Baggy pants crackdown goes national

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RIVIERA BEACH — Pull’em up or pay up! That’s the order voters gave tonight by overwhelmingly approving Mayor Thomas Masters “saggy pants” law.

“I am thankful to the people who came out and voted their conscience and defined what is indecent in our city,” said Masters after hearing the measure won 72 percent of the vote.

Earlier in the day, Masters feared the saggy pants law was going down in defeat based upon an informal exit poll. But that changed as more voters went to the polls, he said.

Masters believes Riviera Beach is the first large city to pass a saggy pants law through an election. Others have been approved by ordinance through a board vote.

Riviera Beach joins the city of Opa-Locka, the Atlanta school district and several small southern towns with “pull up your pants” laws.

Under the new law, anyone with droopy pants that show skin or underwear faces legal action. The first offense carries a $150 fine or community service. A second infraction carries a $300 fine or more community service.

Habitual violators could face up to 60 days in jail. The jail provision produced a last-minute backlash to the ordinance. But the law was popular among elderly voters who apparently turned out at the polls.

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