Selective enforcement

Dear Editor:Our Code Enforcement branch of the police force is a reactive agency, not proactive. If you want to get revenge on your neighbor, you can look for a violation, call Code Enforcement, and they will happily issue a warning to the offending citizen. As the Code Enforcement officer is driving to your house to notify you that your Christmas lights have been up a day too long, he is tripping over corn cobs as they pass by the man with the stolen shopping car, in which is a black trash bag filled with corn-on-the-cob. This unidentified vendor has no apparent way to wash his hands, pays no taxes, accounts to no one, and disturbs the neighborhood by honking his way down the street. I am certain our police and Code Enforcement have driven past these men quite a few times. Yet they persist. Right behind the honking man is an honest person driving a marked ice cream truck, who has a business license, is paying his taxes and is trying to sell to people who have already bought either corn or flavored ice from the recesses of a black trash bag. It seems to me it would be very simple for Code Enforcement agents to use their time wisely by actually driving around and observing these things for themselves and dealing with them proactively instead of only responding when a neighbor tattletales on another neighbor, thereby encouraging the spirit of revenge among citizens in the community. The reasons Code Enforcement responds and how they respond need to be examined. The tunnel vision needs to be corrected. - David Dominessy, Downey

********** Published: April 16, 2010 - Volume 8 - Issue 52