SEQUIM — Some say you can’t fight City Hall, but 12-year-old Crystal Trammell did just that.
Crystal and her mother pleaded Monday night with City Council members to eliminate the 16-years-old age minimum included in an ordinance regulating the use of motorized foot scooters on city roads and alleys.
The ordinance, discussed and amended over the past four council sessions, faced dissent from various council members on several issues.
Before Monday, age was not one of them.
“She’s very responsible. She’s never gotten in anybody’s way,” Carol Trammell said when invited to address the council.
Crystal rides her scooter from the family home in east Sequim to Sequim Middle School, where she is a seventh-grader.
She got a direct acknowledgment of her safe scooter operation from Councilman John Beitzel, who said he is familiar with the girl’s riding habits.
“I’ve seen her go through (Carrie Blake Park), and she rides responsibly,” Beitzel said.
“I have a hard time with the apparently arbitrary manner in which this age-16 requirement was adopted.”
Near-agreement
Most all council members agreed, with only Paul McHugh not voting to drop the language requiring scooter riders be at least 16 years old.
“I have a 3-year-old granddaughter who would love to ride a scooter around town. Are we going to let that happen?” McHugh asked.
City Attorney Craig Ritchie said he added the age limit because it mirrored what other cities around the state had done in crafting ordinances regulating the two-wheeled, combustible-engine scooters.