Cedar Falls, IA, City Council Decides It Wants the Keys to Your Front Door

So piss off, little persons.

11 Responses to “Cedar Falls, IA, City Council Decides It Wants the Keys to Your Front Door”

1. Skyler says:

   June 12, 2011 at 4:09 pm

   Businesses in California from my experience leave keys with the fire department to their gates and to their fire systems. I’m not so sure this is such a novel idea. I can’t say whether this was a requirement of the City or of the insurance company. We had a very dangerous business with lots of things that caught fire (liquid asphalt, felt, etc.) . In our case it was probably a very good idea because we were co-located with refineries and in the event of a large fire (small fires were an almost daily event) it could become quite a conflagration and nearby homes might be affected.

   That being said, offices shouldn’t have this requirement, nor should residences.

2. ricki says:

   June 12, 2011 at 4:32 pm

   As a single woman who lives alone, someone in my town council suggesting this to me would be met with some seriously colorful language. And a reminder that if I hear someone unlocking my door, I will shoot first, ask questions later.

   No good can come of surrendering a key to your house to some governmental employee.

3. Mr. Bingley says:

   June 12, 2011 at 5:41 pm

   The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

   But we’re doing it to protect you!

   And people screamed at Jonah Goldberg for describing liberal fascism with a smiley face.

4. Rob says:

   June 12, 2011 at 8:22 pm

   The law pertains to commercial property, not residential property. It makes some sense. Modern buildings have fire doors that are not at all easy to knock down. If this helps the fire department to get a person out quicker or if getting inside quicker will keep the fire from spreading to other buildings, I can see some value in this. Concerns about theft and abuse are legitimate, though. The council needs to pay a little more heed to those concerns.

5. JeffS says:

   June 12, 2011 at 10:10 pm

   God, the smugness emanating from those politicians was positively blinding.

   Start recall petitions on everyone of those closes, stat!

6. JeffS says:

   June 12, 2011 at 10:10 pm

   “clowns”, not “closes”. Sheesh!

7. tree hugging sister says:

   June 12, 2011 at 11:15 pm

   Someone I know mentioned his Sears in Birmingham has an alarmed wired keybox set-up for basically the reasons set forth by these numbnuts. If EVER there was a “failure” to communicate, here it is, in all its YouTube glory. Jeff has it nailed. These guys have “piss on YOU” oozing out of every pore, and can’t be bothered to spare the time to explain nor offer examples from other communities where the same thing is implemented because of those honkin’ big fire doors, etc. I’d say the Cedar Falls City Council is in big trouble locally and, with the way this is going viral, I wouldn’t be answering the phone either.

8. jon says:

   June 13, 2011 at 12:21 am

   Kamyar Enshayan
   1703 Washington St Cedar Falls, IA 50613-4053

   (319) 266-5468

   Contact the councilmember who says “We will decide what is right”

   (ed: normally I am completely against allowing someone’s information up like this. However, this is all straight off the Cedar Falls website)

9. Mr. Bingley says:

   June 13, 2011 at 6:37 am

   Actually, Rob, it is for all commercial buildings and any apartment building with three or more units, which is encroaching an awful lot it seems to me.

   Isn’t this the way Government creep always goes? One little thing that “makes sense.” Followed by something “reasonable.” And then something “for the children.”

   And then we find that the phrase “Congress shall make no law” means nothing anymore.

10. Rob says:

    June 13, 2011 at 9:45 am

    I’m not sure why apartment buildings need to be covered in their view. Maybe the owners keep storage areas locked away from their tenants?

    I’m not going to say I never concern myself with slippery slopes but I usually don’t. This isn’t creep. These are elected officials and they’re holding all of the hearings. They’re going to have the consent of a majority of the governed and if it’s unconstitutional, it will be overturned.

11. The Coalition Of The Swilling » The Keys To The City says:

    June 16, 2011 at 6:48 am

    […] up to Sis’s post from the other day we get an update from Adam at POWIP on our friends in Cedar Falls, Iowa, who passed the ordinance […]