Orchid and Onions

John here.

It looks like the EPC is able to get results while Code nonEnforcement reamains unwilling to do its job.

Orchid to EPC

Jeff Sklut of the Environmental Protection Commission called Carolyn Monday morning, July 25, and visited 6003 in the early afternoon of the same day (with a posse of the Code and Health and Collection System bureaucrats who had earlier demonstrated their profound fecklessnss). By Wednesday there was lime on the ground atop the raw sewage behind 6003. By Saturday there was new sewer piping in the ground (and a report from the SHIP plumber that he had cleared a blockage in the main pipe).

Despite some tap dancing from Sklut about how he was there only "to support the efforts of Tampa Code Enforcement and the Health Department" it is clear that Sklut got results in less than a week.

I'll say that with 99% confidence, albeit the process was opaque. Carolyn has been dealing with raw sewage on the ground at 6003 for the better part of a year, with no effective action by Health or Code nonEnforcement to deal with what turned out to be a blocked sewer. She has been living with trash accumulations, et al. for over four years:

Indeed, the count down at Code nonEnforcement overlooks the July 25 visit that found raw sewage ("public nuisance") a third time:

So, an orchid to Jeff Sklut and EPCHC.

And Onions

As set out above and passim in this blog, Carolyn and her neighbors at 6001 have been living next door to a Third World assault upon their health and property values for over four years. Code, with "me too" support from Health and Wastewater Collection, has been worse than unable to fix the problem: They are unwilling to fix it. The most recent example of this deliberate nonfeasance came on July 26 when Code inspector Bill Davidson, whose deliberate ineffectiveness raises a serious question whether his bosses would be better fitted for other work, marked the weed and trash ("overgrowth" and "accumulations") notices at 6003 "complied."

The place had enjoyed a mowing the previous Saturday so the weeds mostly were gone,


But the trash abided:



A glance at the Code nonEnforcement How Do I page suggests that trash is not trash if they can't see it from the road:

Things that most people would not normally use to decorate their yards are usually accumulations. Things such as lawn mowers, concrete blocks, lumber, and buckets for example should be stored away in a storage building or garage. At the very least, they may not be visible from the street and should be behind a fence or wall.

At the end of that para, they cite to "[19-49]." Indeed, Section 19-49 of the Tampa Code of Ordinances speaks to the subject:

Sec. 19-49. - Excessive accumulation of debris, rubbish, trash, etc., declared a public nuisance.

The existence of any accumulations of debris, rubbish, trash, garbage, refuse, garden trash, snipe signs and junk, as defined in this chapter, upon any lot, tract or parcel of land, improved or unimproved, within the incorporated boundaries of the city, to the extent and in the manner that such lot, tract or parcel with nuisance vegetation which exceeds a height of twelve (12) inches over the majority of the parcel or may threaten or endanger the public health, safety or welfare or may reasonably cause disease or adversely affect and impair the economic welfare of adjacent property is hereby prohibited and declared to be a public nuisance (emphasis supplied).

It seems that Code nonEnforcement has elected to read the bolded language out of the ordinance and replace it with: "And if we can't see it, it's not a problem."

This is, of course, shameful and unlawful. And it indicates that the lawlessness at Code nonEnforcement goes beyond Davidson and infects his bosses. We'll have more to say about this shortly.

In the meantime, a truckload of onions to Tampa Code nonEnforcement.