CITY LOOKS AT ORDINANCE TO BATTLE DRUG/GANG HOUSES

Onalaska lawmakers are moving slow on an ordinance supported by
police officers and landlords to allow speedy eviction of tenants
convicted of drug or gang activity.

Sgt. Keith Roh, an Onalaska police officer, helped introduce an
ordinance to the city's Administrative and Judiciary Committee that
grants landlords the right to evict tenants after five days if they
live in homes used for drug or gang activity. Now, landlords must
wait 30 days to begin the eviction process.

Roh said he got the idea to introduce the ordinance after speaking
with police officers from La Crosse, where a similar law is already
on the books.

The Onalaska ordinance was referred back to committee when it came
up for its first Common Council vote Oct. 9.

"We looked at it, and I'm still trying to figure out what's the
basis for passing the ordinance," said Alderman Bob Muth, chair of
the Administrative and Judiciary Committee and a former drug
investigator for the Onalaska Police Department. "I'm unaware of
any drug houses or other type of things like that in the city of
Onalaska, so basically I'm wondering what's the necessity of this ordinance."

Roh said the law would help quality of life in the city and make
people feel safer in their neighborhoods. Of the six drug houses
busted by the OPD last year, Roh said five of the tenants were
ultimately evicted by their landlords.

Tim Miller, vice president of the Apartment Association of the La
Crosse Area, said La Crosse landlords have supported the drug and
gang house ordinance because it allows them to better maintain and
control their property.

"It allows you to get the person off your property so they're not
harassing your tenants, and it allows (renters) less opportunity to
damage your building," Miller said. "Why should we be punished for
the actions of others? It's in our best interest to get them out of
there, get someone responsible in there and be able to collect rent."

While Roh said that it's common for larger cities to have ordinances
to evict tenants in drug and gang houses, no other communities in
the La Crosse area have such laws on their books.

Holmen Village Administrator/Clerk Catherine Schmit said the village
board had never considered such an ordinance and, in fact, she had
never heard of it. "I don't even know that we've got any issues
within the community that would have us working on something like
that," she said.

The proposed Onalaska ordinance uses Wisconsin state statutes to
define drug and gang houses. Roh said they can be detected through
investigation, computer analysis, neighborhood complaints and
evidence found in the home.

While Onalaska does not have a reputation as a haven for drug or
gang activity, Roh said that does not mean these activities do not
exist. In fact, he said, people who are arrested in La Crosse will
relocate to Onalaska and create new drug and gang houses.

"They exist in every city in America. They exist in Holmen. They
exist in West Salem. They're everywhere. It's (a matter of) what
kind of tools do you have to deal with them," Roh said.

The Administrative and Judiciary Committee will discuss the proposed
ordinance at its next meeting Nov. 7.

Alderman Mike Giese, another committee member, said the ordinance
"didn't appear to be terribly onerous," but he would need to do more
research and contact landlords before deciding how to vote.

"I look at the crime statistics and (the need for this law) hasn't
shown up there," Giese said, "but I think that there's a merit to
being proactive."