Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Be Careful What You Ask For!
A nice quiet neighborhood in the north part of our
town has had a very interesting week. It seems one of
the residents, apparently upset with what he perceived
as "terrorist" automobile drivers, raised a stink with
our young mayor - a deputy sheriff/jailer in his day
job. He, in turn, passed the flack on downstream to the
chief of police. The chief, in response to the frequent
demand from on high, unleashed the full force of the
police department to stop this "terrorism" in it's
tracks.
The result was, according to folks in the know, a lot of very busy moms being ticketed by our zealous law enforcement types. Apparently a group of mothers dropping their children at a local school were ticketed for stopping in red zones - not a good idea, but certainly not terrorism. Some of those people apparently didn't have driver's licenses, which resulted in their cars being impounded. There is some train of thought that those ladies might have been in this country illegally - hence, the lack of license. That should make one activist in town ecstatic.
Another busy mom, who had just dropped her kids off at school on a foggy morning, got a ticket for using her wipers to swipe off the mist from her windshield without also having her headlights on. This is a brand new state law and one lawman saw an opportunity to make a point - or points. Clearly, a warning was the appropriate choice - which he didn't make.
Word has it that this nice, quiet little neighborhood was under siege this past weekend, with more police cars in their neighborhood over the two days than some residents can remember seeing in the past ten years.
I find it curious that one of our city council members - one with whom the mayor and his pal, the mayor pro tem, have had more than a fair share of disagreements - lives in this very neighborhood. It makes one wonder if this is not just another petty annoyance contrived by people in power to make life complicated for their opponents. In other times I might think it was just a coincidence, but having seen these guys in action for the past ten months or so, it seems well within their modus operandi.
So, dear neighbors, the next time you think about speaking out about some position our mayor and his buddy have taken you'd better think twice. Who knows - you and your neighbors may be the next neighborhood to experience this kind of petty, punitive response from those who guide this city.
11:30 am pstThe result was, according to folks in the know, a lot of very busy moms being ticketed by our zealous law enforcement types. Apparently a group of mothers dropping their children at a local school were ticketed for stopping in red zones - not a good idea, but certainly not terrorism. Some of those people apparently didn't have driver's licenses, which resulted in their cars being impounded. There is some train of thought that those ladies might have been in this country illegally - hence, the lack of license. That should make one activist in town ecstatic.
Another busy mom, who had just dropped her kids off at school on a foggy morning, got a ticket for using her wipers to swipe off the mist from her windshield without also having her headlights on. This is a brand new state law and one lawman saw an opportunity to make a point - or points. Clearly, a warning was the appropriate choice - which he didn't make.
Word has it that this nice, quiet little neighborhood was under siege this past weekend, with more police cars in their neighborhood over the two days than some residents can remember seeing in the past ten years.
I find it curious that one of our city council members - one with whom the mayor and his pal, the mayor pro tem, have had more than a fair share of disagreements - lives in this very neighborhood. It makes one wonder if this is not just another petty annoyance contrived by people in power to make life complicated for their opponents. In other times I might think it was just a coincidence, but having seen these guys in action for the past ten months or so, it seems well within their modus operandi.
So, dear neighbors, the next time you think about speaking out about some position our mayor and his buddy have taken you'd better think twice. Who knows - you and your neighbors may be the next neighborhood to experience this kind of petty, punitive response from those who guide this city.
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