Amending city law

Amending City Law

Midland, Michigan has a problem. City ordinance forbids pet pigs. Nine year old Ethan White, in Midland, owns a pet pig.  Ethan is allergic to fur, so cannot have a conventional pet.  After national news, (Midland Daily News), Ethan's request is being reconsidered.

Tallahassee, Florida has similar problems. Every city on Earth has similar problems.  No one is able to anticipate every reasonable exception to proposed laws.

We need a way for reasonable unanticipated exceptions to be honored by the law.

I propose the following:  City council appoints a panel of seven reasonably compassionate judges, to listen to individual citizens.  If the citizen’s persuasive arguments sway these seven judges, they make a studied recommendation for specific amendments to the law.

The members of the city council discuss the recommendations.    If the suggested amendments affect only the citizens who brought forth the complaint, the city council has the authority to make minor amendments to the law.  If the suggested amendments affect the entire community, then the city council will put the question of the recommended amendments on the next city wide ballot.

If the city of Midland had had such a system as this in place, they would have quickly been able to amend their law against pet pigs.  For example, they could have pet pigs be permitted if they were housebroken.



Kermit Rose