Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

At the close of the regular LaGrange City Council meeting on Tuesday, Councilman Leon Childs made a statement calling for an ordinance to deal with unsafe and unhealthy homes.

“Any unsafe and unhealthy homes, we need an ordinance for that,” Childs said. “Once again, I just want to make sure that it’s clear that I keep trying to warn, and I keep saying something about this. Because here’s the thing, I am hearing this from District 1, on their side, getting out all the apartments, all their homes. I’m getting from them. And all the apartments and the home on my side [District 2] I’m in. I would not be a council member if I did not bring those grievances to the council.”

“That’s all I’m doing. I’m not trying to cause any trouble anything, but I’m hearing it from everybody’s side, and I’m just bringing it to the council,” Childs said.

City Manager Patrick Bowie said that the LaGrange Police Department is stepping up compliance through Code Enforcement, so things should be getting better.

”As you know, [Lt. Clayton Bryant] is fairly new in the role, as he is being much more aggressive, and I think you are going to see some improvements,” Bowie said.

Childs said he planned to bring suggestions to the council on the issue in the future.

“I’m working with some more people, and there’s going to be a lot of things that are going to be coming to the council. I just want you guys to know. This is not me. This is just strictly from the community. I was put into this seat by the people that voted,” Childs said.

At least one councilman did not want to discuss the issue. When Childs asked to speak, Councilman Nathan Gaskin attempted to stop Childs, calling for a point of order. In the end, Mayor Pro-tem Quay Boddie ended the meeting but didn’t stop Childs from finishing his statement. Gaskin appeared to walk out in protest and the video feed for the meeting was cut before Childs’s statement was complete.

No official discussion was had on the matter, though some council members noted that some of the unhealthy housing issues Childs had previously brought up might not be within the scope of city ordinance authority.

Councilman Mark Mitchell indicated that the city cannot issue tickets for a stove not working or air conditioning being out. It’s a civil issue, and the tenants have to take it up through the courts, he said.