Re: [UC] A new wrinkle on trash violations -- they're now "predictive"
Great work Al and Melani! At my last hearing, the ajudicator gave me the address of our crew on S. 63rd St. I'll look for it. A fellow dog lover told me that he spotted the streets crew cruising the neighborhood in a car. They were writing down addresses but not dropping the tickets in the mail slots. (Carlton Williams told me that these are always left at the premises unless our doors are blocked!) I've gotten about 12 of these notices in the mail, and I have never received a single one at the premises! Dexter Bryant of UCD refused to tell me how the "worst offenders" list operated when he refused to call the city, as we stood beside massive piles of unrecycled trash at 41st and Pine. (It was approximately 4 PM the day before trash day and actual trash violations were visible in all directions.) Importantly, the worst offenders list is unknown to the UCD street staff! But it is the way tickets are known to be generated without any specific violation, at a specific time and place. That was the only information I got from Dexter before he realized that I was probing for secrets. (If UCD feeds addresses to the city, how can they justify this without responding to actual trash violations at a specific time and place?) It appears that we have multiple problems locally. But the mayor's office knows about the problems. Many city council members know all about this. The president judge of Municipal Court knows about this and the city ajudicators know the range of the problems. I've come to the conclusion that either federal law enforcement needs to be contacted or a court ordered injunction will be needed to stop this illegal harassment. I don't want to waste more time with the city government, but I will certainly join a complaint to the FBI or assist with legal action! Let me know. Thanks again and great work, Glenn -Original Message- From: mlamond Sent: Oct 6, 2009 10:58 AM To: krf...@aol.com, UnivCity@list.purple.com Subject: Re: [UC] A new wrinkle on trash violations -- they're now "predictive" Al, I had a situation like that last year: for my work as a Realtor, I was at a vacant (and trash-strewn) property on a block with a lot of vacancies, waiting for my buyers to show up to see the vacant house. The buyers arrived, and when I turned to open the front door, I noticed a trash violation stuck between the doorknob & the frame. Then I realized that the 2 people going up & down the block in uniforms that I'd noticed, but not paid attention to, while I was waiting for my buyers were trash ticket folks. They drove away just as the buyers arrived. I looked at the ticket and noticed that it was dated for an hour later than it actually was (I think it was 11 a.m., and the ticket was for noon)and also, it was dated for the following day! My buyers were there to confirm where and when it was found, and to agree that that it was dated wrong. The property was still going to be trash strewn the next day, so the ticket wouldn't be wrong about the offense - but the question was, were the ticket folks planning to take the next day off, so they were doing tomorrow's work today? I took it home, scanned it, and got an email address for the Streets Dept. I emailed them the scan BEFORE the time & date written on the ticket, with a full explanation of where & why I'd found it. (I think that I also pointed out that leaving a ticket at a clearly vacant property was unlikely to result in anyone noticing or paying it.) It wouldn't have been possible for the employee to easily explain getting both the date & time wrong when she wrote a ticket, and since I sent it by email, the actual date & time were clearly proven; she couldn't dispute what I was telling her supervisors. No one responded to me, but later I heard indirectly that my email caused quite an upset for the ticketing team and resulted in reassignments. So if you can, do the same if you ever get another "early" ticket or warning. Don't assume that the leadership knows what the individual worker is doing and it's part of a bigger plan! Melani Lamond --Melani Lamond, Associate BrokerUrban & Bye, RealtorPA License Number AB048377L3529 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19104cell phone 215-356-7266 - office phone 215-222-4800 #113I-Fax 215-525-3460Recipient of the most recent Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors awardsDiamond award for over $8 million in salesand ALL SIX of the West Philadelphia awardsThis email is intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise exempt from disclosure. If the reader of this email is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination,
Re: [UC] A new wrinkle on trash violations -- they're now "predictive"
In a message dated 10/6/2009 10:58:50 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, MLamond writes: I took it home, scanned it, and got an email address for the Streets Dept. I emailed them the scan BEFORE the time & date written on the ticket, with a full explanation of where & why I'd found it. (I think that I also pointed out that leaving a ticket at a clearly vacant property was unlikely to result in anyone noticing or paying it.) It wouldn't have been possible for the employee to easily explain getting both the date & time wrong when she wrote a ticket, and since I sent it by email, the actual date & time were clearly proven; she couldn't dispute what I was telling her supervisors. No one responded to me, but later I heard indirectly that my email caused quite an upset for the ticketing team and resulted in reassignments. So if you can, do the same if you ever get another "early" ticket or warning. Don't assume that the leadership knows what the individual worker is doing and it's part of a bigger plan! Melani: Wow... attaway... you caught them red-handed and had a great response. I did fax Carleton Williams shortly after the guys brought in the notice this morning. And I did tell him that the people who found the ticket in the vestibule were the ones who went over there to set out the trash so it couldn't have been at the curb when the ticket was written 15 minutes or so earlier. Not as conclusive as what you were quick enough to realize would "prove" your point incontestably. Incidentally, this does raise a question as to what rights city people have to go into the alleys to look at the trash. I can understand that if overflowing barrels are clearly visible from the street, they may (or may not) be able to write a legitimate code violation notice. But checking whether recyclables are separated from regular trash when it's all neatly bagged and at the rear of our property (we do this on Monday evening then set it out on Tuesday to avoid scavengers making a mess) is something else. I know that in some cities, there's been a question of who owns the recyclables. The general rule seems to be that the property owner owns the stuff until it's set out at the curb, at which time the city owns it. If this applies, then the "issuing officer" is trespassing if he or she went up into the alley and looked at or through the bags or barrels there. Al Krigman
Re: [UC] A new wrinkle on trash violations -- they're now "predictive"
Al, I had a situation like that last year: for my work as a Realtor, I was at a vacant (and trash-strewn) property on a block with a lot of vacancies, waiting for my buyers to show up to see the vacant house. The buyers arrived, and when I turned to open the front door, I noticed a trash violation stuck between the doorknob & the frame. Then I realized that the 2 people going up & down the block in uniforms that I'd noticed, but not paid attention to, while I was waiting for my buyers were trash ticket folks. They drove away just as the buyers arrived. I looked at the ticket and noticed that it was dated for an hour later than it actually was (I think it was 11 a.m., and the ticket was for noon)and also, it was dated for the following day! My buyers were there to confirm where and when it was found, and to agree that that it was dated wrong. The property was still going to be trash strewn the next day, so the ticket wouldn't be wrong about the offense - but the question was, were the ticket folks planning to take the next day off, so they were doing tomorrow's work today? I took it home, scanned it, and got an email address for the Streets Dept. I emailed them the scan BEFORE the time & date written on the ticket, with a full explanation of where & why I'd found it. (I think that I also pointed out that leaving a ticket at a clearly vacant property was unlikely to result in anyone noticing or paying it.) It wouldn't have been possible for the employee to easily explain getting both the date & time wrong when she wrote a ticket, and since I sent it by email, the actual date & time were clearly proven; she couldn't dispute what I was telling her supervisors. No one responded to me, but later I heard indirectly that my email caused quite an upset for the ticketing team and resulted in reassignments. So if you can, do the same if you ever get another "early" ticket or warning. Don't assume that the leadership knows what the individual worker is doing and it's part of a bigger plan! Melani Lamond -- Melani Lamond, Associate Broker Urban & Bye, Realtor PA License Number AB048377L 3529 Lancaster Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19104 cell phone 215-356-7266 - office phone 215-222-4800 #113 I-Fax 215-525-3460 Recipient of the most recent Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors awards Diamond award for over $8 million in sales and ALL SIX of the West Philadelphia awards This email is intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise exempt from disclosure. If the reader of this email is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by replying to the original message at the listed email address. Thank you.
Re: [UC] A new wrinkle on trash violations -- they're now "predictive"
That would really piss me off. Jim On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 10:26 AM, wrote: >One of my buildings got a trash "Violation notice *warning*" (a warning > -- not a fine) for recycling not separated from regular trash. > > The new wrinkle is that the violation notice was written at 8:43 am, and > was found at about 8:50 am when our people went to set the trash out at the > curb. Therefore the notice was written before the trash was set out. I > conclude that either: > >1. The "officer" might have been making it up. >2. The "officer" might have issued the warning to the wrong building. >3. The "officer" might have gone up the alley to the rear of the >property (when, legally, the trash is still ours and not the city's) and >searched through bags that might or might not have been gone through by us >for purposes of separation. > > I sent a complaint about this to the Streets Dept and will let the > community know what, if anything, comes of it. True, it's not a violation > for which a fine was assessed, but these "officers" can't just go around > making mistakes or acting illegally. > Or, are they endowed with some kind of ability to foresee the future (in > which case, their talents are surely being under-utilized by the city)? > > Alan Krigman > KRF Management, ICON/Information Concepts Inc > 211 S 45th St, Philadelphia PA 19104-2918 > 215-349-6500, fax 215-349-6502 > krf...@aol.com or al.krig...@krf.icodat.com > -- Jim Cummings
[UC] A new wrinkle on trash violations -- they're now "predictive"
One of my buildings got a trash "Violation notice warning" (a warning -- not a fine) for recycling not separated from regular trash. The new wrinkle is that the violation notice was written at 8:43 am, and was found at about 8:50 am when our people went to set the trash out at the curb. Therefore the notice was written before the trash was set out. I conclude that either: 1. The "officer" might have been making it up. 2. The "officer" might have issued the warning to the wrong building. 3. The "officer" might have gone up the alley to the rear of the property (when, legally, the trash is still ours and not the city's) and searched through bags that might or might not have been gone through by us for purposes of separation. I sent a complaint about this to the Streets Dept and will let the community know what, if anything, comes of it. True, it's not a violation for which a fine was assessed, but these "officers" can't just go around making mistakes or acting illegally. Or, are they endowed with some kind of ability to foresee the future (in which case, their talents are surely being under-utilized by the city)? Alan Krigman KRF Management, ICON/Information Concepts Inc 211 S 45th St, Philadelphia PA 19104-2918 215-349-6500, fax 215-349-6502 krf...@aol.com or al.krig...@krf.icodat.com