Kenneth Kuhn, of Hanover, didn't come to the borough council meeting to give his thoughts on an ordinance.
He came to pin a badge on his son — Griffin Kuhn — who was being sworn in as one of Hanover's newest police officers.
Despite that, Kuhn would go on to speak during public comment, just moments after his son was sworn in to protect the borough, to plead with the council to listen to the public safety officials who have made the case for the rental inspection ordinance.
Kuhn, a firefighter and fire inspector who has lived in Hanover for 22 years, told the council that the fire codes are written from the deaths of countless innocent lives that perished from situations where, if the code was enforced, they may have lived.
"If you don't allow for rental inspections, then the people that have died in these fires, because of the reasons that these rules were made, all died in vain," Kuhn told the council.
In the hours that followed, council members would go on to procedurally kill their own ordinance, which had been approved last month, despite a majority of council voting in favor of the ordinance.
Previously reported:Hanover mayor vetoes rental inspection ordinance saying it could increase homelessness
Due to the veto issued by Mayor SueAnn Whitman, the council required a majority plus one to overturn the veto. That meant that seven out of ten council members had to vote in favor of overturning the veto in order to pass the ordinance.
Only six, the same six who had approved the ordinance during the May meeting, voted in favor of it, in a vote that was divided between council members who own one property, and those who own more.
Council members Scott Roland, Ed Lookenbill, Carol Greenholt and Brian Fuentes, all owners of multiple properties, voted against the ordinance.
According to York County public records, Roland, and his property management company, Blue Ridge Holdings, are listed as the owner of 18 properties in Hanover borough; Greenholt is listed as the owner of three properties in Hanover; Fuentes is listed as the owner of two properties in Hanover ; and Lookenbill is listed as the owner of seven properties in the Hanover area.
Greenholt, a landlord, prior to the vote scolded those she felt attempted to sway her vote, stating that "landlords are smart people" and that "tenants don't realize what you are going to be in for."
Fuentes, who chairs the public safety committee that advanced the same ordinance to council, attempted to table the vote prior to it occurring, reading a written statement citing his need for more time.
Upon his motion to table, Solicitor Tim Shultis explained to the council that due to the mayor's veto a motion to table the ordinance would effectively kill the ordinance, as it must be voted on during the meeting that follows the veto, or within 10 days.
The tabling motion failed, 3 for and 7 against.
Prior to the vote on the ordinance itself, Chief Codes Officer Chris Miller answered questions from the council as he reiterated the need for the ordinance.
Miller, in response to Fuentes' request for more time, said the proposed ordinance already built in a two-year grace period on the inspection portion, allowing the council time to fully develop the inspection and business plans and vote on amendments to the ordinance as they work through the process.
Miller told council that just two weeks ago, codes discovered an apartment in a shed behind a house in the borough, which was found due to an extension cord that was running from the house out to the shed to power a television.
More:Hanover first responders highlight rental property dangers in support of inspections
The tenants, with no bathroom in their shed, were allowed to use the bathrooms in the home "at certain times of the day," and could use the shower twice a week."
That shed, Miller said, cost the tenant $800 a month to rent.
With the council unable to overturn the veto, the ordinance failed to be enacted, for the fourth time returning council back to procedural square one on an ordinance that was first mentioned nine years prior in the borough's comprehensive plan.
Fuentes stated that, despite overturning the already-approved ordinance his committee had advanced, the committee would revisit the ordinance and develop an amended ordinance after further committee review.
"Hopefully we will do a better job the next time," said council President Bill Reichart, as the vote to overturn the mayor's veto failed.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com.
