{"id":19382,"date":"2018-02-05T11:29:48","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T16:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=19382"},"modified":"2018-02-05T11:42:48","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T16:42:48","slug":"the-latest-in-local-government-pettiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2018\/02\/05\/the-latest-in-local-government-pettiness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Latest in Local Government Pettiness"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/file.army\/i\/06QQDD\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/404store.com\/2018\/02\/05\/writingaticket.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Centralization of government power is generally a very bad idea.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Schemes for \u201cglobal governance\u201d are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2013\/07\/23\/wall-street-journal-condemns-oecd-proposal-to-increase-business-fiscal-burdens-with-global-tax-cartel\/\">the worst<\/a>\u00a0since they usually result\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2016\/05\/31\/rand-pauls-heroic-and-vital-fight-against-global-scheme-to-destroy-financial-privacy\/\">in cartels<\/a>\u00a0for the benefit of uncompetitive nations.<\/li>\n<li>National policies are the second-worst, often producing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2015\/02\/25\/shut-down-the-department-of-education-end-federal-government-involvement-and-intervention\/\">one-size-fits-all approaches<\/a>\u00a0accompanied by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2015\/11\/06\/in-one-image-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-washington-created-welfare-state\/\">suffocating bureaucracy<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But this does not mean that state governments and local governments do a good job.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve previously shared many examples of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/?s=great+moments+state+government\">great moments in state government<\/a>\u201d and today I\u2019m going to augment my similarly sarcastic collection of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/?s=great+moments+local+government\">great moments in local government<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll start with one of America\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2011\/11\/15\/more-chicago-style-corrupt-crony-capitalism\/\">most poorly governed cities<\/a>. Yes, we\u2019re talking about Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>The city can\u2019t be bothered to stop real crime (indeed, it\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2013\/03\/20\/an-inside-look-at-left-wing-social-science-gun-research\/\">encourages and enables criminals<\/a>\u00a0by disarming law-abiding citizens), but it will\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dnainfo.com\/chicago\/20170728\/wicker-park\/window-signs-permits-chicago-fines-businessowners-appeal\">nail small business owners<\/a>\u00a0with heavy fines for things that shouldn\u2019t even be illegal.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A number of neighborhood small business owners are complaining that the city is overzealously policing sign permits, saying they\u2019ve had to pay thousands of dollars in fines for words painted on their shop windows. &#8220;It just seems unfair to make you get a permit for every window panel,&#8221; said Scott Toth, owner of Craft Pizza at 1252 N. Damen Ave. \u2026Toth had paid a contractor to paint \u201cboiled bagels,\u201d the hours of a pizza by the slice daily promotion, \u201cpastries,\u201d and Sparrow Coffee in a window. Toth got a ticket for that window panel as well as three others that featured the restaurant\u2019s logo. \u2026hand-painted lettering at Dove\u2019s Luncheonette advertising \u201cbreakfast, lunch, dinner,\u201d and window script advertising \u201cwedding dress cleaning\u201d and \u201cleather repair\u201d at Wicker Park Cleaners also earned tickets, according to owners of those spots.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If you want to know what the city has achieved, here\u2019s a \u201cbefore\u201d photo. Obviously a clear and present danger to public safety.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/file.army\/i\/06CyHA\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 600px; height: 356.25px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/404store.com\/2018\/02\/05\/jan-13-18-windows-before.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s the \u201cafter\u201d picture. Feel safer? Has government protected you?<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019ll sleep more soundly knowing that there\u2019s a crackdown on the scourge of illegal window signs.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/file.army\/i\/06CjW5\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 600px; height: 354.464px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/404store.com\/2018\/02\/05\/jan-13-18-windows-after.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here are some details on Chicago\u2019s inane law.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>City law\u00a0enforced by the Department of Buildings states that permits are required for non-illuminated painted or vinyl advertising signs or lettering that take up more than 25 percent of any single window. The cost for each on-premise window sign is $200 per sign, plus a Department of Buildings zoning review fee that can vary from $50 to $1000 depending on the size of the sign. \u2026The city requires that a professional contractor apply the lettering or images. Violators face fines of\u00a0$350 to\u00a0$15,000 per day until the signs are removed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Now\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/patch.com\/california\/northhollywood\/la-pedestrians-ticketed-bogus-law-thousands-legislators-say\">let\u2019s look<\/a>\u00a0at how Los Angeles is fleecing citizens.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It is currently illegal for a pedestrian to step into a crosswalk after the red hand starts, even if there is sufficient time to safely cross. A Los Angeles Times investigation found that 17,000 people in the city were ticketed over a four-year period for stepping off the curb after the countdown had started. \u2026\u201dI don\u2019t believe pedestrians should be preyed upon just to fill local coffers,\u201d Santiago said in May.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Of course, Mr. Santiago is a politician, and I\u2019m guessing he\u2019s a big spender, so he presumably wants to prey on a different group of people.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a story from Arizona, as\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/reason.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/13\/city-of-phoenix-locks-up-veteran-for-zon\">reported<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0<em>Reason<\/em>. It starts innocently enough, with one person wanting to buy some land but the owner rejecting the price.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For thirty years, Stapleton raised horses and plied his trade as a blacksmith while the city slowly grew up around him. During that time, says Stapleton, no one seemed to care much about his property or what he did with it. Until the former mayor of Phoenix set eyes on it. In 2006, Larry Herring, a representative for former mayor Phil Johnson\u00a0offered\u00a0Stapleton $225,000 for his property. Johnson intended to build condominiums next door. Stapleton told Herring his offer was much too low.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But then went awry. The property owner was threatened.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Herring, Stapleton says, told him if he didn\u2019t sell, \u201cbad things are going to happen to you\u201d and that \u201ca stone wall is going to fall on you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Unfortunately, city bureaucrats turned the threat into reality.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Shortly after rebuffing Herring\u2019s offer, city officials cited Stapleton with six violations of the zoning code, everything from a fence that was too high, to vehicles improperly parked. The fines were $2,500 and came with the threat of six months in jail for each violation. Stapleton argued each of the violations were for long-standing features of his property, necessary for raising horses. \u201cThese things are farm things, and it\u2019s a farm,\u201d Stapleton says. \u201cYou didn\u2019t bother me for thirty years. Now somebody wants the property, you want to bother me. And they were going to send me to jail to do it.\u201d Stapleton chose to fight. The city rejected his request for a jury trial and in May 2007, a city judge fined Stapleton $15,000 and sentenced him to three years probation on the condition that he address his code violations or go to jail. At the same time the city was punishing Stapleton it was granting multiple variances to the ex-mayor\u2019s development next door, one of them to allowed him to build a fence a foot higher than the one for which it fined Stapleton.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In a column for the\u00a0<em>New York Post<\/em>, Walter Olson\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2017\/12\/13\/a-progressive-push-for-more-gun-violence\/\">describes<\/a>\u00a0an insane proposal to help criminals in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>in Philadelphia, \u2026the city council will consider a bill to force owners of hundreds of small corner stores to take down glass partitions that protect their managers and clerks from being robbed and assaulted. It\u2019s all being rationalized in the name of social justice. \u2026Councilwoman Cindy Bass, who\u2019s sponsoring the measure, \u2026says\u2026\u201cHave you ever been served food at a sit-down restaurant establishment through a solid barrier? That is not acceptable. \u2026What message does it send our children?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Walter responds to the Councilwoman\u2019s rhetorical question.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2026it sends several messages. One is a moral that echoes down through the ages: Human beings threatened with violence have the right to protect themselves. \u2026Philadelphia Health Commissioner Tom Farley, \u2026is often quoted in the press demanding stronger government action to reduce gun violence. But that\u2019s what the barriers deter. Philadelphia has a shooting every six hours, to say nothing of knifings and strong-arm robberies. The barriers reduce theft, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Now let\u2019s close with an\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.desertsun.com\/story\/news\/crime_courts\/2017\/11\/15\/he-confessed-minor-crime-then-city-hall-billed-him-31-k-his-own-prosecution\/846850001\/\">unbelievable story<\/a>\u00a0from Southern California about citizens getting abused. Let\u2019s start by excerpting a horrifying anecdote.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Garcia got in trouble with Coachella City Hall in 2015 after a city code inspector discovered he had expanded his living room, making space to run a small day care\u00a0center, without first getting building permits. Silver &amp; Wright, a law firm contracted as Coachella\u2019s\u00a0city prosecutor, took the building permit case to criminal court, filing 29 misdemeanor charges. Garcia signed a plea agreement, brought his house up to code, paid a $900 fine to the court and moved on with his life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Sounds annoying, right?<\/p>\n<p>It gets worse. Far worse.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>When Cesar Garcia pulled the letter out of his mailbox, he immediately recognized the name of the law firm on the envelope \u2013 Silver &amp; Wright. \u2026What did they want now? Garcia opened the letter, prepared for the worst, but was still shocked by what he found inside. The law firm had sent him a bill for $26,000. When he protested, the price climbed to $31,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And this sleazy firm, which acts on behalf of local governments, apparently makes a practice of targeting powerless people.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Empowered by the city councils in Coachella and Indio, the law firm Silver &amp; Wright has repeatedly filed criminal charges against residents and businesses\u00a0for public nuisance crimes \u2013 like\u00a0overgrown weeds, a\u00a0junk-filled yard\u00a0or selling popsicles without a business license \u2013 then billed them thousands of dollars to recoup expenses. \u2026an extensive review of public records\u2026identified 18 cases in which Indio and Coachella charged defendants more than $122,000 in\u00a0\u201cprosecution fees\u201d since the cities\u00a0hired Silver &amp; Wright\u2026 With the addition of code enforcement fees, administration fees, abatement fees, litigation fees and appeal fees, the total price tag rises to more than $200,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Other examples are equally egregious.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2026a\u00a0Coachella family with a busted garage door and an overgrown\u00a0yard\u00a0filled with trash and junk was billed $18,500. An Indio man who sold parking on his land without a business license was billed $3,200. And an Indio woman who strung\u00a0a Halloween decoration across the street in front of her home\u00a0\u2013\u00a0then pleaded guilty to a crime no more serious than a speeding ticket at her first court appearance \u2013 was billed $2,700. \u2026Juan Alvarado, a disabled Coachella homeowner\u2026was prosecuted for converting his garage into a studio apartment without getting a building permit, then was billed $7,800 for the total cost of the\u00a0case against him. \u2026Indio prosecuted Fiesta Latina, a family-owned furniture store in the city\u2019s struggling downtown district, because it didn\u2019t have a permit for a sign on the roof. Then the store was billed $3,327 by Silver &amp; Wright.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Utterly disgusting. Not only this story, but the other ones as well.<\/p>\n<p>These local governments are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/27\/the-local-government-extortion-racket\/\">basically extortion rackets<\/a>. And the targets are usually the less fortunate.<\/p>\n<p>These examples basically make my point that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2018\/01\/10\/the-case-for-jury-nullification-part-i\/\">jury nullification<\/a>\u00a0is a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2018\/01\/12\/the-case-for-jury-nullification-part-ii\/\">very valuable tool<\/a>\u00a0(at least in cases where the local governments actually allow a trial rather than rely on bureaucratic edicts). I want fellow citizens to be a potential line of defense for the oppressed and mistreated.<\/p>\n<p>But my final point is counter-intuitive. As much as I despise the actions of thuggish bureaucrats and politicians at the city and county level, I prefer local government over state government (or national government, or global government) for the simple reason that it\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2016\/09\/02\/borders-limit-freedom-but-promote-liberty\/\">much easier to escape<\/a>\u00a0their\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2017\/01\/16\/tax-competition-a-necessary-liberalizing-process-to-discipline-the-stationary-bandit-of-government\/\">predatory behavior<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>Reprinted from <a href=\"https:\/\/danieljmitchell.wordpress.com\/2018\/01\/13\/great-moments-in-local-government-14\/\">International Liberty.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/fee.org\/people\/daniel-j-mitchell\/\"><br \/>\nDaniel J. Mitchell<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Daniel J. Mitchell is a Washington-based economist\u00a0who specializes in fiscal policy, particularly tax reform, international tax competition, and the economic burden of government spending. He also serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/fee.org\/articles\/the-latest-in-local-government-pettiness\/\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/fee.org\/counter\/164624\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var rlxim_url = 'https:\/\/rlx.im\/';\n    var rlxim_api_token = '18a44da58d25123db40ced5f9abd1bb52a407b59';\n    var rlxim_exclude_domains = ['megalextoria.com', 'www.megalextoria.com', 'megalextoria.blogspot.com']; \n<\/script><br \/>\n<script src='https:\/\/rlx.im\/assets\/js\/full-page-script.js'><\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Centralization of government power is generally a very bad idea. Schemes for \u201cglobal governance\u201d are\u00a0the worst\u00a0since they usually result\u00a0in cartels\u00a0for the benefit of uncompetitive nations. National policies are the second-worst, often producing\u00a0one-size-fits-all approaches\u00a0accompanied by\u00a0suffocating bureaucracy. But this does not mean that state governments and local governments do a good job. I\u2019ve previously shared many examples of \u201cgreat moments in state government\u201d and today I\u2019m going to augment my similarly sarcastic collection of \u201cgreat moments in local government.\u201d We\u2019ll start with one of America\u2019s\u00a0most poorly governed cities. Yes, we\u2019re talking about Chicago. The city can\u2019t be bothered to stop real crime (indeed, it\u00a0encourages and enables criminals\u00a0by disarming law-abiding citizens), but it will\u00a0nail small business owners\u00a0with heavy fines for things that shouldn\u2019t even be illegal. A number of neighborhood small business owners are complaining that the city is overzealously policing sign permits, saying they\u2019ve had to pay thousands of dollars in fines for words painted on their shop windows. &#8220;It just seems unfair to make you get a permit for every window panel,&#8221; said Scott Toth, owner of Craft Pizza at 1252 N. Damen Ave. \u2026Toth had paid a contractor to paint \u201cboiled bagels,\u201d the hours of a pizza by the slice [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2236],"class_list":["post-19382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-politics","tag-statism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}