Welcome to Bellingham, Arizona

In a recent article here, author Dick Conoboy of the Zonemaven champions the idea of rental licensing and inspections, ostensibly to make housing safer for renters. In response to my complaint that such regulations "promote the most pernicious kind of sneak-and-peak government intrusion into the privacy of peoples homes," Conoboy refers readers to his STOP! Rental Licensing Is NOT About Single Family Zoning.

In that piece, Conoboy vigorously asserts that the "current discussion about licensing rentals in Bellingham" is unrelated to "the issue of single family zoning" and the "so-called 'rule of three,'" in which no more than three persons unrelated by blood may live in a single family zone.

Well, well, well.

In another recent article at The Wonk Room, Andrea Nill shares some revealing insights into the recently approved and widely disparaged Arizona immigration bill that enables authorities to verify the legal status of virtually anyone they encounter, for almost any reason.

"Wonk Room recently obtained an email written by Kris Kobach, a lawyer at the Immigration Reform Law Institute — the group which credits itself with writing the bill — to Arizona state Sen. Russell Pierce (R), urging him to include language that will allow police to use city ordinance violations such as “cars on blocks in the yard” as an excuse to “initiate quieries...”

The email speaks for itself. Kobach recommends hinging enforcement also around "county or municipal ordinance" in order to "...allow police to use...rental codes (too many occupants of a rental accommodation) to initiate queries as well."

If you are already wondering whether you want code enforcers sneaking and peaking around your property, this ought to get you thinking about just how many official camel noses you want to invite under the flap of your private tent.

I'll stick to my guns on this one. It sounds like a very slippery slope to me. Once that police boot is in the door, what might follow is not always entirely up to us.