Fullerton City Council Gets It Wrong...Again

Tuesday night's City Council meeting resulted in the passage of bad laws and a request that I believe would result in the misappropriations of federal funds.

Tough questions were hinted at but the council members were pacified by staff assurances of checks and balances. 

At the heart of my criticism is the amendment of the City's municipal code with respect to trash cans and tarps, two objects I am not particularly fond of. 

One amendment makes it a crime, an infraction, to have your trash cans out more than 24 hours before collection or more than 12 hours after collection.  The new regulation does not take into account those of us who work long hours.  There are many days that trash is collected at 8 a.m. and I don't get home from work until 11 p.m.  That would place me in violation of the law and subject to an infraction. 

Another amendment, also an infraction, is the use of a tarp to, among other things, provide weather protection for the interior of a building.  Again, missing from this amendment is a time element.  The law does not allow for a temporary tarp, say from a downed city-owned trees onto a home, for any reason.  The law is simple and specific enough that any tarp for any period of time used in the manner described above it is an immediate violation.

Both amendments, and others, passed without a great deal of questions, despite pleadings from the public. 

These amendments will allow code enforcement, also known as "community preservation officers", to drive around and issue citations immediately.  The "due process" which was mentioned briefly as a check-and-balance to enforcement is that the citation may be appealed after the fact.  This so-called due process will require that the person cited take time off of work to defend their actions.  Simply adding a 24-hour clause for trash cans and a time-line for the tarps would lend some assurance that the regulations will not be forced simply to harass residents and taxpayers. 

Also being approved by the City Council was a federal appropriations request which listed four projects that need funding.  I first mention this in Federal Money, Local Problem. 

Surprisingly, Fullerton Association of Concerned Tax Payers (FACT) co-founder and councilman, Bruce Whitaker, voted for the request.  I have not spoken with Whitaker regarding the list and he did not comment after the motion was seconded so I don't know his rationale for the vote. 

In my opinion, the only item on the list that might qualify for federal aid would be the Harbor Blvd Slope Stabilization Project.  The other three, park modernization and two parking structures, are local issues that are not a threat to the health and welfare of the community if they are not completed.  In fact, a strong argument could be made that supporting these specific parking structures is support for redevelopment, eminent domain, wasted tax dollars, and abuse of power.  Both projects violated the rights of the previous property owners. 

And if all of that wasn't bad enough, two residents spoke about receiving citations for having a pick-up truck and a toy hauler on the street over night.  The Fullerton Police Department considers pick-up trucks to be a commercial vehicles because the DMV classifies them as such, even when they are owned by individuals for personal or recreational purposes.  The trailer, I suspect, falls under a similar twist of the law because the trailer was not attached to the vehicle that normally pulls it.  Taking these residents at face-value, it sure sounds like Fullerton residents continue to be beat up and abused by City Hall. 

Maybe things will change in 2012...