posted on June 23, 2004 09:54:11 AM new
Just saw a newsclip on TV that a number of L.A. county sheriff's deputies have been suspended and disciplined for selling stolen items on eBay and other crimes.
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posted on June 23, 2004 10:01:58 AM new
Can hardly trust anyone anymore. When I was young we looked up to policemen, teachers, doctors, etc.
I wonder if there was as much corruption then as today & we were just to innocent to know it or has the world changed that much.
posted on June 23, 2004 10:41:10 AM new
I don't know, McJane. I find it very very sad. It's very scarey for those of us with young children. Who can you trust?
posted on June 23, 2004 12:30:54 PM new
there was more corruption in the old days because they had a lot less accountability. today, it is very difficult for them to get by with much because of big brother watching. there is a bad element in every walk of life and we need to remember that these few are just that, a bad few. it upsets me when they call themselves things like "cops" or "pigs". these words show disrespect in my opinion.
posted on June 23, 2004 01:28:54 PM new
A friend of mine resells a lot of things that other people think is junk. He lives in a middle class area and likes to drag things out of the garage to work on them prior to selling them at the flea market or at an auction. I have seen the stuff and it isn't garbage. He left stuff out for a couple of days and a habitually complaining neighbor complained (complains about everyone in the area). The city came out and gave him a warning. He picked everything back up and put it away. Then we bought eight storage units and he hauled more home. The city came back out and thought it was the original junk still out so they threw everything into a garbage truck. He didn't have the license plates on a big horse trailer he just had bought that was full of very collectable things. They took everything out of the trailer and threw it into the garbage truck. They were told repeatedly that it was antiques and collectables. The policeman that was there to oversee just let them pitch everything. He said it was up to the garbage supervisor to determine that it was junk. Now how can a 40's console radio, an oak commode, a coke cooler, an almost new Pentax camera in its case, snap on tools, three pressed back chairs, and eight boxes (labeled) look like garbage? We doubt that most of it made it to the dump. Then they had the gaul to charge him $800 for property clean up. Normally if you don't have a trailer or car licensed they will just tow it in and make you pay storage. They wouldn't leave the stuff in it, they had it all taken out and thrown away. The supervisor and my friend got in each other's faces, and the supervisor kept daring him to hit him. He didn't, but it is a wonder. We have since found out that the supervisor is trying to get the policeman in trouble for not arresting my friend for interferance with his duties. I called and complained to the man's boss because I owned half the the stuff coming from the storage units.
The boss said he would get back to me (never did) and would send me a form to submit for a claim (never did).
posted on June 23, 2004 01:49:04 PM new
..FIRST, where is one's respect for others, if the junk is left out for a couple days..and i draw from your remark: middle class area - as differentiated from a middle class neighborhood?
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you said it, "habitually" complaining neighbor...what causes him to be a "habitual?"..the city had to come out and make your friend clean it up...clearly your friend was the lawbreaker..
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ANNNNNNNNNND, NOW A SECOND OFFENSE??
just out of curiosity where did he put eight storage units? he evidently left it out where he had already been told to clean up before...
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how does someone mistake your treasures for junk? the same way someone leaves it piled up, wherever it was piled up!
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"normally...car or trailer not licensed..."
what kind of mc area you live in?
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it seems that fewer and fewer are willing to take responsibilty for the events that they themselves set in motion..
posted on June 23, 2004 02:22:40 PM new
It is a middle class neighborhood in Des Moines, Iowa. I live in a nearby small town. It isn't actually junk. I know one day when I came by he had the roll top to a hoosier-style cupboard on a table that he was regluing, some cast iron was being treated with oven cleaner, he was sanding off some of the paint on a dresser to make it "shabby-chic". He had boxes of stuff that he had gotten at an auction that he was sorting, and his grandkids had their bikes, ball bats, gloves, wagons all over the place. The same stuff isn't out all the time, it evolves. He is always working on something. The neighbor is "habitual" in complaining about people parking in front of her house, people blocking their own drive, a go cart parked behind a garage. When one neighbor put in a privacy fence she complained that she couldn't see into his yard! Wrong on the storage units. We sorted it at the sites. Some went straight to the landfill, some went to an auction, and the small stuff went home with me to list on Ebay. Anything that needed worked on, he took home. It wasn't "piled up". If left out overnight, it was covered with those blue tarps and strapped down until the next day. It isn't like it was out everyday. Most days there is nothing there. Maybe every four to six months there is stuff being worked on for 4 to five days in a row. It isn't like some old person's delapidated cabin with old washing machines and radiators, for pete's sake. I don't see him as a law breaker. He is supplementing his income by working on antiques at home for resale. The policeman told him that if someone hadn't complained no action would have ever been taken. It wasn't an eyesore.
posted on June 23, 2004 02:36:56 PM new
He knows there is a problem and he continues to push the envelope. Not much sympathy here. If there had been no crap sitting out there would be no discussion on the subject.
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You know...the best way to defeat a liberal is to let them speak.
posted on June 23, 2004 02:38:07 PM new
I am sure there would have been a set of saw horses and furniture clamps there, too. It had to have been recognizable to anyone as projects. You should be able to work outside of your garage without a neighbor being able to complain that it is a public nuisance and actually get listened to. I wonder how the Pentax and snap on tools can be explained as "junk"?
posted on June 23, 2004 02:44:00 PM new
Parklane, it wasn't "crap". I had a well regarded antique store in a historic area of Des Moines for ten years. I have been selling antiques and collectables for eighteen years now. I sell at antique shows at shopping malls and at paid admission shows. I sell at flea markets both inside and in fields. I used to sell at antique malls. I sell on Ebay. I buy and cruise Ebay like a fanatic. I spend between $600 and $1,000 on reference books a year. I know the difference between "crap" and "antique and collectable". Since you want to believe it is "crap" there is no talking to you.
posted on June 23, 2004 03:03:29 PM new
you keep missing your own point..
"I wonder how the Pentax and snap on tools can be explained as "junk"?"
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the owner thought so little of pentax and snapons that he left them outside/trailer?
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and before you say he didnt have the time; you already said you sorted before you brought home,, didnt you?
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and i will agree with you on this; most of it probably didnt make it to the dump...
posted on June 23, 2004 03:28:38 PM new
Irregardless of what the value is, if there is no immediate danger to public health or safety, the seizure and disposal of another person's property without due process is usually preceeded with numerous notifications, court hearings and a court order. I have performed hundreds of repossessions, evictions, personal property seizures and confiscations over the years for the Sheriff's Department civil division. There is no division of local government that is more meticulous about the proper paperwork being in order before they even enter the property. The proper thing to do at this point is to hire an attorney to examine the legal proceedure invoked to remove this property. Any attempt by the city to take a shortcut in a case such as this always results in a huge settlement or judgement for the victim. The actual value of the property is not determined by posters to the Vendio forums. It's determined by a jury if your friend was right and the city was wrong.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on June 23, 2004 04:12:22 PM new
The camera and tools were INSIDE the trailer. The camera was right on top in plain sight. In Des Moines you are given (I think) 21 days to clean up. In this case, it was really just a case of needing to put things back in the garage. The garage is pretty full though because his son and wife and grandson have moved home to live in the downstairs until they have saved enough money for a home of their own. This is a nice home. Well kept. I would guess it is worth about $95,000 which is the average for the eastside of Des Moines in that area. I looked on a website for the city of Des Moines at the time this happened (about a month ago)looking for procedures they are to follow. I came across the old agenda? for a meeting. The topic was ways to raise city revenue. One of the ways was "property cleanup". The city has shortened the time for "property cleanup" three times in the past ten years. When I called the man's boss to complain about my things being taken out of the trailer and tossed in the garbage truck (cranberry basket, blue depression pitcher, etc., etc., etc. in the BOXES), I asked the boss about procedures that are to be followed. He claimed that there is nothing in writing. Baloney. I used to work for the State of Iowa years ago. Every position has a procedures manual. I am sure the city works the same way. I told him that people in that man's position has to have rules he must follow in seizing a person's belongings. Also, that the man must have run into upset homeowners before and should know how to handle a situation. You don't come on to a person's property and get in their face no matter what they say. Of course he was mad, his things were taken. He knew they were valuable. I believe anyone would be mad. The city worker got mad and instead of towing the horse trailer away with the contents inside, he ordered the contents thrown into the garbage truck. Then he had them tow the horse trailer away. By the way, the horse trailer has a top and sides and back door. Things would have been secure inside until the license was paid and the trailer was picked up. They also broke part of the hitch by not hooking it up properly. My friend knows he was wrong to not have a license on the trailer. He had only had it a short time and had only bought it for resale. He was two days past the 21 days he was given to get the drive clear. There was a holiday in there so he was really one day past. It must have been Memorial Day weekend. I can't believe they wouldn't listen to reason when he, his wife, and his son were all yelling, "They are antiques! They are antiques!" He should have a letter of reprimand in his employee file. His boss wouldn't even return my phone call. My friend was going to put in a claim but is afraid of reprisals. I want to put in a claim but I was waiting for the main boss to call me back and time has gotten away from me. I am out about $350 (my cost) of my personal inventory plus my share of the storage unit items that were destroyed. What a mess.
posted on June 23, 2004 04:39:56 PM new
You leave "junk" or otherwise in a licensed or unlicensed traler in the driveway in my neighborhood for more than 72 hours and I'll have the city officials at your door too.
What bugs me is why these people move into these restricted neighborhoods in the first place.
posted on June 23, 2004 04:45:36 PM new
I think Park is yanking your chain.
Maybe not, maybe they are the neighbor that resents not being able to control every aspect of other peoples lives.
My parents neighbor in the back complained and the tried to remove a privacy fence that they installed complaining that it sat too high against their property. Problem was not the fence. It was the retaining wall that was built because my parents home is at the top of a steep hill. The 8ft fence that sits ground level on their property starts 5 feet above ground on their property. They called eveyone imaginable compplaining about the fence height. They lost. It was on our property and at 8 feet it was perfectly legal. After that they tried going after their new neighbors whose kids were loud, rambunctious and had the gaul to act like this in their backyard. They called the police on with a noise complaint on 3 kids all under 9. There is nothing funnier than watching a cop trying not to call someone a nutcase.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on June 23, 2004 04:56:28 PM new
"restricted neighborhood" !!!! This is the eastside of Des Moines, Iowa!!!!!! There are no gated neighborhoods there! Lots and lots and lots of people do work from their homes. Siding contactors, bricklayers, electricians. This is the working side of town. They have equipment and tools and extra vehicles and surplus materials in their drives. I don't mean their places are junky. They just have materials at home that they make a living with. They aren't selling from their homes. My friend really just blends in with the rest except the neighbor likes to control everyone elses property. He's not the only one she has turned in. Only this time most of it was antiques, collectables, and better house items. Hence the tools and camera. Sometimes we get beautiful furniture from those storage units. The junk was sorted out at the site. It makes more sense to do so rather than haul it away and then unload it and sort.
posted on June 23, 2004 04:58:59 PM new
Not having seen the yard in question, it's hard to comment on the problem. But I can tell you that ONE bad apple in a neighborhood can lower everyone else's property values, as an realtor will tell you. One gypsy-type bazaar/flea market yard gives a horrible impression to prospective buyers. And that bright blue tarp isn't much better.
If everyone in a neighborhood promises to live there forever, maybe it's not a problem. But when there's turnover of property, junky yards can be a problem. There's a yard in our pretty little town, on a visible corner, which has so much junk all over the corner lot that sometimes people stop, assuming it's a yard sale. Kid's toys, tools, wood pieces, you name it.
Sure, it's your property--but when your right to own property infringes on others' rights (e.g. property values), then something's wrong.
Front yards are part of a town's "park system," in lots of ways, and we keep them neat because it's good for morale. We rarely look at our own front yards; it's the passersby who have to look at them.
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posted on June 23, 2004 08:06:42 PM new
We just had the city give us a "notice" about our 1954 Chevy truck in the driveway. My boyfriend is getting it fixed so he can drive it to work. He had to take the gas tank out of it to get it fixed so it would hold the gas and not leak out like it was. So the truck has been sitting in the same spot for the past 2 months and someone complained to the city. He called the city and explained to him the deal with the truck. We can't put it in the garage. It's a one car garage and the truck is too tall (garage door doesn't go up all the way). The same people also complained about an appliance in the driveway which is going a little too far because it is just a square barbeque grill. Our neighborhood has no association and we bought our house over 3 years ago. We have been wanting a bigger house anyway (for more Ebay stuff LOL--Ebay related)so we will hopefully be getting out of the neighborhood soon.
This neighborhood consists of older homes built in the 40's and 50's. We have a clean yard compared to a few around the neighborhood so I don't know why we are getting singled out.
My boyfriend has had several people wanting to buy his truck so maybe someone is jealous and hopes that if they complain maybe he will put it up for sale and they can snag it for themselves. NOT. He won't part with that for anything!!!
posted on June 23, 2004 09:02:16 PM new
The city gave him 2 extra days past the 21 in which he was required to clean it up. It is obvious he did not think it was important enough to clean it so....
Cities have rules against junk and bad tags.
In the time I have been in my house, I have gotten three letters from the city about bad tags. I know who complained, but it does not matter. If you are breaking the law, when you get the letter you fix the problem because you are in the wrong.
Most people do not want to admit they are the problem, they just want to blame it on the neighbor who is a pain.
Gene
[ edited by scrabblegod on Jun 23, 2004 09:03 PM ]
