unaware of 
any  drug houses or other type of things like that in the  city of 
Onalaska, so basically I'm wondering what's the  necessity of this ordinance."

Roh said the law would help quality of life in the city  and make 
people feel safer in their neighborhoods. Of  the six drug houses 
busted by the OPD last year, Roh  said five of the tenants were 
ultimately evicted by  their landlords.

Tim Miller, vice president of the Apartment Association  of the La 
Crosse Area, said La Crosse landlords have  supported the drug and 
gang house ordinance because it  allows them to better maintain and 
control their  property.

"It allows you to get the person off your property so  they're not 
harassing your tenants, and it allows  (renters) less opportunity to 
damage your building,"  Miller said. "Why should we be punished for 
the actions  of others? It's in our best interest to get them out of 
there, get someone responsible in there and be able to  collect rent."

While Roh said that it's common for larger cities to  have ordinances 
to evict tenants in drug and gang  houses, no other communities in 
the La Crosse area have  such laws on their books.

Holmen Village Administrator/Clerk Catherine Schmit  said the village 
board had never considered such an  ordinance and, in fact, she had 
never heard of it. "I  don't even know that we've got any issues 
within the  community that would have us working on something like 
that," she said.

The proposed Onalaska ordinance uses Wisconsin state  statutes to 
define drug and gang houses. Roh said they  can be detected through 
investigation, computer  analysis, neighborhood complaints and 
evidence found in  the home.

While Onalaska does not have a reputation as a haven  for drug or 
gang activity, Roh said that does not mean  these activities do not 
exist. In fact, he said, people  who are arrested in La Crosse will 
relocate to Onalaska  and create new drug and gang houses.

"They exist in every city in America. They exist in  Holmen. They 
exist in West Salem. They're everywhere.  It's (a matter of) what 
kind of tools do you have to  deal with them," Roh said.

The Administrative and Judiciary Committee will discuss  the proposed 
ordinance at its next meeting Nov. 7.

Alderman Mike Giese, another committee member, said the  ordinance 
"didn't appear to be terribly onerous," but  he would need to do more 
research and contact landlords  before deciding how to vote.

"I look at the crime statistics and (the need for this  law) hasn't 
shown up there," Giese said, "but I think  that there's a merit to 
being proactive."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman