ICC

STOP these Free Market Killing ICC Building Codes in Gilbert – TOWN COUNCIL VOTES THURSDAY, 11/7/2013!

Anita Christy

Please see Gordon Ray’s email below. Thanks to the high level of research and persistence of Gordon’s team of dedicated citizens, the Gilbert Town Council is looking at the ICC 2012 Building Codes like they never have in the past.  So far the Council has hit the pause button. 

Tomorrow they vote.  PLEASE send an email and/or attend this meeting to speak out against adoption of these codes.  This email address will reach Mayor John Lewis and all Council members:  councilmembers@gilbertaz.gov.   Town Hall, 50 E. Civic Center Drive, Gilbert, AZ 85296.

How can any of these codes honestly be about safety issues?  Is your house still standing?  Is every house in Gilbert still standing?  What about all the office buildings, grocery stores, and government buildings?  All were built with tons of previous codes.  None were built with these proposed 2012 Codes!   None of the homes and buildings built without these codes have presented any hazards.  Children haven’t gotten shocked from sticking screwdrivers, paperclips, or anything else into the outlets. 

Please tell the Council:  Even if a code is an improvement, that improvement shouldn’t be made into a law.  The improvement should be a choice between the builder and the person paying for the construction.  Just because some private entities wrote those codes, forcing them on the citizenry is NOT supporting the Free market.  Leave the Free market to compete on its own, without more onerous regulations. 

Enough of Government Regulations at all levels!   All of these monsters got their start at the local level.  Kill the monster while it’s young, before it turns into the Rottweiler that runs your household.    

From: Gordon Ray mailto:gordonray49@gmail.com

ATTENTION!

Read more

Gilbert Town Council Member Jared Taylor’s Opinion about adopting the 2012 ICC Building Codes

Anita Christy

This afternoon, July 30, 2013, the Town Council meets in a Study Session at 4 pm to talk about the 2012 ICC building codes.  Click here for more information.   Your attendance in support of the citizens of Gilbert is appreciated.  

A few weeks ago, I asked each Council member for his/her opinion on who has the burden of proof for adopting codes into law? Should individual citizens be expected to prove that each of hundreds of codes should NOT be made law?  Or should Town employees be required to prove why they SHOULD be made law?  

In response to that question, Council Member Jared Taylor responded by copying me on an email he sent on July 9 to Patrick Banger, Gilbert’s Town Manager:

Hi Patrick,

As far as I can tell, the purpose of having building codes is to solve problems.  For example, smoke detectors save lives so we mandate them.  There is clear data to show this.

As I’ve listened to Kyle’s team, I’m not sure they are focused on solving problems in our community, but more on passing along the recommendations from national/international bodies.

I realize a few state-mandated items were withdrawn, but that didn’t come from our building community.  Don’t get me wrong, the IBC’s have some positive things in them.

As you probably know, the 2012 codes will add hundreds of new regulations on our builders.  Many builders will profit by the additional work and just pass the cost on to our citizens.  The citizens will eventually carry the cost of all the expensive fees, inspections, and hours it takes to design, review, and inspect to the new and existing regulations.  This will cost Gilbert families millions of additional dollars very quickly.  I wonder about the real value here and can’t support something that isn’t empirically validated to solve problems.

As a result, it seems reasonable that I get hard empirical justification on every new regulation that is being recommended.  I would like to see the statistics of how many injuries, deaths, or other harms the lack each regulation has caused in Gilbert and how this new regulation is proven to address the issue.   

If we are not solving actual problems, we are simply creating a huge amount of waste for our citizens in government jobs, fees, reviews, inspections, etc.  This is a simple ROI exercise that should have been part of the original process.

I would like to have someone on your team provide me this analysis. I’m OK to receive it in a spreadsheet. I know this may seem like a tall order, but given the massive imposition on our community these hundreds of new regulations will place, it’s really not that much.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Jared

Read more

They’re Baaaaaaack! Gilbert’s Building, Energy and Green Codes, that is

Anita Christy

The following FREE MARKET KILLING CODES are currently in effect, thanks to Mayor John Lewis, Vice Mayor Ben Cooper, and Council Members Jenn Daniels and Jordan Ray:  

2012 International Building Code 

2012 International Residential Code 

2012 International Mechanical Code 

2012 International Plumbing Code 

2012 International Fuel Gas Code 

2006 International Energy Conservation Code 

2012 International Fire Code 

2011 National Electrical Code  

Building and Construction Regulations Code of the Town of Gilbert, Arizona – 2013 Edition

This Thursday night, 1/30/2014, 4 Gilbert Council Members, including Mayor John Lewis, claiming to  "represent" Gilbert families, will very likely, once again, turn deaf, dumb, and blind to them and add to the above unnecessary codes.  The new addition is proposed:  The Leftist inspired Energy and Green Codes!  Unless Gilbert staff members can present valid arguments to support that these codes are necessary to health and safety, they should all be voluntary, not LAW.  Please send an email to Mayor Lewis and all Council Members and ask them to please vote NO to these Energy and Green Codes.  They should be voluntary:  Councilmembers@GilbertAZ.gov.  

A public records request made by Gordon Ray revealed that 57 people had emailed Mayor John Lewis and all Council Members to NOT adopt the 2012 unnecessary codes (that they adopted anyway).  They should have remained voluntary.  Only 4 people emailed to adopt them, including a Washington lobbyist and a representative from SRP.  Yet, the 2012 codes were adopted.

Three Council Members have been opposed to unnecessary codes.  These Council Members include:  Victor Petersen, Jared Taylor, and Eddie Cook.   It will be unfortunate if Mayor John Lewis and the other three Council Members continue to listen to and obey the direction of staff (aka so-called "experts") who want to grow their bureaucracy and inflict more regulations on Gilbert families.  Unless you can break through their resistance,Mayor Lewis and three council members will be mezmerized by the Planners, Building Examiners, Inspectors, and Code Enforcers.

Mayor Lewis and the other three Council Members also listen to organizations such as the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Alliance.  Some of their members stand to make big bucks because their products will be forced on Gilbert families. Their products will have to be purchased by law.  (Code = Regulation = Law.)

Welcome to Gilbert’s Administrative State!    Here are the Council members who have demonstrated by their votes that they don’t care about you and your goofy rants about Liberty, Freedom, Property Rights, and the Free Market.  To them, you are the unheard, unlamented, unwanted. They get really tired of hearing about "the Founders."   (Oh, but they will strut and preen at the next "celebration" of Constitution Week USA.  Just watch.)    

Mayor John Lewis
Vice Mayor Ben Cooper
Council Member Jenn Daniels
Council Member Jordan Ray

Do you think I’m being "harsh" toward these wonderfully "nice" people? Consider how they have been treating their constituents. 

The fight against the adoption of unnecessary building codes has been going on for a YEAR!  A private business that lobbies for new codes that will gain financially by the codes has a conflict of interest .Power. Control, and Money is what this is all about, Not Safety and Energy/Green.  

Rusdon and Gordon Ray haven’t received a single penny for the work they have done to stop these code adoptions.  In fact, everything they have done to fight these swarms of unnecessary codes has cost them and their families time, effort, and money.  Do you think the Town Council is weary of this issue?  How do you think Gordon and Rusdon feel?  Not to mention the many families of the tradesmen and builders who have been fighting along with them. 

Please inform Gilbert voters how these elected officials "stood up for them" by showing them the voting record of these people who have consistently voted FOR these free market killing codes. 

Please email Mayor Lewis and all Council Members asking them to PLEASE VOTE NO to adopting the Green and Energy Codes.  They should be voluntary.  Councilmembers@GilbertAZ.gov

See also (for the last YEAR, and this isn’t even a complete list):

 

Read more

Let’s Rally for Victor Petersen for Gilbert Town Council

Anita Christy

The great news is that Gilbert Town Council Member Victor Petersen has turned in his petition signatures!  Now, it’s time to help him raise money for his campaign for reelection.  Gilbert Watch supported Victor four years ago, and we are very proud that we never regretted it for a second!  He is a rock solid, constitutional conservative.  His voting record mirrors his campaign promises.  

To donate to Victor’s campaign, go HERE. Here is a letter from Victor.  

Dear friends,

I am honored by and grateful for all the help I received in collecting signatures for my race. I am happy to announce that I have more than enough signatures to put my name on the ballot and that is thanks to all of you for your help!

With signatures complete, I am entering the fundraising stage of the campaign and I can’t emphasize enough the importance of small donations. Even $5 is a wonderful donation as that reflects a grassroots campaign which characterizes my efforts in government. While protecting individual rights protects special interests some of the time, generally special interests do not appreciate the fact that they can’t control my votes. They know that I am loyal only to the principles of freedom which benefit everyone equally. This means the everyday citizen like you will have to contribute in order to have a successful campaign.

As a fiscal conservative, I will make the most of every hard-earned dollar that you contribute and I will not rest in my never-ending quest for lower taxes so you can keep more of those hard-earned dollars.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Victor Petersen
Town Council Member and Candidate
Cell: 602-332-7432

Read more

Thank You to 3 Council Members for Voting NO to the 2012 ICC Building Codes

Anita Christy

Dear Council Members Victor Petersen, Jared Taylor, and Eddie Cook,
Thank you for acknowledging the 65 citizens who, on Nov. 7, 2013, spoke out, sent emails, or put their names on a list objecting to the passage of the 2012 ICC building codes.  Thank you for voting No.  I’m sorry that your 4 colleagues passed the codes, against Gilbert families, self-employed builders, and the Free Market.  To them, Liberty is a quaint philosophy, nothing more. 
Thank you for understanding the issues that many of these citizens have brought to your attention for the last several months about the damage that a proliferation of building codes has done to those who must adhere to them, and to those who must pay for them. 
Thank you for seeing that, no matter how much taxpayer money you spend to “train the bureaucracy to be consistent,” you are only adding an ineffective government fix to a government-induced problem.  There will never be consistency within Gilbert, and there will never be consistency among jurisdictions.  Yet, the myth prevails.  Thanks for not believing it.   
Thank you for realizing that the SBA, Chamber of Commerce, and SRP do not speak for Gilbert families. The SBA has been right on many issues, but unfortunately, not on this one.  I doubt if most SBA and Chamber of Commerce members could tell you what ICC stands for, let alone be able to offer an educated opinion about it.   Those who profit financially from higher priced products might like them, however.  Money and power does strange things to people with loosely held “principles.”
Thank you for honestly appreciating the time, effort, research, and meetings that the unpaid citizens have spent for months doing their best to educate the rest of the Council members.  These citizens have invested their own personal, private time, which they have taken away from their businesses and families.  I’m sure it has been a sacrifice to their families, who have supported them as they have exerted their Civic Authority.  These citizens remind me of something I read once.  It’s obvious that you are familiar with this sentence:  –And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Thank you for understanding that some people in the construction industry are delighted with the code mandates because it means more profit for them.  I know this is true, because, as the previous owners of a swimming pool service and repair business, my husband and I stood to make 5 and 6 times more commission by selling energy efficient variable speed motors.  I fought against that legislation, at my own expense, because our customers trusted us to provide the best product for the best price.  The variable speeds are a sham.  We refused to “fleece” our customers and cowardly hide behind “It’s not our fault.  It’s those darned regulations.”  Our customers didn’t even know about our fight, nor did they care.  But we knew, we cared, and so did our God. 
Thank you for understanding that the Free Market responds to an ever changing building/construction environment in an instant, and it adjusts quickly.  The ICC’s codes take years to catch up.  A mandated code can be faulty, worthless, or even dangerous, but “it’s code,” so the law prevails anyway.
Mostly, thank you for recognizing the Truth.  This fight hasn’t been about the newest, best, safest, most energy efficient and greenest building materials.  It has been a fight between Centralized Governance versus Individual Self Governance.  The building/construction experts throughout this battle have been fighting for Liberty and Individual Self Governance.
In the name of God, Family, and Civic Duty
Anita Christy
Gilbert Watch
For More Information:

Read more

Gilbert Town Council Votes AGAINST Gilbert Families, Homeowners, Free Market – ICC Codes Pass

Anita Christy

The November 7, 2013 Town Council Meeting provided Gilbert Watch with the saddest and most telling evidence to date that proves that 4 out of 7 Town Council members have lost their ability to represent their constituents, unless those constituents are the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Alliance, SRP, Town Officials, and neighboring jurisdictions.   These Council members include Mayor John Lewis, Vice Mayor Ben Cooper, and Council members Jenn Daniels and Jordan Ray.  
They approved one of the largest increases in regulations on private property and on the building industry, in Gilbert history. What is truly disappointing is that they did this in spite of having received months of evidence from private citizens for why the Council should  not approve these regulations.  It is also remarkable that the Council is preparing to approve the next round of codes, as dictated by the ICC (International Code Council) for 2015.
Three Council members opposed passage of the Codes:  Victor Petersen, Jared Taylor, and Eddie Cook.  Council member Victor Petersen favored an option which would have allowed passage of only those codes that would have reduced regulation.
Each of these three Council members deserve a Thank You from Gilbert citizens!  Victor.Petersen@gilbertaz.gov, Jared.Taylor@gilbertaz.gov, and Eddie.Cook@gilbertaz.gov.  

The ICC
Over the last ten years, the ICC (International Code Council) has morphed into an organization that has forced builders all over America to comply with building codes that no longer address honest, urgent safety issues.  Rather, these ICC codes force everyone to become captive consumers of products that the ICC mandates through its "codes."  The obscene proliferation of these codes also forces builders and everyone in the building and construction industry to comply with an ever increasing time-consuming bureaucracy.  More bureaucrats and more training are needed to ensure they consistently interpret the codes.
Just like the ICC, 4 members of the Gilbert Town Council have morphed into facilitators of Big Government tyranny.  When you watch them reason and justify their rationales, they "sound nice."  But what exactly are they doing?  They are pushing centralized government.  They do not trust the citizenry.
Their actions prove that they do not care about the damage they are doing to families and homeowners who are forced to pay thousands of dollars more than necessary for their homes.  They do not care about the grief these codes have caused self-employed citizens who work in the construction industry who must adhere to these mandates.  They do not understand Free Market principles.  They reject the notion that these people are experts in their fields.  They do not care that many of them have closed their businesses.  They reject clear evidence that the Free Market reacts quickly to changing conditions, and that it’s the government-imposed codes that are slow to change.  
Gilbert Watch has reported on the ICC codes for months.  Gilbert citizens and self-employed business people have been emailing and speaking out to the Council for months.  They have been meeting with Town Staff, and supplying tons of research.
At the Nov. 7 meeting, there were 6 citizens who spoke in opposition; 24 citizens had sent letters; there were 19 citizens in the audience who were in opposition but did not speak; and 16 people who were in opposition who submitted their names to a list.   That’s 65 citizens documented in the Minutes of the meeting.  And it doesn’t count more citizens who showed up to the meeting.  
The Council gave more credence to the representative from the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, the representative from the Small Business Alliance, and the representative from SRP (Salt River Project).  In fact, I doubt seriously if the members of these organizations have much first-hand experience dealing with these onerous codes.  
There was one citizen who spoke in favor of all the codes, including the Green and Energy Codes.  A quick search revealed that he’s a Democrat and a member of Sierra Club.
Here is the Motion that Passed:

Read more

Gilbert Town Council to Vote on the 2012 International Code Council Construction Codes 8/15/2013

Anita Christy

Since February 2013, several Gilbert citizens have been exercising their Civic Authority to convince the Gilbert Town Council that adopting 115 additional regulations (2009 ICC code updates) plus another 840 additional regulations (2012 ICC code updates) serves no compelling purpose.  They have invested thousands of hours of their own time providing research to the Town Council and Town Management.  
These private citizens and tradesmen have done this, because they have been forced for years to install unnecessary products and have suffered from inconsistent and inaccurate building inspector dictates, simply because “it’s code.”  Because these codes have been handed down by so-called experts (the ICC), Town Management has recommended them, and Councils have passed them.  These private citizens want to stop the mindless lockstep approval of “the new ICC” codes.  These private citizens are willing to question the experts.  They want to do the right thing, not be forced to do the wrong thing.
If the Gilbert Town Council votes on Thursday evening to add these 955 new 2009/2012 regulation updates, they will have adopted the single largest increase in government regulation on small businesses and individuals in the history of Gilbert. 
They will have done this without insisting that Town Management provide justification for each new regulation they recommend.
Among the many things that Town Management recommends to the Council is punishment to whomever refuses to follow “the code.”  It will be a misdemeanor: $2500 fine and 6 months of imprisonment.  Click here to see the Council Packet Relating to item #20 Code of Gilbert.
Much has been stated about adopting only life/safety codes.  
What life/safety problems exist right now that these new codes will resolve?  There are none.  Gilbert has been following the 2006 codes.  There have been no fires, injuries, or deaths that demand updated codes.  In fact, there haven’t been any prior to the 2006 codes.  No child has been injured from tampering with existing electrical outlets.  No one has suffered injury or death from carbon monoxide poisoning.  No fires have resulted from having commercial ovens in private residences.  
Adopting the 2009 and 2012 codes will create unnecessary busy work. 
The 955 code updates will drain staff resources, since building inspectors and others will have to be trained on each new code.  Those resources would be better directed to more productive purposes.  For example, some inspectors are repeatedly and inconsistently issuing turn-down notices, due to their lack of understanding existing codes.  This creates unnecessary labor expenses, which must be passed on to the consumer.  
Forcing the construction industry to adopt new codes kills the free market.  
It doesn’t matter if private business owners or private tradesmen wrote them and got them approved by the ICC.  As soon as government mandates them, government has decided winners and losers.  With a single vote, the Town Council can wipe perfectly good products off the shelves, rendering them “illegal.”  They can ruin someone’s business.  
The free market works!  
When you see that some builders install R-38 over R-30, on their own, you know that someone has chosen that improvement and are willing to pay for it.  When an individual demands that his/her home include every bell and whistle, and they obtain competing quotes from builders, that’s the Free Market.  When an individual cannot afford the latest and greatest, and obtains quotes from competing builders, that’s the affordable home being made available within the Free Market.  Only the best builders survive in the Free Market.
Click here for the full Agenda, meeting time and place.  This is a Public Hearing, Agenda #20.  Please exercise your Civic Authority and speak out.  

Read more

Maricopa County Supervisor Denny Barney: Statement regarding the Vote on 2012 ICC Codes

Anita Christy

For the record, Gilbert Watch supported Supervisor Barney’s vote and appreciates this letter.  It is very disappointing that so many other elected officials care so little about the free market and are quick to mandate 955 new regulations to destroy it.  
Dear constituent,
Knowing your concern over the adoption of the 2012 series of building codes, I wanted to let you know of some recent developments.
Yesterday, August 7, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt the full ICC Series of codes, but made the International Green Construction and the International Energy Conservation Codes voluntary.  Although I supported the move to make the Green and Energy Conservation Codes voluntary, I voted against final adoption of the codes for many of the same reasons that you cited in your prior messages.
I want to make it clear that I do not oppose building codes.  It is important to provide minimum construction and material standards to protect public health and safety.  However, I do not believe it is necessary to change codes every three years, or to compel consumers to accept lifestyle or efficiency mandates against their will. 
Within each new set of building codes are numerous requirements that have nothing whatsoever to do with life or safety issues.  These requirements add thousands of dollars to the price of homes or commercial structures and add a new layer of complexity and government red tape.  Rather than providing consistency in building standards across a region, the frequency of ICC Code updates often simply increases the already inconsistent application of code-based requirements that exist today.  Further, the rapid cycling of new building codes leads to unintended consequences which, ironically, must be addressed through the adoption of subsequent codes.
In my opinion, both the consumer and the building industry would have been better served by sticking with the existing codes a bit longer.  Any life safety or other deficiency in those codes could have easily been addressed through a simple amendment or addendum.  Such an approach would have provided the needed protection for the public, without the unnecessary expense of an entirely new set of codes.
I hope this information is of use to you, and that you will continue to contact me on matters of importance to you and our community.
Sincerely,
Denny Barney
Maricopa County Supervisor, District 1

Read more

“It’s the Law, Because I say so.” Code Enforcement, Gilbert, AZ.

Anita Christy

President Barack Obama isn’t the only tyrant who wields power at his whim.    Meet Code Enforcement….in Gilbert, Arizona, home of "Constitution Week USA."
According to Gordon Ray, a local builder, here are two examples of what happens on almost every building inspection in Gilbert.  This is one of many reasons that several local professionals and tradesmen from the construction and building industry in Gilbert have been fighting against the Town Council’s adoption of the 2012 ICC (International Code Council) building codes.  Gilbert needs to have their own simple, justifiable codes, rather than hundreds of international codes, many of which are expensive, not applicable, and misinterpreted by the Town’s inspectors. 
Please note that Gilbert’s inspector doesn’t even cite the specific code that has been "violated."  If he bothered to "look it up," he might have to actually read it.  If he had read it, he could have saved the sub-contractor and the Gilbert homeowner time and money.  The sub-contractor just submits to the list of violations (right or wrong) because it takes him more time and costs him more money to do the Inspector’s job by looking up the code and proving that the inspector is wrong.  Ultimately, these costs are eaten by the consumer.  Everybody pays the price….except the Town inspector.
Example #1:  The inspector issued a turn down notice, citing only "Wrong bushing in electrical panel."  After the electrician spoke to the inspector, it was determined that the electrician was correct in his application.  It took about $80.00 labor to get the inspector to admit he was wrong. 
Example #2:  The inspector issued a turn down notice, citing only "No foam in attic."
There was a time when foam was used on gable ends.  If and when a house burned down, the code stated that the fumes from the fire would be toxic.  So, the code stated no foam in attics.  However, the code also states that you can have foam in the attic, if you put drywall on your walls and ceilings. Such was the case in this example.  However, the sub-contractor went ahead and removed it, even though he was correct.  He missed a few small 2" x 3" pieces, so the Inspector (incorrectly) turned it down again.  So, the sub went back and removed every tiny piece.  The cost to this private business?  $185.00 rather than fight with the Town Inspector.
Today at 4 pm, there will be a Town Council Study Session to discuss the possible adoption of hundreds of more pages of "codes."  The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers, Gilbert Municipal Center, 50 E. Civic Center Dr.
Click here and here and here for more information on this issue.

Read more