In a message dated 10/6/2009 10:58:50 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, MLamond writes:
I took it home, scanned it, and got an email address for the Streets Dept. I emailed them the scan BEFORE the time & date written on the ticket, with a full explanation of where & why I'd found it. (I think that I also pointed out that leaving a ticket at a clearly vacant property was unlikely to result in anyone noticing or paying it.) It wouldn't have been possible for the employee to easily explain getting both the date & time wrong when she wrote a ticket, and since I sent it by email, the actual date & time were clearly proven; she couldn't dispute what I was telling her supervisors. No one responded to me, but later I heard indirectly that my email caused quite an upset for the ticketing team and resulted in reassignments. So if you can, do the same if you ever get another "early" ticket or warning. Don't assume that the leadership knows what the individual worker is doing and it's part of a bigger plan! Melani: Wow... attaway... you caught them red-handed and had a great response. I did fax Carleton Williams shortly after the guys brought in the notice this morning. And I did tell him that the people who found the ticket in the vestibule were the ones who went over there to set out the trash so it couldn't have been at the curb when the ticket was written 15 minutes or so earlier. Not as conclusive as what you were quick enough to realize would "prove" your point incontestably. Incidentally, this does raise a question as to what rights city people have to go into the alleys to look at the trash. I can understand that if overflowing barrels are clearly visible from the street, they may (or may not) be able to write a legitimate code violation notice. But checking whether recyclables are separated from regular trash when it's all neatly bagged and at the rear of our property (we do this on Monday evening then set it out on Tuesday to avoid scavengers making a mess) is something else. I know that in some cities, there's been a question of who owns the recyclables. The general rule seems to be that the property owner owns the stuff until it's set out at the curb, at which time the city owns it. If this applies, then the "issuing officer" is trespassing if he or she went up into the alley and looked at or through the bags or barrels there. Al Krigman
