MOORHEAD (KFGO-AM)On a five to three vote, the Moorhead City Council said "no" to drafting an ordinance that would restrict where high level sex offenders can live. The council has been debating the issue for months. Last month, members directed city staff to come up with a proposal. Monday night the council discussed a less restricitive plan that would ban level three offenders from living within 250 feet of schools, daycares and colleges.
Police Chief Dave Ebinger, an outspoken critic of such an ordinance, told the council the restrictions would offer no additional protection and that the plan is nothing more than a political move. Ebinger says it could also trigger what he calls an "arms race" with neighboring communities, worried that an ordinance would send sex offenders to their cities.
Council member Nancy Otto supported the proposal. She says residents in some parts of Moorhead are living in fear and banning high risk offenders from living in certain area's is a good idea.