Saggy pants News Leader, Fremont, NC

By Sarah A. Wise
NL Staff Writer
Following the lead of towns in Louisiana and Georgia, the Stantonsburg Town Board is looking into creating a town ordinance that bans sagging pants in the city.
During the board’s October meeting, Councilman Hubert Tyson brought up the idea during the commissioner’s comment portion of the meeting.
He told the board he would like to see the town establish an ordinance banning sagging pants, explaining that the practice often correlates with illegal activities.
“That’s where a lot of weapons are stored,” he said. “I would like to see us with an ordinance that could give the Chief some bite to deal with the issue.”
Commissioner Robert Watson agreed that there is a problem in town with sagging pants.
“The other day I saw a young man walking with pants so big he couldn’t keep them up,” he said. “After he kept pulling them up, he finally just let them fall and stepped right out of them. Kept walking down the road in his boxer shorts.”
However, he said he didn’t know how the town could go about creating such an ordinance.
“I’m all for it, but I don’t know how we can do it without invading civil liberties and such,” he said.
Mayor Roland Gardner agreed, saying that he didn’t know how much teeth the town could give such an ordinance.
Police Chief John Hunt noted that several other towns in other states has passed similar ordinances.
The town of Delcambre, LA brought the issue to national attention, passing the first such ordinance in June of this year. Their ordinance issues a fine of up to $500 or a six-month jail sentence for violations.
Lawmakers in Atlanta proposed a similar ordinance in August.
Chief Hunt said he would look at the ordinances that have passed in other places, and work with the town lawyer to create a similar ordinance for Stantonsburg. He will then make a presentation for board approval.
“We’re the oldest town in Wilson County,” noted Councilman Tyson. “Why don’t we be the first town to have a saggy pants ordinance?”
The other pressing issue at Tuesday’s meeting was the possibility of purchasing a street sweeper for the town. Last month, the board agreed to a truck demonstration, and determined to make a decision on the purchase afterward.
After the demonstration, the council members expressed that, while they thought the purchase would be a nice addition to the town, they felt that the almost $100,000 price tag would be better to wait on.
Commissioner Billy Bardin said he felt that the town had other needs that should be addressed before making such a large purpose.
“I’m not in favor of buying it right away,” he said. “We’re working on wells, street paving, sewer. I want to see that finished before we up and spend $100,000 on a street sweeper. We don’t want to get too many irons in the fire.”
Commissioner Bill Edmundson agreed, saying he would like to see Main Street paved before the town purchased a sweeper to keep it clean.
Town Manager Gary Davis agreed with the board, saying that he was going to advise them to wait on the purchase.
The appearance committee reported that, while the group has made a lot of progress beautifying the town, the recent drought is taking a toll on both the plants and the members.
Joanne Lucas said that many of the members, most of whom are elderly, have been toting gallon jugs of water across the streets to water the plants. She asked if the town could provide a water tap at the main triangle by the town’s welcome sign.
If that was too much of a problem, she said that perhaps the town could provide a drum of water to put on the back of a pick-up truck to water the plants.
“There’s just no sense in planting them if we can’t keep them up,” she said.
Mr. Davis said that he didn’t see putting a tap out there to be a huge obstacle. He said that several lines ran that way, and he was pretty sure that putting a tap up wouldn’t be too costly.
Mrs. Lucas thanked the town for all of their cooperation with the appearance commission.