Baggy Pants Safe In Duncan For Now

From The Duncan Banner ~ For the time being, baggy pants that expose undergarments or skin are safe.

A proposed ordinance tackling the issue was discussed during the Duncan City Council meeting Tuesday, but no action was taken.

The purpose of bringing the item up for discussion was to gather community input on the issue, Mayor Gene Brown said: “We do expect for the standards of dress code to be raised,” he said. And, while raising community standards is a priority, Brown said it was important to understand that the city is not saying a person can’t wear baggy pants. He or she just can’t wear them so underwear or skin is exposed. “If your undergarments are showing, we’re basically saying it’s a violation of community standards,” City Manager Clyde Shaw said.

Many members of the council expressed concerns over regulation.

“How could we measure such a thing?” Councilman Michael Hale said. “That seems like it would present a great challenge.”

Councilman Tommy Edwards agreed. “How would you enforce this?” he questioned. “It just seems to me that we’re kind of opening a can of worms.”

And while Duncan Public Schools have addressed the issue in their dress code policy and a few other communities outside the state of Oklahoma have adopted similar ordinances with positive results, it may not be time for such a law to hit the books in Duncan.

“It’s a parental control issue,” Councilman Ricky Mayes said. “I don’t feel like we can ask our enforcement officers to be a judge on your attire. I don’t think it would be fair.”

But not everyone agreed with the council’s opinion. “I think that any time our City Council has an opportunity to raise the standards, then that’s what it should do,” said Clif Cummings, senior pastor of First Baptist Duncan. “I think it’s something we should consider in a positive way.”

While Mayes said he felt like the council had better things to do, he also said he recognized that if an ordinance addressing the issue is what it takes to resolve community complaints, then that’s what it would take. If the ordinance is passed, the violator would be fined in a graduated scale, beginning with a $25 fine and one eight-hour day of community service. A second offense would raise the fine to $50 and up to two eight-hour days of community service. A third offense would bring the fine to $100 and up to four eight-hour days of community service.

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