Mustang Oklahoma Councilman against International Building Codes

[mark handler]

Mustang Oklahoma Councilman speaks out against International Building Codes

3/22/2013

Mustang Times, Mustang Councilman speaks out against International Building Codes

Ward 1 Mustang Oklahoma City Councilman Matt Taylor said he wanted a public hearing on the 2009 International Building Code.

By Jon Watje

Managing Editor

A public hearing for local builders and developers will be held regarding the City of Mustang Oklahoma adopting a new set of building codes. The hearing will be held at the next city council meeting on Tuesday, April 2.

The City Council discussed considering adopting the 2009 International Building Code, authored by the International Council Committee (ICC) at their last meeting on March 19.

Mustang Community Development Director Robert Coleman told the city council that the City had adopted the 2003 International Building Code but had never adopted the 2006 codes.

"The ordinances being considered this evening will modernize our codes and bring them up to industry standards while meeting the mandates set by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission," Coleman said.

Coleman proposed for the city to adopt nine books of building codes including the 2009 International Building Code, the 2009 International Existing Building Code, the 2009 International Fire Code, the 2011 National Electrical Code, the 2009 International One-and Two-Family Residential Code, the 2009 International Mechanical Code and the 2009 International Plumbing Code among others.

"The cost of purchasing these books is about $900," Coleman said. "There are mandates to up these codes and we are required to update them. As far as a penalty to not adopting them, there is no real fee money wise, it just means we could be liable if something happens."

Ward 1 City Councilman Matt Taylor voiced his concerns with the origin of the codes and questioned whether they were best for the City of Mustang.

"I don't know who is on this ICC committee, and here we are going to vote on these nine books and I don't know what is in them, I sure hope Mr. Coleman does," Taylor said. "I believe this ICC is out of California. I don't believe that anybody in the state of California knows what's best for the city of Mustang. I believe that Robert Coleman and his staff of highly trained professionals know what is best for the city of Mustang and are fully capable of writing our own codes."

Taylor said the ICC originated from ICLEI, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.

"What does that council know about fire codes, mechanical codes and plumbing codes," Taylor asked. "I am sure they know about energy conservation and other things that we are not going to adopt tonight. But if you peel it back even further, ICLEI comes from the United Nations and Agenda 21. I would encourage everyone on this council to go home and research Agenda 21. Please get yourself familiarized with what the plan for 'sustainable communities' really means."

Taylor said he wanted local builders and developers to be involved in the decision-making process.

"It really pains me to see that we don't have a public hearing on these tonight," he said. "For something this serious in terms of an international building code where applicants or developers or builders are going to come into this city, we ought to allow a public hearing for our local developers, our local plumbers, our local electricians, to be able to address this council specifically and directly on these codes. I think that is not only prudent, but it is probably in the best interest of the council in terms of transparency and in terms of allowing true involvement with our builders that have to adhere to these codes."

Ward 6 Councilman Don Mount said he wanted to learn more about the codes before voting on the issue.

"I concur with what Mr. Taylor said," Mount said. "In my opinion, I believe that everyone of these organizations could have a representative come out and spend a couple of hours with us going over this and we would be much wiser and more capable to vote on something like this than sit here in the dark and not know and go ahead and approve it. I am not in favor of doing that."

Mustang Mayor Jay Adams said the International Building Codes are mandated by the State of Oklahoma and are a common standard among builders.

"I would recommend to the both of you to take your statements and write them down and send them to our local state representatives and the Governor," Adams said. "You need to realize that it is the state that is mandating this. In my own judgment, I believe having a uniform set of standards is not a bad thing. These codes are nothing more than standards that the state has deemed acceptable."

Ward 2 Councilman Mark Grubbs, a local developer himself, said he was happy the city was considering adopting the codes.

"I don't see an issue here," Grubbs said.

Taylor made a motion to hold a public hearing on the issue at the next City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 2. Mount seconded the motion.

Taylor, Linda Bowers, Linda Hagan and Mount approved the motion with Grubbs, Terry Jones and Adams voting against it.

 

[chris kennedy]

"What does that council know about fire codes, mechanical codes and plumbing codes," Taylor asked.

 

[fireguy]

"What does that council know about fire codes, mechanical codes and plumbing codes," Taylor asked. "I am sure they know about energy conservation and other things that we are not going to adopt tonight. But if you peel it back even further, ICLEI comes from the United Nations and Agenda 21. I would encourage everyone on this council to go home and research Agenda 21. Please get yourself familiarized with what the plan for 'sustainable communities' really means."

What nefarious group is behind Agenda 21? Do we need to put on our aluminum hats again?

 

[jar546]

Taylor sounds like a typical politician who is clueless and speaks out making misstatements. Somewhere, he has a stake in the game that will be affected.

 

[conarb]

What nefarious group is behind Agenda 21? Do we need to put on our aluminum hats again?

United Nations Agenda 21 is real here is their manifesto, signed by Bush I just like he signed the ADA fiasco, and the rights of the disabled are in Agenda 21 along with a lot of others. Here in the Bay Area we are the first to adopt it under "One Bay Area", Communitarian activist groups are suing cities that haven't adopted a plan to comply with California's "Affordable Housing Law".

All upper socioeconomic communities are either adopting the plan or getting sued by communitarian activist groups, the latest hotspot is Danville, people in wealthy communities object to being forced to provide low income housing to people who haven't earned the right to be there, and they object to the crime, additional police, and the need to build more schools for the poor.

Barnidge correctly but derisively identified that scheme as "a multinational platform hatched in 1992 that encourages creeping governmental control under the guise of sustainable growth," ridiculing related citizen apprehensions as amped-up "conspiracy theories." But there really is an Agenda 21. And the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities -- including ABAG as one of its members -- noted in its 1997 "Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area" that BAASC "operates within an international context," and pointed to the "Earth Charter Initiative," an "outgrowth" of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (which generated Agenda 21), as a major inspiration.

For genuine bay-at-the-moon lunacy, read up on the "Earth Charter." Devised in 1994 by socialists and watermelon environmentalists (green outside, red inside) Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev, the document now occupies its very own "Ark of Hope," complete with "unicorn horn" carrying poles "to render evil ineffective" (http://ark ofhope.org).

In a Feb. 27 community meeting sponsored by Friends of Danville, Save Open Space, and Danville Town Hall -- and in an Orinda meeting on March 13 -- Marin County affordable housing activist and environmentalist Bob Silvestri spoke about findings in his book, "Best Laid Plans." He condemned ABAG's "affordable housing" mandates as devastatingly counterproductive to the announced objective of environmental sustainability.

¹

These planning commission and city council meetings are jambed to overflowing with residents objecting to being forced to provided housing for the poor, Pleasanton has settled it's lawsuit and is planning to start 3 new schools, Lafayette is fighting over a large development, wealthy cities are trying to identify servants' quarters in mansions as available for rental to the poor, the city doesn't have to provide it but they have to make plans so it can be provided or built. This is social engineering at it's worst, originally they were just going to go after cities on the BART lines and all the wealthier communities are building large soviet style barracks next to their mass transit stations, most of it is sitting vacant, the Pleasant Hill BART development did not rent a retail space for years after completion, finally a Starbucks appeared and a neighbor there told me that they gave Starbucks 5 years free rent to be the first in. The last time I was by there after dark there were not even any lights on the apartments above the retail. Just look at these ugly mixed use soviet style prisons where people will shop where they live and take a train to work, no need for a car, the American dream of the single family home in the suburbs with two cars is dead, replaced with the utopian visions of our public university systems. Agenda 21 calls for most housing to be in the urban cores, there are to be 23 in the United States, 3% of our population will be allowed to live in the urban wildlands interface, and to build there they are making it just as difficult and as expensive as possible, I am building in the $1.000 a foot range, the plan checker tried to force me to use the column connections of the Stanford Law School, in a single story single family home. One might ask why developers would even be interested in building for the poor? They get huge government grants, and most like Eden Housing here are non-profits, the cities get government grants and the carrot to them is all the sales taxes paid by people living and shopping local.

Communism isn't only redistribution of wealth - "From each according to his ability and to each according to his needs", it is a classless society mixing all the socioeconomic classes. Bush I signed this as an executive order, if we ever get a decent President he can sign it away just as easily as it was signed.

¹ ABAG's 'affordable housing' dance in Danville - ContraCostaTimes.com

 

[Mark K]

A check of an Oklahoma state web site suggests that the local jurisdiction really doesn't have any real option. Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission - Home

This does point out the reality that many jurisdictions who have the authority to regulate building construction do not have the capability to evaluate the codes developed by various entities. As a result they have delegated their duty to the entities that developed the model codes not the UN or some other conspiracy. This is an issue that should be discussed but it difficult when individuals are making claims of an UN conspiracy.

At the same time I have difficulties with the idea that local electricians and plumbers should be the final authority on the appropriateness of the codes.

 

[conarb]

A check of an Oklahoma state web site suggests that the local jurisdiction really doesn't have any real option. Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission - Home

Mark:

I don't see it here, the guy in Mustang said they weren't going to be adopting the green or energy codes anyway, they are not in the adopted rules:

The adopted codes were approved by Governor Fallin and the Legislature in May. The effective date of the adoption of theIBC®, 2009, IFC®, 2009, IEBC®, 2009, NEC® 2011, IFGC® 2009, IMC® 2009 and the IPC® 2009with modifications was November 1, 2012.

This does point out the reality that many jurisdictions who have the authority to regulate building construction do not have the capability to evaluate the codes developed by various entities. As a result they have delegated their duty to the entities that developed the model codes not the UN or some other conspiracy. This is an issue that should be discussed but it difficult when individuals are making claims of an UN conspiracy.

If they are getting and reading the news from the Bay Area about Agenda 21 moving poor people into their communities it's pretty hard not to be concerned. As I guess most here I get E-mails constantly from right wing friends, I got one the other day from a retired engineer listing the International codes as a conspiracy, was the choice of the name "International" just an unfortunate choice, or was the creation of the ICC made by the government to mandate codes like the energy and green codes? Back when we were discussing the switch from the UBC to the IBC at least someone here said the Feds told them to create an International code or the Federal Government was going to take over code writing, I have no idea whether that was true or not. Like it or not, Agenda 21 is a big controversy here overflowing city meetings lasting into the we hours of the morning, call it racism if you want but lots of people don't want the poor in their communities. As far as I can see their concerns are misdirected, they should be spending their time trying to get the Affordable Housing law changed.

 

[Mark K]

I have problems with ICC and ICC-ES but we need a little objectivity.

The concern about making it possible for poor people to have a place to live is a planning and not a building code issue. I will further suggest that that these initiatives are being promoted by local individuals and groups that are concerned about the nature of our society. We are talking about home grown activists. The fact that some individuals in other countries have similar concerns does not make it something that is being imposed from beyond.

The ranting about Agenda 21 is not productive. It only causes many individuals to consider the proponents as crack pots.

The use of International in the title of ICC was a carryover from the ICBO when the model codes merged. I believe that the use of international was a marketing ploy. I think that it is interesting that the main ICC office is in Southern California in a region not known for left wing activism.

To suggest that the federal government created the ICC reflects a lack of understanding of the history of code bodies and the law. It is clearly recognized that the Federal Government does not have the legal authority to impose building codes on the states.

I believe that the problems with ICC can more easily be explained by from a capitalistic framework. ICBO and the other standards bodies merged eliminating competition. ICC and its daughter companies ICC-ES and IAS are excreting their power to grow the empire. This was facilitated by creating a system that allows industry trade groups and manufacturers to have considerable influence on the content of the model codes. These other special interests promote the adoption of the ICC codes because they are friendly to their business interests.