Pomona Council grants preliminary approval to ordinance dealing with loud, unruly parties

POMONA - City leaders gave preliminary approval this week to a proposed ordinance that is expected to help authorities deal with loud, unruly parties before violence or other problems break out.

Council members voted 5-0 in favor of the proposed social host ordinance Monday night Nov. 16). Councilmen Freddie Rodriguez and Tim Saunders were absent.

Councilwoman Paula Lantz said she supported the proposal and what it will attempt to do.

"I hope that we really get the cause and effect relationship between loud, unruly parties that have under age drinking and the havoc that wreaks in our neighborhoods," she said.

The push to adopt a social host responsibility ordinance in Pomona came through members of the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan Community Board.

Board members Bernardo Rosa and Rev. Rick DeBruyne of Lincoln Avenue Community Church researched the matter and had discussions with city staff and members of the Pomona Police Department.

Rosa told council members pursuing such an ordinance is in response to a number of incidents in the city that had connections to parties and resulted in deaths.

Among the most resent incidents is the April 17 shooting of Diamond Bar resident Marquis Leblanc. The 18-year-old was shot at a large house party that drew about 200 people.

The proposed ordinance is not intended to harm cultural celebrations or responsible parties, said Rosa, who recently became co-chairman of the community board.

"This is about saving lives and ensuring we have a clear voice to protect our children," Rosa said.

He added it's also about trying to address underage drinking and "the tragic accidents and incidents that have occurred as a result of unsupervised parties."

The proposed ordinance, which will go before the council for a second and final vote Dec. 7, sets fines and other penalties for owners, tenants or landlords responsible for the house or private property where a person conducts or allows a disorderly gathering to take place.

Penalties start at $100 for the first violation and go up to $500 for the third or subsequent violation, according to a city staff report.

Unruly parties are defined as gatherings where two or more people engage in certain types of behavior including under age drinking, excessive noise, excessive traffic, obstruction of public streets, crowds the spill onto public streets, fights and disturbances.

Those found in violation of the law can be ticketed for an infraction or a misdemeanor in the most serious cases, the staff report said.

In the case of a misdemeanor, penalties would be $1,000 or six months in jail, the report said.

Those who expressed concern about the ordinance were a group of Cal Poly Pomona students active in the university's fraternity organizations including Mark Arranz.

"We feel as a Greek community that this may be a direct attack against our quarterly social events held at our official and unofficial fraternity houses," he said.

Members of the university's fraternities and sororities realized that such an ordinance is meant to "help keep the peace in the city of Pomona," he said.

However, he added such regulations "would interfere with our standard operating procedures and traditions that have proven to be an integral part of developing successful leaders for our future," Arranz said.

The student organizations have put on parties and other social events and have been responsible by having security personnel and checking identifications, he said.

The students groups "just want to make sure if this ordinance does pass it does not completely interfere with us being able to hold social gatherings for the benefit of not only the city of Pomona but all the students of Cal Poly Pomona," he said.

Jeremy Botica, past president of the Greek community at Cal Poly, said the student groups hold parties and other activities especially during recruitment periods that can draw as many as 150 people.

DeBruyne said the motivation behind the proposal is to address risk factors some of the city's youth face and was never aimed at fraternities or sororities.

"It just concerns me a little bit that you think it applied to you," DeBruyne said. "I hope that your parties aren't unruly or that you're entertaining under age drinking."

Councilwoman Danielle Soto asked Police Chief Dave Keetle if there have been any problems associated with fraternities.

There have been problems but none recently that come to mind, he said.

"They never came to mind when this ordinance was being crafted," Keetle said.