I received an email from a reader who wrote about how the City of Whitewater had delivered notices to property owners who were allegedly in violation of one municipal ordinance or another. I have not received a notice like that, but I was aware that the city was sending them out. Here’s a bit of what the reader’s email said:
You may or may not know the city sent many of us nasty-grams about things the city doesn’t like about the way we keep our property up. Yea, I got one …. [someone] got a copy of the list of all the BAD people. I did notice the city wrote a citizen up on having shingles that were curling and needed to be replaced. Got another one for some storm window thing, another for not clearing her garden out, yet she was still harvesting vegetables.
It’s unsurprising that these notices rapidly descend from serious concerns to petty, cosmetic objections. We have a problem with enforcement bias and overzealous enforcement in this small town. (It’s one of the reasons that I life here isn’t yet quaint.) Aside from those few matters that represent safety concerns, most of this is just a few people trying to feel important, or exacting, or somehow elevated by delivering objections to others. A man does not make himself bigger through petty complaints designed to make others seem small.
There’s nothing especially elevated, clever, or enlightened in our code enforcement group. It’s not that they’re worse than others; it’s that they and their friends are no better. If you took pictures of their houses, and their friends’ houses, you’d find nothing special, and at least a few things out of order. (Would you – as I would — guess that those homes have not been cited as rigorously?)
Do you really think a few plants are the biggest problem of municipal safety or civic appearance? I can think of a greater challenges that we face. If Whitewater would direct its efforts to these greater needs, we’d all be better off. Consider these threats to safety and civic beauty:
Unattractive people, whose appearance shatters glass, terrifies fellow residents, and offers an unfair advantage at Halloween.
Unfashionable women, who wear the wrong makeup, or wear clothing that’s too revealing, or out-of-style. Sometimes people are sloppy and look bad. (Sorry for being so technical — “Look bad” is term of art used in the code enforcement services to describe the aesthetic failings of ordinary, untrained residents.) Our community should not have to put up with these distractions.
What about men who wear pungent cologne, or worse still, those who refuse to bathe? If people thought that open fires were malodorous, consider the problem of the overly ripe among us. If the City of Whitewater cannot keep our air fresh, what’s the point of a municipality at all? The tribes that lived here before our arrival enjoyed unpolluted air, yet we endure mediocre conditions because our neighborhood services unit cannot identify real, and smelly, nuisances.
What about people who have artificial squirrels on their roofs? No one should have a fake rodent on his roof, for three reasons. First, it’s a fake rodent. Second, rats are rodents, and that’s really all one needs to know. Third, these fake squirrels may be confusing to real squirrels, leading to fights, or unfortunate romantic attempts, offering only injury and embarrassment to the real McCoy.
Code Enforcers of Whitewater – look to these serious problems, and earn the thanks of your community!