What I Don't Understand,
The list is long and numerous but let's take a look a just a few things we can TRY to noodle-out.
So let's start with something I do know. the fight I've been having with the city, and receiving a building permit is one issue I'm well aware of because I've been living it for over 2 years.
I have spent a lot of that two and a half years speaking with the city manager so let's talk about what I don't know regarding City management or at least the people that are supposed to manage our city.
When I first went in to speak with the manager and show them the stop-work order I had received, we had a fairly casual conversation. At that time she said she was just a small-town girl that happened to work for the city, but would like things to be more local and controlled by the people that live in the community.
I mentioned at that time that the county had an opt-out program for owner-builders on private property, she said she was aware of that program and that the city had no such program, but she thought they were looking into something similar to that for the near future, I guess that was my first dose of hopium.
As things progressed the city ended the contract with a company that was doing the inspections and code enforcement and created an inter-governmental agreement with the county.
Now that the city was working with the county would not that be a great time to work on this mysterious opt-out program that she said sounded like a fantastic idea at the time when we spoke?
So apparently she was just saying things in hopes that I would apply for a permit surrender my rights and just go along to get along, I don't understand that.
Can unelected bureaucrats lie so easily, or is it that they don't listen to the words that are coming out of their mouths, or maybe just speaking out of both sides of their mouths?
It is always troubling when you realize that the people you are pleading your case to are just waiting for you to shut up and leave the room.
The City Council
During this two-year struggle of mine, I spoke with many of my city councilmen and women, the mayor, past and present, and anyone that would listen to my suggestions about reforming some of the planning and zoning rules and regulations that seem to be the bane of most everyone's existence in the town.
Most everyone agreed that something had to be done but alas what could they do? the city is run by the manager. I suggested that many of the things that could be fixed would not require the city manager's approval because it could be done with an emergency meeting and a new ordinance or two.
“That's a great idea we'll have to think about that and see what we can come up with”. Most of the people I talk to have been in the city government for many, many, many years and I see their signatures on all of these ordinances that had been passed that they now want to “think about fixing”.
During most of their time in office, they could have changed the rules, and the one that is the worst of them all is the one where they passed the International Building Code, with its enforcement code, and did that by reference, which is against the state constitution.
Everyone told me that they were unaware that part had been “snuck in” and were unaware that that had been part of what they voted on. I guess you have to vote on the bill before you can see what's in the bill as Nancy Pelosi said.
Years and years ago enforcement code was considered and everyone on the city council resoundingly said no way! yet this time the same people except a few newbies passed it unanimously, I don't understand that.
What is so sad is that most of these people run for office to make the city in which they live a better place, they spend their time and countless hours every month trying to do something good for their community. So did they remove the Enforcement portion that was snuck in, nope. Yet when they're given the opportunity to really change things for the better they are too focused on “leveling up” and raising taxes.
The Un-Elected
Now if you want to hear something that is truly amusing, many of those we elected, told me that they can't do anything about these problems. I have heard it expressed as “our hands are tied”.
Most of the people that work for the city think they are in charge, and the city manager is who really runs things, not those people that we elected. Apparently, there is a lot of Truth in that silly expression of reality from our city employees. Most of these employees know who butters their bread, the city manager, that is the person that is their PR and HR representative, so who are these elected people to tell them anything?
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and apparently, the weakest link in the chain of command in most City governments that are manager-run is the council and the mayor.
If a city council will allow their manager and unelected bureaucrats to run roughshod over the City, and will not fire these dumbass bureaucrats that are making extremely bad decisions that are harming the citizenry, then honestly, what good are they, and why do we vote for them, I don't understand that?
I guess it makes sense that a lot of them on city councils and the mayors feel like placeholders, nothing more than Talking heads. The only time citizens will show up at the meetings is usually when they're all mad about something that the bureaucrats did.
I guess many that set on the council, have never run a business, and the only time they were in a meeting regarding someone getting fired, they were on the wrong side of that desk.
I'm sure it's hard to suggest firing some bureaucrat that is a friend of a friend, and maybe even a family member, or maybe someone you know or care about.
But what about all of us, the people that live in the city, and have to deal with these problems, it seems like it would be easier to let some heads roll than let your fellow citizens and constituents suffer from the effects of bad management.
Majority Of One
When I took up my fight with the city, it was about code enforcement, what I saw going on around the town, and how bad some of the homes looked because poor people couldn't afford to fix their homes.
It's not about me being the only squeaky wheel, it's about the many problems that exist in this city just in regards to the overreach and usurpation of authority by only one Department in the city, and that one Dept. is planning and zoning.
It is easy for the bureaucrat or the elected official to say you are just one person we have other problems as well, but all of those problems are also just one person or one family or one house.
In America, you don't dismiss the majority of one, because if everyone in town got together and voted to take away someone’s bicycle, they wouldn't be able to do it, because that is not how it works in our country. You can't lose what was yours because everyone else in the neighborhood or the city voted to take your property, your rights, or even your bicycle.
So when a department in the city tries to tell you how to use your property they are illegally taking your rights. It is just the same when a city or government tells you that you have the right to speak freely, but only over there in that cage and not in the Public Square.
And what is amazing to me regarding my city is how lucky it is for them that five or six Philadelphia lawyers don't live here or our city would have been sued out of existence 20 years ago.
So if they don't start paying attention as more new people moved to this area they might run into a legal scholar that is willing to run them through the wringer and it will be the taxpayers, you and I that will once again end up paying that bill.
Our leaders and bureaucrats will not always be in those positions of authority, and when the tide changes, they may find themselves in court groveling for the same privilege that you and I are asking for today because they chose to ignore the truth that was right in front of their faces.