Quote:
ELY, Iowa (AP) - This eastern Iowa town, which has no schools or registered child care centers, is considering an ordinance limiting where sex offenders can live to protect itself from becoming a haven for offenders.
As communities begin enforcing a state law that bans sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and day care centers, Ely's city officials are concerned that registered offenders may flock to their city.
An ordinance to be considered when the City Council meets today would bar sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of city parks, playgrounds or the library, according to a copyright story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Ely is a town of about 1,500 people southeast of Cedar Rapids.
Mayor Dale Stanek said the council is trying to give the town the same protection most other communities received under state law.
"The state legislators were trying to put forth a law with good intentions, but unfortunately it has a negative impact on some communities, and Ely was one of them," he said.
Aaron Anderson, the Ely city clerk, said the concern developed after local landlords began taking phone calls from people indicating they would need to move very quickly.
While he can't say for certain that the inquiries came from sex offenders, that "implication is certainly there," Anderson said.
The Ely City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance at 7 tonight in the public library.
Fairfax Mayor Bill Voss said his city of 1,650, just southwest of Cedar Rapids, has a registered day care center and the state's 2,000-foot provision - about a half-mile - would cover most of the city.
But Voss said the town has grown, and he is unsure whether the 2,000-foot prohibition would cover all areas of the city. He said he would suggest an ordinance similar to the one being considered in Ely.
Bertram Mayor Darwin Harmening said he, too, will be talking to his town's council about a similar ordinance.
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See,
this is what I was talking about, when I made this statement; "Don't want a sex offender around...just open up a day care. ". Theoreticaly, all a community would have to do is open daycare centers in strategic locations throughout the community, and...
viola...no sex offenders can live in the community, due to Iowa State Law.
Only Ely, Bertram and Fairfax, city officials are taking it one step further by instituting "ghettos", where offenders are, in effect, quarantined.