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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

LaBarge: Is there a two-tier justice system in the Town Government?

Comments by William J. LaBarge, Town Meeting Member, Precinct 18 Chair
Article from FramGov dated February 7, 2015

On February 7, I got word that one of our dogs was at the Town pound and we were going to have to pay $45 to bail that dog out. After paying the $45, we were issued a $100 fine citation for that dog getting out again. I was very upset, but I went to the Town Clerk office to pay that fine.

What is good for the goose is good for the gander


Now for the question: Is there a two-tier justice system in the Town Government?

Let me rephrase this question in many ways... 
       1) What violations of the Town bylaws were committed at 350 Irving Street? I believe the violations have to do with illegal storage of flammable material causing numerous fires which the Town Fire Department had to respond, among other violations, including violations of cease and desist order? 
       2) What citations did the Town issue to those involved with 350 Irving St? 
       3) What fines were assessed for those citations? 4) Did the Town make attempts to collect those fines? If there were no citations issued by the Town in spite of the fact that Town bylaws were clearly violated, then I dare answer the opening question with a resounding YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please tell me it’s not so. Better yet, show us the citations that were issued by Town enforcing officials against those associated with 350 Irving St and show us the fines imposed and paid. If none were issued, is it because the owner of 350 Irving St is way too big to get penalized in any shape or form for major violations AND I am not too big to be cited for even minute violations? 

I don’t want the $145 or parts thereof back, but I do want the Town enforcing agencies to go after the big violators of the Town bylaws, especially go after those involved with 350 Irving St. 

When it comes to issuing and collecting on fines, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Maybe we should promote those dog catchers to positions where they can crack down on big-time violators of the Town bylaws and bring in some big bucks for the Town treasury the exact same way they cracked down on us human inhabitants of Precinct 16.