Mayfield Heights City Council has voted to be added on to the “Do Not Knock’ registry” of the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council. Council made the decision at its Nov. 11 meeting after nearly 10 minutes of discussion on whether the city already has an established No Knock Program and how the agreement would work. Council member Donald Manno said that the city had enacted a similar program in the past and that the law director at that time said the program would not be able to be implemented. Manno said the registry would not block politicians or religious entities from knocking on someone’s doors and because of those reasons, council at the time did not move forward on the citywide ordinance. “The proposal (did not apply) for political people,” Manno said to council. “If you are out canvassing and knocking on doors to introduce yourself to residents and so on and so forth, (or to) get a petition signed, this ordinance would not have stopped you from doing, they had (legal counsel) pointed out. And the other thing was religious organizations that canvas areas, that couldn’t have stopped them.” According to NOPEC’s website, “With frequent reports of misleading and aggressive door-to-door energy solicitors, NOPEC’s Do Not Knock program helps protect you by preventing for-profit solicitors from even knocking on your door. “Your address will be added to a list of homes and businesses that for-profit solicitors are not allowed to visit. This list is updated monthly.” The website states. “You’ll receive a Do Not Knock window cling in the mail to a place near your front door to remind solicitors they are not welcome.” Mayor Anthony DiCicco said that although the registry does not stop some people, that residents can put up additional signs stopping everyone from showing up on their doorstep if they wanted. “If residents want to register with the Do Not Knock register, they can, and that will stop all the solicitors except the two that you now just told everybody they can go to their house for,” DiCicco said in response to a council member’s comment. “But if they still want to take advantage of registering for it and have signs on their houses that will keep everyone else away, they can do that (too).” “Any solicitors have to come to the city, and they get the list of Do Not Knock, they are not supposed to go to those houses, that’s the purpose of the list,” DiCicco added. “If you are going door to door as a councilperson or someone running for mayor that’s a different circumstance, but this ordinance is taken from NOPEC’s suggested language and it’s been upheld wherever NOPEC has had an agreement.” A full list of communities that have signed up for the registry can be found at www.nopec.org/residents/do-not-knock .