Just ask Anne Hartridge and Matt George of Sacramento, California.
They are environmentalists to the nth degree. In the past, I’ve called their kind hyper-enviro’s. Believe it or not, I feel very sorry for them. Yes, you read that right.
As you know, the western part of the country is experiencing just the opposite of what we’ve had in the Midwest. Dry conditions led California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a statewide drought.
Hartridge and George, who just about rub sticks to start a fire to cook their meals, made the decision to be civic-minded and adhere to the Governor’s call. They stopped watering their lawn and let it die.
That’s when trouble erupted.
What do you think happened next?
If you thought that someone from the local government noticed and intervened…..
You would be ………………….
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WRONG!
No, something occurred before that.
Think suburbs.
Think busybody neighbors with nothing better to do.
Think elitist snob neighbors without a life.
Think neighbors who need a sense of humor transplant.
Now you got it!
SOME NEIGHBORS COMPLAINED!
And then the city of Sacramento pencil-pushing, rules are rules, let’s not use common sense geeky bureaucrats stepped in.
I guess none of them have ever met Arnold, the state’s #1 official I might add, in a dark alley, but they threatened the couple with a $746 fine if they didn’t take proper measures to restore their landscaping.
The couple asked, what can/should we do?
Being a government employee who hates big government, I love this. The response the couple got was they’d get their answer………………………………….in an e-mail.
Guess what?
The e-mail never came.
Nor did responses from their city council representative.
Some yahoo in the city of Sacramento bureaucracy actually admitted not communicating with other agencies to resolve this matter. You see, that would be extra work, plus a deviation from the constituent response playbook.
Seems to me Arnold needs to head to City Hall and kick some butt.
I talked about this on WISN this past week…….here’s yet another perfect example of why people hate government.
