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# CityWatch Today: Can You Believe This?
November 22 2017
Written by Steve Lopez.
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GUEST WORDS--It’s the little things that beat you up in the end, the daily irritations and indignities.
Mail from City Hall, for instance. You know, even as you draw blood with a paper cut while opening the envelope, that it can’t be good news.
In Atwater Village, people have been receiving “courtesy notices” from something called the Pro-Active Code Enforcement division of the Department of Building & Safety.
The word “courtesy” is the first clue that your holiday spirit is about to be crushed, and “pro-active code enforcement” removes all doubt.
A colleague of mine got this notice about the gate to her back yard:
“PLEASE PAINT EXPOSED/BARE WOOD GATE AS NECESSARY AND MAINTAIN IN GOOD REPAIR. WHEN COMPLETE, CALL FOR RE-INSPECTION...TO AVOID A POSSIBLE NON-COMPLIANCE FEE OF $660.”
She couldn’t believe it. The redwood gate, once stained, has what might be called a “distressed” appearance. People pay good money to create such a look. *([Read the rest](http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-blight-atwater-20171122-story.html).)*
-cw
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