When they outlaw trash then only outlaws will be trashed -- or something

[Nuclear Unicorn]

We need a *bangs head on desk* smilie.

BELLE GLADE, Fla. - A Palm Beach County man is being scorned by the city of Belle Glade after going on littered private properties.

Hydn Rousseau says his cleanup effort to beautify neighborhoods is an attempt to fight crime, but the city says he could be charged with criminal trespassing.

...

Last Saturday, he organized a neighborhood cleanup with 50 volunteers. The team cleaned several lots of dangerous trash, including needles and buckets of debris.

Wednesday the mayor and city attorney stated Rousseau didn't follow proper procedures and that he can't take the law into his own hands.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_the_glades/belle_glade/palm-beach-county-man-scolded-for-cleaning-up-trash-on-private-properties

[XanaDUer]

1. Right

'cause picking up used needles and cleaning up a neglected area (Belle Glade is an extremely economically depressed area and has been for decades) is a really, really bad thing to do.

:wtf:?

[Lindsay]

2. Yeah, he might give other people

the idea that they, too, can clean up. And then where will we be?

:shrug:

[cutlassmama]

3. Bangs head on desk repeatedly

[LuvNewcastle]

4. Did the owners call up the city and complain

about the volunteers picking up the old needles and buckets of shit on their properties? If they didn't, I don't see why the city has anything to say about this. Since when was picking up litter "taking the law into your own hands?"

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. If the owners did complain the city should be threatening them with

fines and forfeiture for leaving the place in ruins. It's a public health and safety menace.

[saras]

5. No corporation profited from it, therefore it's bad.

[AsahinaKimi]

6. wow.

:banghead:

[Angry Dragon]

8. didn't follow proper procedures and that he can't take the law into his own hands

They have laws stating one can not pick up trash in that town??

[XanaDUer]

9. Probably that they "trespassed"

I wonder if they can hit back with garbage flying around, onto their property?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. This is surely going to turn into a PR nightmare for the city and rightfully so

As the saying goes, "the worst thing we could do is exactly what we have done."

[Angry Dragon]

11. Went to their website

they have elections coming up March 8, might be a good time to clean house

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. No, no...no house cleaning...not without a permit.

[jp11]

13. Depending on the property it is trespassing and even if it is 'junk' taking it could

constitute 'theft' a court would probably toss that out as some sort of reasonable expectation of it being unwanted then there are issues if any of his volunteers got hurt on those properties they didn't have permission to be on.

If it was mostly vacant lots then it might be the city/county that owns them and hasn't developed them or put up proper fencing to keep people out thus this 'do gooder' is making them look bad for allowing such blight to exist, not cleaning them, or not securing them. If they are private the bigger issue is people 'trespassing' and lawsuits, city could still be worried for thier properties and lawsuits as well.

I'm sure there probably are 'policies' to do public cleanups as you see people 'adopting roads' they might have to pay a fee to keep public spaces clean. I don't know how it works so maybe the complaint from the city/county is that he didn't pay them to grab some convicts or people who have community service hours to log to clean it up.

[1monster]

14. I dunno... Generally laudable, but.... one man's trash is another man's treasure.

It's possible in the clean up that some men's treasures were considered by the cleaner-uppers' as trash and treasures were disposed of in the dump.

Pretty thin ice to be skating on.

[du_da]

15. The problem

isn't the fact that the city said something about it. The problem is that they appear to be giving this negative attention. What should have happened was the city coming out and pointing out that there are procedures in place that the group needs to adhere to for the safety and security of the populas. All the while thanking the group for their good intentions and inviting them down to the courthouse to help them fill out the proper forms and ensure the group was going to be able to take all the neccessary saftey steps such as proper handling of materials such as needles.

Sometimes I wonder what is going through the heads of city officals you would think some of them have no understanding of the concept of public relations.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. You'll never cut it in government if you keep running around spouting

common sense.

Away n00b!

:pals: