This morning (Sept. 12), I almost burst out laughing, when I read a front-page article in The Signal titled, “City moves to clean up another home.” This article appeared to be cheerleading for the city and not news, because the article did not follow up on the last set of commentaries published on the same subject.
Going back to the first home on Plumwood Avenue, it was some time ago, The Signal was reporting the city had made the decision to clean the property up and then lien the property to recover the cost, but the Plumwood property looks the same today as it did two to three months ago. The city has in fact not accomplished anything except to brag about its plan.
While the article states that a neighbor, who did not want to be identified, claimed they thought the “measure extreme,” I thought about when the city failed in their attempt to implement the “extreme neighborhood makeover.” City staff had tried to force Saugus homeowners to change the size of driveways poured 40-plus years prior to the new code being written. The city also failed to implement the extreme neighborhood makeover in North Oaks when one of the code enforcement officers decided to initiate a complaint against every house on his route.
So, please Mr. and Mrs. Signal reporter, follow up on your stories, tell the community what has occurred, and force city staff to follow through, because it is easy to be successful if you only publish a plan, but much harder if you make known what has actually taken place.
Alan Ferdman
Canyon Country