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Home My WebLink About01/10/1989 (2) VICE MAYOR REFERRAL (PROPOSED ORDINANCES ONLY) DATE OF REFERRAL: January 10, 1989 REFERRED TO: BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE (JOHN W. STINSON) ITEM: (Proposed) An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Bakersfield repealing Section 6.04.240 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code relating to entry on property by animal control officers. BACKUP MATERIAL ATTACHED: Yes STATUS: JCommittee Report sent to Council /Ordinance Adopted /( d ~t~ Proposed Ordinance Cancelled (date) Other REFER.6 VICE MAYOR REFERRAL (PROPOSED ORDINANCES ONLY) DATE OF REFERRAL: January 10, 1989 REFERRED TO: BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE (JOHN W. STINSON) ITEM: (Proposed) An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Bakersfield repealing Section 6.04.240 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code relating to entry on property by animal control officers. BACKUP MATERIAL ATTACHED: Yes STATUS: Committee Report sent to Council Ordinance Adopted (date) Proposed Ordinance Cancelled (date) Other REFER.6 MEMORANDUM December 28, 1988 'TO: Vice-Mayor Smith FROM: Arthur J. Saalfield, City Attorney~~ "-- --' --- SUBJECT: Proposed Ordinances On 12Y14/88 the Council approved City Managers' Report No. 3a-88, providing that each proposed ordinance, other than an ordinance re-zoning property or an emergency ordinance, be referred by the Vice-Mayor to a committee to be chosen bY the Vice-Mayor prior to Council action. Attached are the following four ordinances: 1. Contracting and Purchasi ~ 2. Auditorbum-~Committee, -- 3. Parking of Commercial Vehicles in Residential Districts, ~~- 4. Entry on Property by Animal Control Officers. ~/~u~-~_ Please refer these proposed ordinances to whichever committee you deem appropriate. Of the four, the proposed ordinance on contracting and purchasing needs the most immediate attention. Thank you for your help. AJS:sdf 4 M.VMAYOR1 cc: J.D. Hawley M. Strenn C. Graviss R. Patterson E. Schulz J. Hardisty G. Klimko ' ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT Meeting Date: Agenda Section: New Business Agenda Item: TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers ~p_proved FROM: City Attorney's Office Department Head DATE: December 27, 1988 ~ity Manager SUBJECT: An ordinance of the Council of the City of Bakersfield repealing Section 6.04.240 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code relating to entry on property by animal control officers. RECOMMENDATION: First reading. BACKGROUND: Section 6.04.240 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code purports to give animal control officers authority to enter onto private property in order to enforce laws relating to animal control. It gives the officers no more authority than they already have by law, and is therefore unnecessary. AJS/meg NB.26 DRAFT ORDINANCE NO. , NEW SERIES AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAKERSFIELD REPEALING SECTION 6.04.240 OF THE BAKERSFIELD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO ENTRY ON PROPERTY BY ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS. BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: SECTION 1. Section 6.04.240 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code is hereby repealed. SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be posted in accordance with the City Charter provisions and shall be come effective thirty (30) days from and after the date of its paSsage. o0o I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Ordinance was passed and adopted by the Council of the City of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on , by the following vote: CITY CLERK and Ex officio Clerk of the Council of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED MAYOR of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED as to form: CITY ATTORNEY of the City of Bakersfield LCM/meg O ORD 5 REPEALBMC3 11/3/88 - 2 - OFFICE of TIlE cITY ATTORNEY ARTHUR J. SAALFIELD CITY ,4 TTORNEY 150t TI~UXTUN AVENUE MUNICIPAL LAW: BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA 9330~ LITIGATION: DON McGILLIVRA Y ALAN DALE DANIEL (805) 326-3721 Assistant City Attorney Assistant City Attorney Novembe'r ~, ].988 ROBERT M. SHERFY LAURA C. MAt'IINO Deputy City Atlorney Deputy City Attorney WILLIAM H. SLOCUMB, JR. Depufy City Attorney Mr. Frank Geddes INVESrlGA;"IONS: Executive Director DON M,~nrIN Society for the Prevention CilyAttorneylnvest;gator of Cruelty to Animals 3000 Gibson Bakersfield, CA 93308 Dear Mr. Geddes: This is a somewhat belated follow-up to our September 26 meeting. It was brought to my attention by a member of the public that employees of the SPCA have been using Bakersfield Municipal Code Secti°n 6.04.240 to enter into people's homes to investigate possible code violations with respect to animals. As I explained at the meeting, this is constitutionally impermissible. That par- ticular code section was initially passed to allow SPCA employees to walk upon private sidewalks, lawns and other areas to detect violations. That type of entry, however, would be lawful with or without such an ordinance. We are therefore in the process of repealing Bakersfield Municipal Code Section 6.04.240. Since our last meeting, I received a complaint from the Police Department that SPCA officers are going door-to-door asking' property owners if they own dogs; if they do, and if the dog is not licensed, they are issuing citations. The problem with this method is that a person cannot be convicted of a crime (code violation) based merely on his representation that he or she is not in compliance. It is necessary to obtain independent evidence of the violation (e.g., a dog in the house and no.record of a license). As I mentioned at the meeting, the Police Department is available to speak to your officers and help them to understand what they can and cannot lawfully do, and where they can and can- not venture without a warrant. Please let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Laura C. Marino LCM/meg Deputy city Attorney i L.GEDDES1 cc: John Stinson, City Manager's office ~:~,, n~rn~,r Tnv~t~aator BAKE_____RSFIEL__.___qD so_a__m FOR 1'HE PliEVEHTIO OF CflU___ELTY AHIMAL__S S.P.C.A. Pet Adoption Center, 3000 Gibson Street, Bakersfield, California 93308 (805) 323-8353 S.P.C.A. Animal Control Shelter, 6851 Edison Highway, B,,akersfie_ld, California 93307 (805) 366-3234 9 November 1988 ' of,ce,, ..d O,,ec,o,. Laura C. Marino Ru,hAo, K. Ha,per Deputy City Attorney Pre.~de~, City of Bakersfield O,egg Honegger ]501 Truxtun Avenue P,e~,de., ~,.~, Bakersfield, CA 93301 Klm McNelll Vice P,eslden! Dear Ms Marino: larry Radanovlch Past Preslden! I have received your letter of 3 November and have reviewed its contents Elhel Mikslls .e~o,~.. Se¢,e,a,, with our Licensing Department staff. SleHa McMuH~ey Trea,urer As you stated in your letter, you informed me on 26 September of the MarJorle Blake city's intention to repeal Bakersfield Municipal Code Section 6.04.240. At my first staff meeting as Executive Director I brought this. to the D~. No,man Loh,, D.V.M. attention of my staff. It was, is, and shall remain Bakersfield SPCA Jim Ha,,,e, policy that licensers are not to enter people's homes. The one officer Ja. Che,ev who had been a flagrant violator of this policy prior to my employment ^~,old Johan~en has been terminated, and all current licensing officers are in Ma~c,e gn,,e, compliance. o~,,~ W,k,n~o. AS ~o the complain~ that our o~cers are citing citizens for licensing violations wiflmu[ the licenser having seen the dog, my staff has been [.~,,,. m,,~,o~ briefed and is now in compliance. We are doing our best to lawf~ly F,~,k s. ~d~ fulfill the letter and intent of our city contract, and I appreciate your brining the current complaint to my attention. Sincerely, FRANK B. GEDDES Executive Director FBO/gf cc: John Stinson, Assistant to the City Manager