Another reason to love California

[LuauLounge]

Take a look at the sidewalk in front of your house

Foot the bill - The Sacramento Bee

eedition2.sacbee.com

 

[4Waters]

Take a look at the sidewalk in front of your house

View attachment 1320498

Link won't work

 

[LuauLounge]

Link won't work

FIXED

 

[rrrr]

I smell a rat:

The process generally starts with an anonymous complaint of a defective sidewalk, followed by a city inspection in both directions up to 75 feet from the site to see if it is safe for pedestrians and to prevent the homeowner from being sued.

If a bill is sent, the amount the city includes in the bill is the amount the homeowner is charged if it chooses to have the city contractor repair the sidewalk, Miller said.

I have no doubts those "anonymous" complaints are being made by unscrupulous contractors that just happen to advertise they can repair the sidewalks. I'm also certain those "city contractors" are "MWBE (Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise) Certified," so they're on city lists of approved vendors. The city is promoting taking money from people that can't afford it.

But the larger issue is that the cities in California have passed laws shifting responsibility for the sidewalks from municipalities to the homeowners. There's no end to the state sponsored stickup and robbery of the citizenry.

Then there is this, which I consider a blatently illegal violation of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race:

San Diego launched a new program this month that waives permit fees of up to $2,100 for sidewalk repair projects. The city also allocated about $300,000 to fix sidewalks in underserved areas.

[Sacramento's] Fine and Fee Justice program, started last year, is designed to lessen the cost burden of various city fees on low-income residents. But the program currently only covers a portion of the fees for getting a vehicle back after it’s towed by police — not sidewalk bills.

These government programs favor one race over another. It's not a secret, in fact, it's emphasized.

They ignore the recent Supreme Court ruling that found admission policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated that amendment.

Then there's government construction. Minority and women set asides in awarding contracts for government services do the same. They are discriminating on the basis of race and sex.

In my part of the world, the NTTA just announced the Dallas North Tollway will be extended from Frisco another 8 miles to the Grayson County line. The newspaper article I read cheerily noted that the Tollway Authority will soon begin vetting MWBE contractors to qualify them for bidding on the $7.5 billion project. These set asides and MWBE preferences are clearly prohibited by the 14th Amendment, yet governments have been implementing them for over fifty years.

Everyone that owns construction firms knows these programs are rife with corruption. Shell companies with black and female ownership conceal their affiliation to large companies that bankroll the MWBEs and pocket the profits. Hell, my Dad started a mechanical contracting business "owned" by my sister almost forty years ago, and did government work until she he retired in 2003.

I'm hoping some conservative group like those that fought the affirmative action win at the Supreme Court will step in and litigate it. These racist and illegal policies must be eliminated.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Interesting. Out here in the Midwest workers paradise where I live the sidewalks belong to the city and are repaired with no bill being sent to the property owner.

I do especially like the extortion angle to this story; homeowners are told by the city inspector that if they don't repair a defect they can be sued. "That's a nice house you have there, be a shame if something happens to it."

 

[Your ad here]

Sounds like a scam/kickback deal between the inspector and the contractor doing the repairs and the real victim here is the home owner.

 

[JL95]

tar and feather. This really does sound like extortion.

 

[4Waters]

LA City is thinking about doing the same thing, the problem is most of the sidewalks are damaged from the roots of trees that the city maintains but won't remove.

 

[Shlbyntro]

LA City is thinking about doing the same thing, the problem is most of the sidewalks are damaged from the roots of trees that the city maintains but won't remove.

you know if they do people will just rip the concrete up and say walk in the street.

Get off my  lawn
sidewalk!

 

[Mandelon]

Around here the City makes you plant a tree in the verge. (the area between the sidewalk and the curb) Back in the day the didn't think about future root damage to the sidewalk. Fast forward 60 years and the city won't let you take out the tree. (If it is healthy anyway) The roots are aggressive. The sidewalk is buckled, the curb and gutter are lifted so now water pools out front. Here in SD you can get the City to do the work for free but it takes seven years.

They actually came out and replaced our sidewalk and apron about 5 years ago. But no rebar was used and the tree roots weren't addressed. The sidewalk is now lifting again, and the apron has a big crack.

I'm just gonna sawcut out the cracked sections and repour it some Saturday. If you call and say it is an emergency, they patch it with blacktop. So you get an asphalt ramp instead. LOL

 

[timstoy]

My nephew lived in Bellflower and his whole block had no sidewalks in front of their homes. Nephew exstened his garage and widened his driveway. The city made him install a sidewalk in front of his house as part of the permit. He fought it but the city won. He had the only sidewalk on his block in front of his house!

 

[Sherpa]

I’d love to fix my sidewalk in front of the house and then barricade it since I own it and people would have to walk in the street. No more other peoples dog shit on my lawn. Win win.

 

[dribble]

My GF’s former family has a city contract to do concrete work in Sacramento. They work on most city projects and do independent jobs as well. When homeowners got a notice, she would go bid the job independently from the city for about half of what the city charged. She’d tell the people if the city does it it’s going to be our company that does the work. You’re just going to be paying more. They’d try to get several jobs in an area and do it in one day, with one load. There is nothing preventing anyone from doing it themselves but you need a permit and it has to be inspected.

 

[LazyLavey]

I smell a rat:

There's got to be an attorney involved somewhere...lol

 

[angiebaby]

I smell a rat:

The process generally starts with an anonymous complaint of a defective sidewalk, followed by a city inspection in both directions up to 75 feet from the site to see if it is safe for pedestrians and to prevent the homeowner from being sued.

If a bill is sent, the amount the city includes in the bill is the amount the homeowner is charged if it chooses to have the city contractor repair the sidewalk, Miller said.

I have no doubts those "anonymous" complaints are being made by unscrupulous contractors that just happen to advertise they can repair the sidewalks. I'm also certain those "city contractors" are "MWBE (Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise) Certified," so they're on city lists of approved vendors. The city is promoting taking money from people that can't afford it.

But the larger issue is that the cities in California have passed laws shifting responsibility for the sidewalks from municipalities to the homeowners. There's no end to the state sponsored stickup and robbery of the citizenry.

Then there is this, which I consider a blatently illegal violation of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race:

San Diego launched a new program this month that waives permit fees of up to $2,100 for sidewalk repair projects. The city also allocated about $300,000 to fix sidewalks in underserved areas.

[Sacramento's] Fine and Fee Justice program, started last year, is designed to lessen the cost burden of various city fees on low-income residents. But the program currently only covers a portion of the fees for getting a vehicle back after it’s towed by police — not sidewalk bills.

These government programs favor one race over another. It's not a secret, in fact, it's emphasized.

They ignore the recent Supreme Court ruling that found admission policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated that amendment.

Then there's government construction. Minority and women set asides in awarding contracts for government services do the same. They are discriminating on the basis of race and sex.

In my part of the world, the NTTA just announced the Dallas North Tollway will be extended from Frisco another 8 miles to the Grayson County line. The newspaper article I read cheerily noted that the Tollway Authority will soon begin vetting MWBE contractors to qualify them for bidding on the $7.5 billion project. These set asides and MWBE preferences are clearly prohibited by the 14th Amendment, yet governments have been implementing them for over fifty years.

Everyone that owns construction firms knows these programs are rife with corruption. Shell companies with black and female ownership conceal their affiliation to large companies that bankroll the MWBEs and pocket the profits. Hell, my Dad started a mechanical contracting business "owned" by my sister almost forty years ago, and did government work until she he retired in 2003.

I'm hoping some conservative group like those that fought the affirmative action win at the Supreme Court will step in and litigate it. These racist and illegal policies must be eliminated.

Pacific Legal Foundation often takes on these types of cases. Here is an example of one I read about this morning, not surprisingly out of California. It's headed to the Supreme Court tomorrow.

https://pacificlegal.org/sheetz-supreme-court/

 

[stokerwhore]

Around here the City makes you plant a tree in the verge. (the area between the sidewalk and the curb) Back in the day the didn't think about future root damage to the sidewalk. Fast forward 60 years and the city won't let you take out the tree. (If it is healthy anyway) The roots are aggressive. The sidewalk is buckled, the curb and gutter are lifted so now water pools out front. Here in SD you can get the City to do the work for free but it takes seven years.

They actually came out and replaced our sidewalk and apron about 5 years ago. But no rebar was used and the tree roots weren't addressed. The sidewalk is now lifting again, and the apron has a big crack.

I'm just gonna sawcut out the cracked sections and repour it some Saturday. If you call and say it is an emergency, they patch it with blacktop. So you get an asphalt ramp instead. LOL

i think a lot of times that's where the sewer main connects to the street and or the water main also gets involved with root damage. happened at my last house and to most on that street sooner or later

 

[Flyinbowtie]

I think some smartass with a few bucks to spend needs to put toll gates on "his" sidewalk sections, and let the fun begin.
After all, the state law quoted indicates this is a public easement through private property that the private owner is being ordered to maintain.
It is past practice in many states to charge a toll for access to a road, why not a sidewalk. Said smartass could create a service district for his sidewalk, and then charge a reasonable toll for people to access it. He could charge a base rate for private citizens, another rate for commercial entities, and collect a fee for administering the district, and, naturally, pay taxes (graft, bribes, etc) on any income generated that is not put back into maintaining said sidewalk and the access points and the toll collection stations. Instead of automation said smartass could hire 20 buck an hour laid off burger flippers to run the system.
They pay more taxes.
The toll gate companies could have a whole new sector.
Nay, the birth of an entirely new industry.
Jobs. It is really all about good jobs.
We hope you Support the Private Industry Sidewalk Toll Opportunity Foundation and Fund Act (PISsTOFF) now being prepared by a elite group of lawmakers, a bypartisan effort led by Governor Newsom and your local leaders. All revenue the state generates from PISTOFF will be sent to the schools via your local budget processes. This is being written into the PISTOFF proposal, making it mandatory.
(Trust us)



When I was a kid living in North Long Beach the city handled the sidewalks. We had a big tree I used climb out next to the street, in the area called the verge. (Mandelon has educated me). That tree was buckling the sidewalk up and they indeed paid the cold patch asphalt, creating an awesome place for us kids to jump our bicycles off of. Many a rim was bent on that deal.

 

[hallett21]

LA City is thinking about doing the same thing, the problem is most of the sidewalks are damaged from the roots of trees that the city maintains but won't remove.

Our neighborhood sidewalks are almost un walkable. And I’ve watched 3-4 trees crush cars/homes since 2019. Why won’t they remove/maintain some of these trees?

 

[4Waters]

Our neighborhood sidewalks are almost un walkable. And I’ve watched 3-4 trees crush cars/homes since 2019. Why won’t they remove/maintain some of these trees?

IDK, but I know they need more crews and are trying to build more but interest in working for the city has fallen off.

 

[samsah33]

Pacific Legal Foundation often takes on these types of cases. Here is an example of one I read about this morning, not surprisingly out of California. It's headed to the Supreme Court tomorrow.

https://pacificlegal.org/sheetz-supreme-court/

Thanks for the link, these guys look like someone who fight for causes consistent with my values, will have to look deeper into them...

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Our neighborhood sidewalks are almost un walkable. And I’ve watched 3-4 trees crush cars/homes since 2019. Why won’t they remove/maintain some of these trees?

My mom reported a dying city tree next to their house 2 years ago. City said they would take care of it in 7 years.

My mom called the next week and said a large branch fell off and could hit someone on the sidewalk or something in the street.

It was cut down inside a week.

 

[dribble]

Fix the sidewalk, the city government says. And to fix the sidewalk coukd require cutting the roots of the tree that the homeowner doesn’t own. So when the tree dies or some Karen calls the city to complain about the tree root being cut, the homeowner is again responsible. Lose lose situation where the government, lawyers, and Karens win. Moral of the story is: it doesn’t pay to own property in California.

You can have the city arborist come out and oversee the tree work. That will indemnify you from any liability.