Published: July 13, 2006 09:34 pm         

Letters to the Editor - July 13, 2006

To the Editor:

I wonder how many of my fellow citizens will vote in this election with no real knowledge of who the candidates are? How have they conducted their business before they decided to become a public servant? It is my personal belief that how a person takes care of their own business is a direct indicator of what they will do while in office.

Frank Medina is running for the office of County Commissioner in my district. I have questions about this person’s ability to effectively carry out the duties of the office when he has, in the past shown a blatant disrespect for the law. I can understand how a person can get ticketed for an expired auto tag, but to be arrested for drinking and driving? How about Public Intoxication and Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Damage to a Vehicle. Then there’s Carrying a Firearm while Under the Influence and Eluding a Police Officer. This is not only a disregard for the law, but fellow citizens as well. How does this represent the man who wants to be my county commissioner?

My understanding of the duties of County Commissioner is that this is the person who is responsible for the upkeep of existing county owned facilities, property and roads, as well as the new construction of the same. I welcome Mr. Medina’s response and I invite other citizens to look in the public records section for all candidates at: www.oscn.net.

Sincerely,

Lewis Metcalf





To the Editor:

On June 12 at the Amber Town Trustee meeting, more than 25 people showed up for the public hearing on amending the Amber Code of Ordinances pertaining to manufactured, modular and trailer homes. According to an Amber City Council official, Vice Mayor Ivan Elder, “Federal guidelines state singlewides are not allowed in the city limits unless they are in a mobile home park.”

The citizens of Amber should rest assure that the Federal Government has not or ever enacted laws or rules “to banish single section homes from the city limits to mobile home park.”

On the contrary the mission of the federal government “U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development” is to increase homeownership, promote community development, and expand access to decent affordable housing without discrimination. Increasingly, they find that many of the constraints to providing affordable housing and to developing communities lie within the communities and their regions in the form of regulatory barriers.

Manufactured homes are homes built entirely in the factory under a federal building code administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (commonly known as the HUD Code) went into effect June 15, 1976. Manufactured homes may be single- or multi-section and are transported to the site and installed. The federal standards regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code also sets performance standards for the beating, plumbing, air-conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. It is the only federally regulated national building code. On-site additions, such as garages, decks and porches, often add to the attractiveness of manufactured homes and must be built to local, state or regional building codes.

On December 27, 2000 President Clinton signed the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act into law (P.L. No. 106-569). The Act will benefit industry and homeowners by providing a more timely method of establishing the standards to which manufactured homes are built. A private sector consensus committee will make recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at least every two years on ways to keep the HUD code up to date. The new law also clarifies the scope of federal preemption and provides HUD with additional staff and resources. Furthermore, homeowners and the industry will benefit from the requirement that each state institute an installation program and a dispute resolution program within five years of the law’s enactment.

Oklahoma has already enacted legislation to comply with the Federal act by licensing installers, instituting an installation program and a dispute resolution program.

Also, the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act is broadly construed to state that you cannot discriminate against our homes based on our standards. The new statutory language clarifies the original intent of Congress that the Federal preemption should be broadly and liberally construed. The new language also expands the scope of the statutory preemption by codifying a HUD regulation which precludes disparate State or local requirements or standards from affecting the uniformity and comprehensiveness of the Federal standards or affecting the Federal superintendence of the manufactured housing industry. Overall the preemption is strengthened.

So again, there is no FEDERAL law, guidelines or rule that states single wides are not allowed in the city limits unless they are in a mobile home park. Nor does Oklahoma have any such law on its books. However, there have been several court decisions of late, just in case several citizens of Amber wish to contact their attorneys:

• The City of Petal enacted a zoning ordinance that restricted the placement of manufactured homes to parks and banned them altogether from rural fringe and all residential zones. The Supreme Court of Mississippi struck down the City’s ordinance, finding that it was not rationally related to its stated purpose of enhancing residential property values. The Court noted that the prohibition of manufactured homes, while allowing pigpens and dog runs, seemed to conflict with the ordinance’s purpose. Thus, the Court held that the ordinance violated the home owner’s due process rights.

• Another court ruled that an ordinance which excluded manufactured homes from all areas outside of mobile home parks was unconstitutional. But the municipality could exclude manufactured homes from some residential areas. Also, the municipality could require reasonable standards to assure that manufactured homes would compare favorably with site-built housing.

• The court struck down a municipal zoning ordinance that prohibited siting manufactured homes in areas other than in manufactured home parks, because the ordinance was not sufficiently related to the public health, safety and welfare, and thus not within the scope of the county’s zoning authority. Scurlock v. City of Lynn Haven, 858 F 2d 1521 (11th Cir. 1981).

• The Eleventh Circuit struck down a city ordinance which imposed greater safety requirements on manufactured homes than the requirements of the National Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, because the federal act preempted the local ordinance.

Sincerely,

Deanna Fields

Executive Director

Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma







To the Editor:

A tribute to Coach Henning: Just to thank you for all your hard work and dedication to all of us! Thank you for helping make me a “Champion.”

Derrick Lea



Coach

A Friend - A Father - A Teacher

That’s True



When you become a wrestler

He’s sold out to you

To train you - run you - work you too

You’ll give him your mind-body and soul

By the time you’re through!



He’ll check your food - taste your drink

He even knows most of the time what you think.

He’ll pick you up and sit you down

You cross him - He’ll take you the ground.



So in the end - The peak of the year

When each champions heart is beating with fear

He’ll put his arms around you and reassure

you - You’ve worked hard

You’re ready for “Bear”



You step out there a winner

We all believe in you

There’s nothing that can stop

The vision of your dream come true



You pray for protection, good sportsmanship and favor too

When you step on the mat with fear

You put every ounce of energy for the last match of the year

He’ll bring you to victory when the match is through



Those last final seconds you’re thankful you didn’t coast

First you thank God for blessing you and you turn to the one

That’s been there the most



That’s a Friend, A Father, Your Teacher,

“The Coach”



Letters to the Editor

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