Ordinance would nearly restrict sex offenders from living within the city
Elkhorn’s Common Council voted in favor Monday night of a new ordinance that intends to make it more difficult for convicted sex offenders to move into the Elkhorn area.
Alderman Scott McClory said he believes the city needs to give a lot of credence to a previous presentation for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, which he said showed city officials it would not be wise to change its ways and the recidivism rate is not affected by displacing sex offenders.
Additionally, with the current system, McClory said people know where sex offenders are and can go to them if they have to.
“When you force them out of a neighborhood and displace them, then they become homeless and you don’t know where they are, you don’t know how to track them and you don’t know how to keep monitoring them,” he said. “They said unequivocally this is a bad idea, do not do this, and they’re the experts.”
McClory made a motion, seconded by Alderman Gary Payson, Sr., to maintain the current system and allow law enforcement and the Department of Corrections to continue monitoring sex offenders and refer issues to the district attorney’s office.
“They’re already under very strict guidelines and stipulations,” he said.
Mayor Brian Olson said it’s not that he thinks the Department of Corrections of the sheriff’s department are doing their job – in fact he said he thinks they’re doing a good job with the tools available to them – but that the problem Elkhorn is facing is a volume issue.
“I think everyone’s doing the best that they can,” Olson said. “The problem is volume, image and what’s going on around town.”
McClory said he would be more inline with making a change if there was a higher recidivism rate and law enforcement were dealing with repeat offenders in the area.
“I’m not certainly advocating that we open up ten more buildings that house sex offenders, I’m not advocating that, but we do have current buildings within the city limits that house them,” he said.
City Administrator Sam Tapson said last fall the Department of Corrections has a contract with both the Nickel Plate Hotel and the Thomas Motel to provide housing to sex offenders after they are released from custody.
McClory said restrictions and stipulations as to where sex offenders can live, who they can live with and whether or not they can be around children are already built into the Department of Corrections supervision model.
In addition, McClory said restrictions also depend on the case, who they offended with and the level of offense it was.
“The state allows us to restrict sex offenders, why wouldn’t we do it,” Alderman James D’Alessandro said.
City Attorney Ward Phillips said the state has not said that the city can do this, but similar ordinances in Wisconsin have not been overturned at this point.
“I think it remains to be seen, especially with the Milwaukee actions now, as to whether these ordinances are going to hold constitutional validity when they really get challenged,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time before that happens and if they get challenged, if they get overturned, there’s going to be a lot of scrambling around.”
Alderman Tom Myrin questioned councilmembers on how sex offenders living in the downtown area could affect businesses as well as downtown life.
“Nothing good can come from all of these people in one place,” he said. “I’ve seen it, I’ve seen how they act, and it is absolutely not where I want to take my family. We’ve talked to people, and Greg can confirm this, people don’t feel comfortable even working downtown in some places because of this, and you want to make it okay for that?”
McClory said he doesn’t want to make it okay, but there is currently a working system in place, noting if they flip the page, restricting sex offenders from moving into the Elkhorn area, could be disastrous as they could be without a home and harder to monitor for law enforcement.
“I’m not happy about it either, I’m not advocating that we should have more sex offenders, I’m saying we have a system in place that the DOC says works, the DOC says don’t change it,” he said.
Olson explained the issues supporters of the ordinance have is the transient population, the sex offenders who are in the city between one to seven days, not the ones who are returning to family in the area. This fluctuating population, he said, gives the city a bad image.
“They’re flowing in and out,” he said. “When you Google Elkhorn and you look for sex offenders, you’re going to see 180, 230, the information’s not exactly perfect. The problem is they’re moving in and out of the community so fast they have to check-in everyday.
“So, we have an image-issue too. It’s tough to open a candy shop two doors down.”
Olson said he brought this forth because citizens have told them they’re not happy about sex offenders being “dumped” into Elkhorn. McClory said he hasn’t received one complaint.
“I’ve had plenty of my neighborhood who said they don’t even want to take their children down to the parade because they have a bunch of perverts watching their kids,” Alderman Gregory Huss said.
Chief Joel Christensen said he has a similar view as McClory, noting that it’s not so much a public safety concern right now.
“My opinion has always been I want to make sure I know who it is that is residing next door to me and not encourage someone to falsify information or not provide accurate information, that’s always been my greatest concern,” he said.
Olson said other communities in Southeast Wisconsin, such as East Troy, have adopted similar ordinances.
McClory said he would support an ordinance that would put a cap on the number of sex offenders living in the city; however, he wouldn’t support one that restricts them from living anywhere in Elkhorn.
“I know we can pass it, but is it the right thing to do,” he said. “There’s a difference between restriction and elimination.”
Aldermen Myrin, Huss and D’Alessandro voted against McClory’s motion. Aldermen McClory, Gary Payson, Sr., and Hoss Rehberg voted in favor of maintaining the current system. Olson cast the deciding vote.
Tapson said if the city were to set 2,500 feet as a standard for a distance, it would effectively cover the entire city.
Additionally, the council voted in favor of directing the city attorney – councilmembers casting the same votes as previously – to create a draft the ordinance to come before the Council. Per McClory’s request, as he will not be able to attend the next meeting, the draft will not come before the council until a later date.
