Guest Post: Fargo Child Care Ordinance is Overreach

In May, I warned that the city was planning on wedging itself between you, your child, and your daycare provider. On June 23rd, the Fargo City Commission did just that using the consent agenda to pass the “Ordinance Relating to Child Care Centers”. No second reading, no public debate, not even Commissioner comments.

Five commissioners, none of whom have young children, are dictating to you and me how our chosen daycares must operate in extreme and nauseating detail because apparently we aren’t capable.

À la the NYC big soda ban, the Fargo City Commissioners are now mandating legally how much juice to the ounce, how old your child must be to receive juice, the exact percent of real juice contained, and the type of container the juice may or may not be administered in.

The specifics sound like a Monty Python spoof of the Ten Commandments: “Juice shall only be provided to children twelve months and older, and shall not be provided in a bottle. Only 100% juice shall be provided and children shall receive no more than six ounces per day”. I couldn’t make this up, that is a direct quote.

Most of us assumed this was a conversation about our children’s physical activity, which even the city had to admit was a non-issue for the vast majority of providers. It has since morphed and expanded into much more, which is common when local government overreaches. This is just one more clear, blatant, in your face, startling example that you are expected to swallow because, “it’s for the children”.