Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Police Chief Way indicated there are some people that will not risk the $120 ticket in court when <br />they could take the $100 ticket. He thinks this could work well for the abatement program, but <br />. he is not a great fan of utilizing this for traffic violations. He would like to be able to track <br />offenses. He pointed out that the City has not issued one ticket in six months under the ten miles <br />per hour limit, and in 2006 only issued two. A lot of the cities use it for the abatement. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated he talked with the Columbia Heights Prosecutor, who said he has <br />not seen the big deal. He makes less money as the prosecutor, but the cases are not clogging the <br />court dockets. He questioned what the down side would be to administering these fines. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way replied the down side would be the administrative side and not being able to <br />use the Ticket Writer system, the Finance Department would have to get involved. <br /> <br />Mayor Pro Tem Elvig indicated at this time it is the policy issue the Council is considering. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stated he is not opposed to the administrative fines. It makes sense for <br />the abatement ordinance, but for the traffic violations he would like to see a legal opinion from <br />the League of Minnesota Cities. If the League is in support of this he could have more of a <br />policy discussion on the right and wrong. However, if the League states that the legislation did <br />not pass and they do not recommend that the City do this, the City could become involved in a <br />legal mess without legal representation. <br /> <br />Councilmember Olson asked if parking violations on the Ticket Writer system go to the State. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way replied they are handled the same way. The City does not issue many parking <br />tickets; the tickets they do issue are for overnight parking. At the City of Anoka the fine is left <br />there in an envelope, and the City needs to take care of it. Any time you deal with cash there is <br />the need for checks and balances. <br /> <br />Councilmember Olson indicated she would consider administrative fines for anything except <br />moving violations; she would not be in support of administrative fines for moving violations. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen questioned what the opinion is of the League of Minnesota Cities. He <br />indicated his understanding of the opinion is that there is nothing prohibiting the City from doing <br />this. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way indicated he can email the League tomorrow for clarification on the opinion. <br /> <br />Interim City Administrator Nelson recapped that she hears there. is some interest on <br />administrative penalties for code enforcement issues and potentially parking violations, but there <br />is not a determination on traffic penalties. She indicated staff will contact the League of <br />Minnesota Cities to see if they are willing to give an opinion. It is likely that the League will say <br />the City is not expressly authorized by the State to do this, but is not expressly authorized by the <br />State not to do this. Tonight staff is looking for policy direction on how much work Council <br />would like them to continue to do on this. This will need to be melded with the discussion on the <br />abatement program. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session I July 17,2007 <br />Page 5 of 12 <br />