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Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Legislator's Basement Digs May Not Meet City Code

UPDATED 2:00 PM
WKOW Excerpt:
A Janesville official said the basement residence of a newly sworn-in state lawmaker will be checked to ensure it meets building codes.

Rep. Joe Knilans (R-Janesville) represents the 44th Assembly District, even though he was unable to vote for himself because Knilans did not live in the district. Knilans said he is leasing a basement room in the 44th District in order to satisfy residency requirements. The basement room is in the Winchester Place home of Knilans' brother, Janesville city council candidate Michael Knilans.
City assessor records describe the basement as unfinished, and Janesville's building and development services manager, Gale Price said he wants to verify the room has required exits, windows and fire safety features.

In this recent Gazette article, Knilans sounds like he's attempting to pre-empt anyone from holding him accountable by reshaping any legitimate inquiries as little more than playing "gotcha" politics.

Complaint Excerpt:
11. That if Knilans is required to vacate his basement residence due to building code deficiencies, he will not have been a legal resident of the 44th Assembly District for ten days prior to taking office as required by Wis. Stat. § 6.02.
12. That the State of Wisconsin has a substantial interest in maintaining the integrity of its public offices and ensuring that representatives to the State Assembly maintain a legal residence in the district they represent.
View entire complaint here.

5 comments:

Richard Costerisan said...

Give Joe a pickaxe and maybe he'll find some gold or old buried relics in his new digs.

Anonymous said...

They'll let him slide, the Repugnants are in charge. Rules?! Bah, we make em as we go.

Anonymous said...

It only fits that brother Mikey is running for city council in part to deregulate, this here stoopid basement rule should be the first to go.

Anonymous said...

Dems are going after him and deservedly so: http://wispolitics.com/1006/110106_DPW_Knilans_complaint.pdf

Lou Kaye said...

I really like the Gazette's suggestive, "Knilans' apparent mistake was in telling reporters that he was living in the basement..." Yeah, if only he just said he's living at the residence without giving any specifics, who would know? No one who buys the Gazette.

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