Mayor Urges Local Control on Fire Codes

The League of Wisconsin Municipalities recently produced a two-page list of state budget items and proposed state legislation which would preempt or limit municipal powers. What is particularly disappointing is most of these proposals are being sponsored by Republican state legislators.

The Republican Party, in its platforms and resolutions, has long advocated more local control and less centralized power. In fact the first principle on the Wisconsin Republican Party’s website includes:  “. . . the most effective government is government closest to the people.”

Studies support this contention finding that devolution of governmental decision making and local control lead to better resource utilization and operational efficiency. Such devolution and local control also increase the fit between what people want from government and what they get. This only makes sense. One-size-fits-all does not work well, whether on the national level or on the state level.  Individual communities through their locally elected leaders are in the best position to have government meet local needs.

A particularly egregious example of this problem is Senate Bill 32 which is sponsored by four Republican State Senators and co-sponsored by seven Republican State Representatives. SB 32 would prevent local communities from enacting building or fire code provisions which are more restrictive than those promulgated by the applicable department of the Wisconsin state government. 

The City of Brookfield has had a Fire Prevention and Life Safety Code which has been more restrictive than the corresponding state codes for more than 25 years.  For instance, Brookfield has long required more extensive use of sprinklers in commercial buildings than does the State.

Over the years, Brookfield businesses which have had fires have usually had those fires quickly controlled or suppressed by those sprinkler systems. This has increased the safety of the occupants of those commercial structures and reduced the cost and disruption of fire for those businesses. It has also saved the city money by enabling it to permit substantial commercial development without proportionate increases in the size of our Fire Department. The city has been able to provide first rate fire protection without having substantial increases in fire personnel and fire apparatus.

I believe strongly that local government should be able to adopt more restrictive building and fire code provisions if the local government deems it to be in the community’s best interest. While it is appropriate for the state government to set a base standard, local governments should be free to go beyond that base standard. They would not be able to do so under Senate Bill 32.

I urge state legislators to think long and hard before they seek to adopt one-size-fits-all legislation for Wisconsin communities. I urge them to follow the philosophy of devolving — rather than centralizing — governmental decision making. I call upon them to make decisions which support and enhance local control.