Dumb-and Dumber and los Gotos
Just in time for the release of Dumb and Dumber2, Los Gatos code enforcement officials also released us a notice for violating the gas-powered leaf-blower ban. Yes, we were severed with a citation for $100 fine for a program that dose not take effect till January 1, 2015.
Yes, leave it to the Loa Gatos politicians to serve citations before even the program has taken effect. The upshot is that we got a notice this week from Los Gatos Code enforcement which stated someone had reported that we violated the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers which can only be operated on:
8 am – 5 pm on Weekday and 9 am – 4 pm on Weekends
When my husband called the code enforcement office to inquire about the citation, he was told that this is just a curtsey and informational notice! When he asked for details of the citation he was told that there is no detail available! The program administrator Mr. Allen Meyer told my husband that someone had reported the violation October 24, 2014, but he had no information if the violation had taken place on that day or not. He also had no information if the voliation had happened during the restricted hours.
And that’s where the rub comes in with these well-intended programs which are poorly administered. If the Town of Los Gatos wants to pass an ban on leaf blowers, they better develop the wisdom, capacity and fortitude to collect the correct information that indeed a violation has happened. You can’t just casually issue citation as if it’s joke.
And if these notices were sent out as part of an information campaign, it’s irresonsible to mark them as citations since we will never believe another one of these dumb citations since they are not worth the paper they are printed on.
In our case, we know this was a bogus call since our landscapers do operate between the permitted hours during Wednesdays. So, watch out for bogus citations from Town of Los Gtaos and be prepared to challenge them since it appears the code enforcement officials are ill-prepared to manage these bogus calls.