The decision was in mutual agreement between the council and outgoing city manager Noah A. Simon.
At the normal May council meeting the next day, council member Summer Jones made a statement at the end of the session about how it seemed the conversation for Jones leaving started outside of the council chambers in private discussion rather than starting with the council.
“In a council manager form of government, decisions like that should begin with the full council, not through individual conversations or early negotiations that happen before we’ve addressed the matter together,” she said and requested a discussion on this matter be added to a future agenda.
Simon will be contacting SGR to engage in a search for an interim city manager.
New sex offender registry adopted
The main item on the agenda for the regular council meeting was the resolution to adopt a city-wide sex offender registry ordinance for Aledo.
According to the sex offender registry on the DPS website, there are five sex offenders that live within city limits of Aledo and 22 who live at the 76008 zip code.
Public safety director Carol Riddle gave a presentation to the council and attendants of the meeting outlining the parameters of the ordinance. This ordinance was based on chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the local government code Section 341.906, which is a Texas state law specifically lining out how general-law municipalities can address limitations on registered sex offenders.
The law also defines a “child safety zone” and restricts registered sex offenders from entering or being within a specified distance of such zones. There are five new city ordinance offenses.
“Number one, residing within 1,000 feet of a child safety zone. Number two, going to any property within 1,000 feet of a child safety zone. Number three, the participation in Halloween activities, specifically trick or treating, eliminating a light from your front door. Number four, loitering within 300 feet of a child safety zone, and number five, the renting any place, structure, or anything else to be used or construed as a residence, either permanent or temporary for more than fourteen days, to a registered sex offender within 1,000 feet of the child safety zone,” Riddle said.
The ordinance also outlines an appeal process that the registered offender can go through, which will require a public hearing and a vote by the city council after the offender has submitted all necessary paperwork.
City attorney Alicia Kreh and Riddle also explained how some municipalities have enacted farther reaching child safety zones than the 1,000 feet, and how due to that being further than the state law, it opened the city up to litigation of violating civil rights.
“You have to balance the right of an individual versus the safety concern,” Kreh said.
Council members and those in attendance of the meeting were shown a map of Aledo with the 1,000 feet perimeters drawn on it to show how much of the city would be covered in the safety zones. Certain eateries such as Jake’s Burgers fall out of these zones.
“The ordinance does not prohibit registered sex offenders from traveling through these safety zones because if they have to go to and from work, to and from other residences, things like that,” Riddle said. “There is a loitering offense that we created, meaning they cannot loiter. If they’re going into this area to conduct business, they go in and they leave. They cannot loiter.”
The ordinance will go into effect Sept. 1 due to the projected date of getting the Aledo police force up and running. Until then, the city can’t legally enforce this ordinance. Riddle said that if the police force were to be operational sooner, the council can reconvene in a special session to amend the starting date.
“At the end of the day, while we all want to make our community safe, and we all want to have a safe Aledo, and we want to be able to raise our families here and our children to feel safe, everybody is entitled to equal protection under the law, and everybody is entitled to due process,” Riddle said. “The ordinance that you have before you lays out all of that for both sides. And it aligns with state law.”
Several residents spoke during the public hearing on the ordinance about changing the language of the resolution to be stronger for less wiggle room for the offenders. Riddle was able to answer those concerns in the meeting and encouraged any concerned resident to reach out to her office so that she could answer any questions or concerns.
“I understand the concerns that we’re behind on this, but we’ve also not had a police department, we’ve not had full time city manager. We’ve not had a lot of things that maybe other communities that look similar to ours but aren’t exactly like ours,” council member Summer Jones said to Riddle. “So although I know that it’s been said we’re behind, I’m very thankful for where we are right now and for your diligence.”
Other business
City attorney Alicia Kreh explains previous litigation cases regarding other municipality ordinances to council members Shawna Ford and Todd Covington.
Alex Hoben/The Community News
In other council news, the consent agenda was passed except for the item regarding the purchase of two police pursuit vehicles which Mayor Shane Davis pulled out at the beginning of the meeting.
The council also had two public hearings regarding the annexation of property into the city of Aledo that were completed in short order.
After coming out of executive session, no actions were taken. Due to the inclement weather, the council postponed the Public Information Act training that was set on the agenda.
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