On Thu, 30 Jul 2015 20:53:20 +0200 (CEST), "We Don't Need Any Help"
> wrote:
>A Massachusetts town selectman who painted over fading
>crosswalks in his town in response to complaints from
>constituents was criminally charged on Tuesday for his efforts.
>
>George Simolaris, a selectman in Billerica, about 25 miles from
>Boston, said he was tired of constituents asking when the white
>paint would be freshened up, so he fixed the problem himself. He
>said he bought cans of green paint, the town's official color,
>and spent the weekend painting over six faded crosswalks.
>
>"All I've heard for months is: 'When is this going to get
>done?'" Simolaris said. "I got sick of it."
>
>Police and town officials said painting the street without
>authorization was illegal and charged him with two counts of
>destruction of property, according to Billerica police spokesman
>Roy Frost.
>
>Town Manager John Curran said the town was in the midst of a
>$400,000 pedestrian safety project that requires digging up the
>street including some of the crosswalks in question, which are
>slated to be repainted once construction is complete.
>
>He added that Simolaris would be required to repay the $4,000
>cost of cleaning up the paint, which he said chipped and smeared.
>
>"His job is to uphold laws not break them," Curran said. "He has
>no respect for the governmental process."
>
>Simolaris defended his actions.
>
>"I'm just trying to do right by the people in my town," he said.
>"I didn't think I was intervening in other people's day-to-day
>activities or doing anything wrong."
>
>http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...massachusetts-
>paint-idUSKCN0PV29H20150721
So typical of gvt. They won't be bothered to spend $200 on paint to
fix a NOW issue even temporarily and if anyone else does they have to
put the screws to them to prove that "the gvt is in charge here".
A very similar thing happened in Prescott AZ many years ago. Gvt V
citizen over stupid stupid stuff that should never wind up escalated
this way.
The most recent result of that issue is in this newspaper article from
several years back...
http://dcourier.com/main.asp?Section...cleID=1128 82