Editorial
by Naomi Fisher
Of all the dumb, stupid things I’ve heard in the last year this is one of the worst!
It seems Sandy Martinez, a single Mother of two, and her sister all live together and all four have a car. This is in the town of Lantana, Florida.
Parking on the street is dangerous so all four cars must be parked on her blacktop driveway.
Apparently the wheels of one or more cars were sitting on the lawn. Against the law.
Ms. Martinez received a fine of $100,000. More than four times her yearly salary.
It gets worse. What the notice of fine did not say was that the fine would keep accruing daily. She did not realize that fact.
But it gets worse. The blacktop the cars were parked on was cracked and had some holes in it. Against the law. Additional daily fines accrued.
Worse yet, her fence had been blown down in a storm. She was waiting for an insurance payment to restore the fence. Apparently downed fences are against the law. Additional daily
fines accrued.
All total Ms. Martinez now owes $165,000Â — or by now, possibly more!
I have to wonder: Does some semblance of power affect a mutant gene that robs would-be, powerful people of humanity?
What happened to barn raising? Or citizens helping one another in need?
Possibly most of the city employees have their noses so high in the air they can’t see their shoes to remind them they walk the same earth as Ms. Martinez.
Here in my town, with plenty of rich people, if no one else, the firemen or some of the service clubs would come out and pave her driveway, being sure to add enough on each side so none of the cars’ forbidden tires encroached on that sacred lawn.
And in my town, caring city fathers would realize her funds are limited, would find a way to waive that ridiculous fine instead of making sure she had to make monthly payments that would rob her of any chance for a normal life.
Unless of course those would-be, powerful city employees think making people miserable is a certain path to power and therefore are planning to make an example of her and throw her in jail or prison, with female Al Capones or murderous Bonnie wannabe’s.
Another thought: Perhaps those would-be, powerful city employees are mimicking their uncaring Federal Congress people, who conveniently forgot that we, The People, pay their salaries, just as Ms. Martinez’s taxes help pay her would-be, powerful city employees’ salaries!
The good news is Sandy Martinez went to the Institute for Justice who is suing Lantana pro bono for her.
Links:
Lantana Fines
Institute for Justice – video
Florida city fines woman more than $100K for parking incorrectly in her own driveway
Why people hate government, PHIL SHIVERÂ
Lantana woman faces $165,000 in fines: ‘Trivial code violations’ or ignoring the law?
Palm Beach Post, Jorge Milian
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal
Naomi Fisher is a local resident
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Well, here’s one conclusion to draw:
Every Republican in Lantana, Florida who thought, “It can’t happen here” just got the rude wake-up call they’ve been needing.
This is how it starts, y’all. It starts at the local level with little power grabs like this.
And public employees and politiicians wonder why people hate them. How obtuse does one have to be to be employed in public employment? I was going to write public service but that obviously is the wrong term for Lantana, Florida bureaucrats, politicians and employees.