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I suspect this law violates the 5th Amendment rights of hotel guests.
It sounds like the law requires Mesa hotel owners to act as agents
of the Mesa police and force hotel guest to provide information so the police can verify they are not wanted criminals.
As I have said many times before there is a gun named David Dorn who has been spreading lies around about me that I am a government snitch. I certainly an not a government snitch and never have been one.
Mesa hotel ordinance aimed at fighting crime nears approval by Gary Nelson - Mar. 8, 2011 09:25 AM The Arizona Republic Mesa's long struggle to craft an ordinance fighting crime at hotels and motels is in the final stages. On Monday night, the City Council introduced an ordinance that would require guests to prove their identities and mandate that hotels keep guest records for 30 days in case police want to inspect them. The ordinance is scheduled for final approval March 21. Cmdr. Steve Stahl said during a study session last week that those rules are less onerous than what has been on the table during a year and a half of negotiations with the industry. Previous proposals would have required guests to provide their addresses and birth dates. Records would have been maintained for a full year. And there was a proposal to establish a citizens' advisory committee to oversee the industry and hear hotels' appeals of disciplinary actions. Communication between the industry and police is so good that the panel is no longer thought to be needed, Stahl said. Under the new ordinance guests would be required to tell hotels how old they are but not necessarily provide birth dates. "It's come a long way," said Dennis Kavanaugh, chairman of the council's public safety committee. "I think the changes are reasonable from a public safety perspective and an industry perspective." The issue arose after police tracked 2009 crime statistics and found that of 49 short-stay hotels and motels, 10 accounted for 65 percent of the industry's 2,970 calls for service. Most ordinances take effect a month after passage, but this one will have a 90-day breaking-in period so hotels can train their staffs on how to implement the law. Hotels would be subject to civil fines ranging up to $2,500 for violating the law. Also Monday the council: - Approved tougher massage parlor rules, tweaking an ordinance that took effect early last year after Mesa became alarmed over the number of suspicious parlors in the city. One of the biggest changes requires parlors to have managers on duty at all times. - Introduced for adoption on March 21 an ordinance designed to facilitate downtown events. It creates a zoning overlay district for 10 square blocks where some of the city's normal rules for special events won't apply. - Approved a memorandum of understanding with Able Engineering, which wants to build a large aircraft maintenance shop at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The airport will issue up to $16 million in bonds to build the facility, which Mesa will then lease and in turn, lease to Able. The company promises to have 250 people working there within a year of opening. |