Steve, I had a similar -- only more depressing story.
On 21-Dec-01 a city inspector mailed a letter to me demanding that I deal with my tenants car. The vehicle was a quality, running car and parked legally in the driveway. The complaint was because the tabs had expired -- the inspector considered it a nuisance. It was a summer car for my tenant so she had let the tabs go. The letter demanded that I eliminate the problem by 26-Dec-01. Lets see, that gave me the following days to solve the problem: 21-Dec-01 Friday (the day it was mailed) 22-Dec-01 Saturday 23-Dec-01 Sunday 24-Dec-01 Monday (Christmas eve) 25-Dec-01 Tuesday (Christmas Day) 26-Dec-01 Weds (Due date) As should be expected on a holiday week, I was out of town. I did not get the letter until I returned after New Years. I was too late as the car was gone and my tenant was furious. She did not have the title transferred into her name and was never able to get the car out of the impound lot. She essentially gave away a $4000 working car. I appealed the complaint based on the fact that the city did not give me the required 3 working days to rectify the problem. They denied my complaint saying I had Friday, Monday and Weds. The day they mailed it, Christmas eve and the day it was due. Amazing on so many levels. During the hearing, I complained that this was the most insensitive group of people I have ever met. Since that incident I asked the city to mail the letters to my PO box as that is checked daily by myself or a staff member. They refused saying they must mail notices to a residence (a business address is not even acceptable to our city inspectors!). Guess I have to give an employee of mine keys to my own home solely because of the city of Mpls (St. Paul uses my PO Box!). How many city employees have keys to RT's personal home? I agree with you. Tenants would be BETTER OFF if the city notified them directly. If anyone wants more information on my story, I would GLADLY provide you with all of the paperwork. I kept it all. Regards, Bill Cullen. Hopkins (I own a business in Uptown) At the end of 2001, I was sent a letter by a housing inspect -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of steven meldahl Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 5:06 PM To: Lisa McDonald; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Cutting size of the City Council I just think that the City should do what we expect them to do. In other words, don't waste taxpayer money or time. Let me give you a quick example. Today I was in criminal court charged with a misdemeanor. The crime? A tenant who rents a house from me took down the rear fence (without my permission) so he could work on his car close to the house. I was charged criminally for this even though my property manager sent to the housing inspector, Sarah Maxwell, the name and phone number of this tenant. She refused to send the order directly to the tenant and instead ticketed me personally. The Housing Maintenance code says in 5 different areas to send the orders to the "proper and responsible" party. Obviously this is the tenant. To make a long story short, after 3 Court appearances, at the beginning of the trial, I made a motion before the judge to dismiss. I had to research the ordinances thoroughly and I found a technicality to beat them. The judge dismissed the case. Here is the bottom line. The City had 3 City attorneys and the housing inspector there prepared to take me to the woodshed for my heinous crime. They were prepared to spend a half a day to prosecute this case. Do you think this is a good way for the City to spend its time and scarce resources??? Steve Meldahl Jordan (work) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lisa McDonald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 4:15 PM Subject: Re: [Mpls] Cutting size of the City Council > I guess I'm wondering why we're not hearing about cuts in finance, > inspections, the Civil Rights Department (a totally duplicative function > that the state currently has),ITS and a shift in CDBG from small grant > programs to funding certain public service functions in targeted > neighborhoods (trust me this can be done and has been done in the past). > > Why is it the cuts are mostly in fire, police and public works (which has > been cut so much in the last eight years they squeak). > > > Is this a political ploy since they think this will make citizens complain > to the state or is it just the easiest cuts to make. Also how come this > administration (which bills itself as throwing the doors open at City Hall" > hasn't had any public hearings on what the citizens would like to see cut. > The School Board has done an excellent job of surveying their constitutents, > on just this point, in their last two budget cuts. > > Lisa McDonald > East Harriet > > > > > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Subject: [Mpls] Cutting size of the City Council > >Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 10:07:38 EST > > > >I'll just on this band wagon in a minute. As I look at how the City is > >proposing to meet the challenges of the cuts in LGA all I can see is "same > >old, same old." Threaten to cut police, fire, and maybe even remove stop > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > > TEMPORARY REMINDER: > 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. > 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. > > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
