2008 Woodie Awards
City eases penalty for furniture ordinance
Kenton Butcher
Issue date: 8/26/08 Section: Front Page
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Oxford City Council met June 17 and voted to reduce the violation of the city ordinance on outdoor furniture, including beer pong tables, from a fourth degree misdemeanor to a minor misdemeanor.
While the first violation of the ordinance now carries a charge of a minor misdemeanor-which requires payment of a fine and does not go on a student's police record-the second offense will remain a fourth degree misdemeanor, requiring a court appearance and a mark on the guilty party's record.
Associated Student Government (ASG) Secretary for Off-Campus Affairs Thad Boggs said ASG was adamant about getting the penalty reduced since ASG and most of the student body felt that the punishment for having a beer pong table outside did not fit the crime.
"Though violation of the ordinance is disrespectful of the surrounding neighbors and community, the potentially profound negative effect on students' lives (that) the fourth degree misdemeanor classification can have did not fit the crime," Boggs said. "At the end of the day, that seems to have been the
consensus opinion."
Alysia Fischer, an Oxford resident and member of the Student/Community Relations Commission (SCRC), said she also felt the punishment was too severe. After receiving input from the SCRC, Office of Off-Campus Affairs, ASG and Miami University's President's office, Fischer requested that Oxford City Council consider amending the misdemeanor level.
Fischer said the previous ordinance that raised the penalty to a fourth degree misdemeanor was done only to increase the fine amount. Fischer said the fines could not be raised without also raising the misdemeanor level-an unintended consequence.
"I think we've finally found the balance we were striving for all along," Fischer said. "This misdemeanor level change is due, in large part, to the good working relationship (between City Council, ASG and the Office of Off-Campus Affairs) and the advocacy of (Coordinator of Off-campus Affairs) Bobbe Burke and Thad Boggs."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Nate Brunk
posted 8/26/08 @ 3:15 PM EST
Is this a giant joke to Oxford? As an off-campus student who received a fourth degree misdemeanor, I find this absolutely ridiculous. I have a stained record because of the City of Oxford's trigger-happy desire to prosecute students to an unreasonable level on this matter. (Continued…)
Kate Brunk
posted 8/31/08 @ 2:30 PM EST
I believe that the City Council took the correct action in reducing the offense from a fourth degree misdemeanor to a minor misdemeanor. Now the Council needs to work with the City to expunge the records of all those students caught in the interim period when the offense was miss categorized; without additional expense to the students. (Continued…)
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