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Saturday, September 22, 2007
MY BET: A real warm place will freeze over before a nuisance enforcement ordinance in Ramsey is passed to quell this eyesore.
If you read Orwell's Animal Farm, all the animals on Animal Farm were equal but the pigs thought they were more equal than the others. Four legs good, two legs better, etc. We all read it, right?
Soooooo -- If you are a reader feeling a threat from the efforts afoot on nuisance vehicle crowding, regardless of lot size, well, at least all the people should be at risk together - Right? Like a rising tide lifting all boats? It's a pile of cliches so far, but should some get hassling and others skate - based on WHAT?
What exactly is "RAMSEY fairness"? I don't think it means pigs are more equal than the others. Orwell doesn't live here, does he?
Here's the evidence. The camera does not lie. A fact is a fact:
Now --- if this were a six or eight acre lot with privacy screening, etc., would it make a difference? On an "urban size" or I call them "Peterson size" lots, is it a place for a big honking RV in the driveway, ever? Operable or not? Licensed or not? Out front this way? Not on the back three acres. Is that "operable" or "licensed" criterion a legitimate litmus test, or a "way around" for guys like this? What are the real sensibilities at play - and will an ordinance be fair - and fairly enforced like the DUI laws, which apply to each of us equally, and it's how you blow a score on the machine, etc. Fair and square, and everybody faces the same set of rules. Right?
How can this ordinance effort be done FAIRLY AND SENSIBLY? That's my question.
I won't name names. But I would be astounded if a Ramsey ordinance gets passed that quells this guy doing as he wishes.
And a real big worry -- if the immediate neighbors don't complain, what if someone with a grudge, at a distance, makes a complaint? How can that "retalitory" situation be prevented - those with a higher profile, however attained, are more the target -- as this photo montage can be argued to show. Is that "RAMSEY fairness"? It's not a simple or easy question. The council members should lead carefully, to earn our respect and to earn our following their lead.
That's all. An ordinance can be written several ways. There can be unconscionable dinking around with the wording so as to have this guy not ending up curbed or constrained. But others ... the wording might not equally favor other situations.
A guess. A question. A concern. Is this Ramsey:
What me worry? I've got pull.
I am not saying the guy should not have his RV and trailer on the lot. I just don't want to see any of my friends disadvantaged by hyper-hairsplitting on the ordinance wording and passage - not if this guy skates. It would not be fair. That's the point.