Aldermen Question Need for Occupancy Law / Chief Melies Throws a Tantrum / Lesh Fires Back

^{Is this any way to persuade aldermen?}

By Pauline Masson – 

Pacific Police Chief Scott Melies responded to questions about a proposed law putting him and his department in charge of occupancy violations with a rant against people who post comments on social media about the bill, and against the homeless – aka unhoused – aka squatters.

The incident occurred at the July 5 board of aldermen meeting.

Aldermen questions – about where it came from and need for a new law that would authorize Chief Melies and his department to enforce all housing and occupancy codes – drew a bit of a temper tantrum from the chief. Before aldermen could proceed with questions, Chief Melies said he wanted to speak.

Social media participants on Facebook and Hometown Matters especially drew his ire.

“Why there are some that do not want law, order or accountability, I do not know,” he said. “The creation of ‘what if’ scenarios that are baseless and not helpful to our community, they are just not helpful. To write articles about things that could happen is not helpful.”

What Chief Melies does not seem to grasp is that words matter. Words that citizens post on social media matter. And his words matter. He could benefit from taking a course on the power of persuasion.

We (citizens) miss the point of his quest for power in the issue of occupancy because of his view that people who post on social media don’t want law and order and our city is invaded by criminals.

Chief Melies does not disguise his view that the squatters and criminals are the same.

“You all know about the results of some of these people,” he said. “There has been an increase in theft. There has been stolen cars. These are done by people who live in these squatted strucures.”

I’m not suggesting that there are no criminals in Pacific. Statistically it is certain there are some. But if we have a serious crime problem, the chief would garner more support for his campaign by publishing specifics on just how serious the crime invasion is.

How many squatter calls have police responded to in, say, the past three months? How many citations were issued?  How many of these calls involved theft or property damage? How many abandoned buildings are there in the city that police officers have been asked to investigate because of squatters? How many times have the police called out the building commissioner? How many buildings has the building commissioner condemned?

When asked during the meeting how many condemned houses the city has, Chief Melies said, “Currently I don’t know how many. They go on and drag on and land in court.”   

The police department not only does not report on the number or type of police calls, if a citizen makes a Sunshine request for any police activity they are charged $26 an hour for the department to research the issue. The department is almost certainly keeping records of calls by type of complaint but the public is not privy to that information, unless they pay.

Hometown Matters and the citizens, who posted comments responding to an article that challenged a proposed law that put the chief and his department in charge of occupancy, are sharing their concerns. Citizens are voicing worries about citizens’ privacy and about police overreach.

This is a proposed law, or ordinance, that can be interpreted in many ways, and begins with the attention grabbing introduction that officers can arrest without a warrant.

When asked during the meeting if the police would arrest a squatter, Chief Melies, equivocated

“We could just issue a summons,” he said.

Chief Melies did not limit his contempt for social media mavens or the homeless. He also took a shot at the aldermen.

“When I bring ideas I’d like them reviewed on facts, without prejudice and negativity. I’d like for them to be evaluated on their value to the community, not on  prejudice or, there seems to be an apparent adversarial environment between the board and staff,” he said  The staff comes in each day and tries to do a good job. They bring ideas. They bring out what we usually call best practices.”

After about 12 minutes of the chief’s lecture, Acting Board President Scott Lesh interrupted the comments.

“Chief, thank you very much. I would like to say at this point, we asked to have a reading on this and we asked some basic questions. Your adversarial attitude toward the board right now is deplorable to me. Why don’t you let us ask questions and figure out what is going on,” Lesh said. “You make judgments on what our motives are. We’ll give you the tools you need. Let the process work.”

“I was trying to give you a little background,” Chief Melies answered.

“No, I think you were doing more than that. Thank you,” Lesh concluded.

The meeting streamed on YouTube, was recorded, and is available on the city’s webpage for anyone to watch.