Miami-Dade County - with the heart of the IRS and the efficiency of the DMV - Granite Grok

Miami-Dade County – with the heart of the IRS and the efficiency of the DMV

Bureaucrats to us - you can run but we will find youjpgThat is a lot of government in a nutshell – not with their words but with their actions, they see their employers (that would be all of us) as a bothersome lot that keep ignoring them and their rules.  And in this case, I will break my usual self-censorship and say DAMNED rules.  Behold the power of the bureaucratic mind and heart (emphasis mine):

Celso Perez was helping his neighbors remove some fallen trees blocking their street when a county code enforcer rolled up and issued him a safety notice for having a downed fence. “I laughed,” Perez tells WSVN-TV. “I thought he was kidding. ‘You are kidding right? We just had a hurricane six hours ago.’”

It wasn’t a joke. The official told Perez that the downed fence—which encloses a pool—was a safety hazard, and that if it wasn’t fixed by the time he returned, Perez would be hit with a fine. The official then hung the safety citation on the portion of Perez’s fence that remained standing, leaving him and his neighbors to finish clearing the debris from their street.

Nary a hint of the circumstances.  Nary a flicker of recognition that there was debris around him (and probably much he stepped on while there).  Nary a dollop of irony either.

According to WSVN, the county has handed out 680 safety notices for downed pool barriers, and another 177 electrical hazard safety notices. Reason reached out to the county to confirm those numbers, but has not received a reply.

No kidding there’s been no reply.  This doesn’t happen without the consent of the higher ups and they don’t want this PR disaster growing.  Congrats, you jerks (and they have earned that monniker) as you have now invoked the Streisand Effect.

From what can be gleaned from the WSVN story and from county code enforcement procedures, these safety notices appear to be just warnings, meaning no fines have been handed out as of yet. Reason tried to confirm this with the county as well, but was again rebuffed.

Still, these warnings carry with them a duty to correct the violation within a specific window of time. That might not even be possible for some residents, given how many businesses are still out of operation.

But their rules must be obeyed!

And the MSM and the Left is just at total dunderheads that many of us are not enamored of the Administrative State – and this is a PERFECT example of what is becoming the norm (don’t get me started on cities closing down little kiddies lemonade stands or keeping teenagers exemplify the virtuousness of capitalism by offering to help seniors shovel their driveways or mow their lawns for a modest fee – voluntary transactions at their best).

(H/T: Instapundit)

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