Speech to
the Grants Pass City Council, 7/18/12.
An
article in the June 23rd Daily
Courier told us about the
problems along the railroad track through the middle of town, with homeless
people living in the bushes, and littering, stealing, and defecating along the
tracks. One such man, Michael Walker, said "Tracks are like a strip of 'no
man's land' in the middle of the world."
But
the tracks are not a no-man's land; they belong to the Central Oregon and
Pacific Railroad, according to the sign at the M Street crossing near Home
Depot. This city has nuisance codes against weeds and litter. They can be
enforced against that property owner, who should be made to keep their property
clean.
According
to Dennis Ward, the city has been enforcing our no-camping ordinance against
the campers. Should we not enforce our weed and litter codes against the
property owner? The railroad should do their part to love their neighbors by
not allowing easy camping spots and fire hazard through the middle of our town,
and by periodically cleaning up the trash on their property. Ken Emilio of the
Gospel Rescue Mission said that the Mission might have to cut the weeds and
pick up litter. But that is the job of the railroad, not the Mission or the
City.
Our
city, however, has not been willing to enforce its weed and litter nuisance
codes against property owners, who include a lot of big landowners like the
railroad, the County, the state, and the feds-not to mention a lot of builders
holding land that they can't build on or sell. Police cite the occasional
homeless litterer when they see it dropped, but once the dropper is gone, they
show no concern about litter, and none about weeds unless someone complains of
fire danger--and complaints are discouraged and often ignored.
They occasionally enforce
the safety hazard code against a homeowner, but not the big properties and
empty lots. They do not police the city, which is to clean it
up; they use our codes to selectively prosecute the powerless.
The camping, stealing and
littering along the tracks happens all along the tracks, not just the west end
of town. All through town, the railroad brings down the immediate neighborhood
by allowing weeds to seed out and litter to accumulate, discouraging neighbors
from maintaining their own yards.
Governments and large
property owners should set a good example for the rest of us to follow, not a
bad one. City police should use our codes to make them do it.
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