Students returning to Ohio University in the fall might have another incentive to register to vote if a Student Senate-developed noise ordinance is on the ballot.
The Know Noise Task Force, formed by senate earlier this quarter, has drafted an amendment to the city’s noise ordinance that would lighten penalties and make enforcement more consistent, said Chris Wimsatt, the group’s press secretary and senate’s state and federal affairs commissioner.
Wimsatt and John Calhoun, executive director of the task force and senate’s university life commissioner, presented the proposed language during a news conference yesterday and to Student Senate last night.
The task force’s ballot initiative seeks to reinstate the complaint requirement to make enforcement more consistent, said Wimsatt.
“Before a warning can be issued, there needs to be a citizen complaint by someone other than a police officer in the community,” he said. “If the noise isn’t bothering anyone, then it’s a victimless crime, at which point it begs the question, ‘Is it a crime at all?’”
In August, Athens Police began a new noise ordinance enforcement policy, no longer requiring citizen complaints before officers approach properties that might be in violation. Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 12, officers issued 67 citations, a 1,340 percent increase over the five issued during the same period in 2009.
As well as requiring citizen complaints, the new ordinance would change the penalties for violations. All warnings would have to be written, and the issuance of a warning would begin a 30-day period in which the first violation would carry a $50 to $75 fine. Subsequent violations would be minor misdemeanors, which require court appearances.
Calhoun said the 30-day period is long enough to curb noise, but short enough to be reasonable.
“It’s an interesting household that decides to party really hard one night and then not party at all the rest of the month,” he said.
Under the current law, a first offense is a minor misdemeanor and a second offense within six months is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which carries a fine of $250 and up to 30 days in jail.
“I don’t think that people should be looking at jail time for noise,” Wimsatt said.
The task force plans to begin collecting petition signatures during Spring Quarter, said Calhoun. The petition will need 494 valid signatures to be eligible for the ballot, but Calhoun said the group is aiming for 1,000.
“We’re serious about executing, and we’re even more serious about winning,” Wimsatt said.
Student Senate President Jesse Neader said while the language of the amendment is good, the biggest challenge will come on election day.
“It doesn’t mean shit if we don’t get students out to vote,” Neader said.
jf250409@ohiou.edu
@ThePostCampus
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