Public Safety Chair Greig Smith Sort of On-Board with Anti-Harassment Law

Readers with long memories might remember that when Councilman Rosendahl was pushing for an anti-harassment ordinance for cyclists last January, his motion ran into trouble in the Public Safety committee.  Because the report from the City Attorney’s (C.A.)office that would give cyclists more legal rights after a crash needs to be heard by the Transportation and Public Safety Committees, I reached out to the Councilman Greig Smith, Chair of the Public Safety Committee for his opinion.  The good news?  He’s not going to stand in the way of the new motion.  The bad news?  He doesn’t think too much of the C.A.’s recommendations:

“I will support this motion, but it is totally unenforceable because the law requires the violation be committed in the presence of a law enforcement officer. The citizen can make a citizen’s arrest – but that is dangerous and puts the citizen in serious legal jeopardy.”

The Public Safety Committee will hear the C.A. report on November 1.