At a special meeting of the Westlake City Council on Tuesday, July 16, council members voted 3-0 to codify a change to the city’s sexual offender and sexual predator ordinance by approving its second reading.
Mainly the change extends from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet — the additional length of some six football fields — the prohibition against persons listed as sexual offenders or predators living near parks, playgrounds, daycare centers or “any other place where children regularly congregate,” such as bus stops and the Westlake Adventure Park.
“This is an important issue for our community, and we moved forward to keep our kids safe,” Councilwoman Charlotte Leonard said.
“The fact that we scheduled a special meeting to vote on this as soon as possible speaks volumes,” Westlake Mayor JohnPaul O’Connor said. “We did what was necessary to protect our children and loved ones.”
Vice Mayor Greg Langowski and Councilman Julian Martinez were not present at the special meeting. Langowski also was absent from the council’s regular July 2 meeting, during which the ordinance passed 4-0 on its first reading. Council members agreed to call a special, one-item meeting on the earliest date legally possible.
The only change at the second reading was that libraries were dropped from the list of restricted locations, based on court rulings that have struck down such limits, O’Connor said.
READ THE ORINGINAL ARTICLE HERE
