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Police, Rec. Center Employees Key To Enforcing New Sex Offenders Law
BY CAROL ARNETT
The Florissant City Council voted unanimously passing a bill barring registered sex offenders from the city’s parks and recreation centers.
The council took action after a man had exposed himself at the James J Eagan Center. The man was a registered sex offender. He was living in Black Jack at the time of the incident, but had lived in Florissant previously and still had a resident card.
A resident in attendance asked how the ordinance would be enforced. Mayor Robert Lowery said that the ordinance would allow police to arrest registered sex offenders who came to city facilities. “If you come to the recreation center and you are a registered sex offender, you will be arrested.”
As far as the parks go, Lowery said, “police are being trained to recognize the registered sex offenders in the area.” Lowery said police could ask people in the park for identification.
Councilwoman Karen McKay said she was “proud of the administration” for taking action on getting the bill to council. “This city has a great police force,” she said, “and this ordinance will help them.”
Resident Becca Spinoza noted that the man in the incident at the Eagan Center was from Black Jack and asked how the city would keep people out. Lowery again said that the ordinance would allow police to check identification and arrest registered offenders.
After the council passed the bill on Jan. 28, Lowery said he would sign it “first thing in the morning,” so it could be enacted quickly.
In other news relating to the Eagan Center, several residents came before the council and complained about a temporary video screen that was recently placed at the center.
Tracy Lafoy, who lives near the Eagan Center, said the sign was too bright, flashed different messages, and was the size of a commercial billboard. She and other residents were particularly upset with the way they said Parks Director Ron Veetch handled their complaints.
She said Veetch “did nothing about their complaints” and would not discuss moving the sign to a different location on the Civic Center property away from homes.
In other matters, the council:
o Honored Specialist Matthew Wegman, home on leave from Iraq. Wegman thanked the city and said that the support of people at home was very important to the troops. Lowery said that he would like to honor all service members in the city and urged family members to let the city know when service members were home and could be honored by the council.
o Passed a resolution declaring the city’s intent to sell property at 4405 Washington Street. This is the old Our Lady of Fatima convent. The council will now hold a public hearing on the proposed sale.
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