Local Politics Gone Wrong

This one is really long, but it just goes to show what can happen in politics, even at the local level, if we don't keep a keen eye on things!

Few things annoy me more than politics. Even fewer things annoy me more than dirty politics. And I find local politics to be the dirtiest! These are men and women with political aspirations who know that they will never be going to Washington. They also know that if they milk the system, the worst they'd get is a couple of years. Perhaps they start out meaning well, but many of them see the dollar sign at the end of the political rainbow.

I've railed about an excellent example of this that occurred in Connecticut a few years ago. (The state eventually won, forcing out the homeowners and allowing the land to be developed by a private developer. I'm sure no one's pockets were lined in that fiasco!) Funny thing, I stumble upon yet another perfect example of local politics flexing imaginary muscles. Wouldn't you know it, it's happening in Connecticut! In the small town of Farmington.

Farmington has a "Planning & Zoning" department that makes laws about what you can and cannot do on your own property. Basically, the entire town is a condo association where the citizens don't really have a say regarding the regulations. One of the "laws" they have on the books is one that states that if you have a trailer/recreational vehicle of any kind (travel trailer, motorhome, boat, etc) it must be stored behind the longest rear wall of your home. Mind you, there are people in this town who don't have enough room to store their 30ft trailer so that it is entirely behind the longest rear wall of their home. The town is effectively saying that these people are not allowed to have such a vehicle.

But wait, it gets worse. Not only does the town invade it's citizen's privacy by dictating what they can and can't do on the property they own and pay taxes on, but they have the gaul to engage in selective enforcement regarding who they will and won't force to comply with the zoning regulation! One person faces fines because their boat is parked in their drive way while another doesn't even know the regulation exists because they've never been bothered about the 38ft fifth wheel they've got in their front yard.

This is the foundation of the two stories that I've come across that make me livid. There are at least two Farmington residents who are being forced to comply with these regulations even though they are exempt due to the grandfather clause. People already engaged in an activity that is now forbidden are grandfathered in and are not required to comply. For example, if the driving age were increased to 19 years of age, anyone between the ages of 16 and 19 who already had their licenses would be "grandfathered" in. They would not be forced to return their driver's licenses. Now, this regulation has been around for about 20 years. Which means anyone who's grandfathered has been a Farmington resident for a long, looong time. Which also means these people aren't the youngest residents.

It doesn't end there. The power hungry local government representative has been informing these residents that they need to file an appeal. The problem is, if they file the appeal they waive their grandfather right and place themselves within the bounds of the regulation!

I found two stories regarding a 30 year resident who is an older single mom of two and a 40 year resident who is an 80 year old grandfather. Both of these people have been slammed with fines and citations because of the locations of their trailers that are not subject to the regulation. Both of these people have been purposefully misinformed by the Planning and Zoning department in the hopes that they will comply and unknowingly waive their grandfather rights.

All this from a town that charges so much in property taxes that the elderly are being forced to sell their homes and leave. This from a town who's budget is 83 million dollars this year (71 million from property taxes). There are just over 25,000 people living in this town! That's over $2,840 per person! Not even per household! (Wikipedia estimates there were about 9,000 households in 2005. That'd be nearly $8,000 per household!) Farmington really needs to further harass their elderly? They need to extort more money from them from fines that never should have been issued? They need to deceive them into giving up a grandfather right they have a legal claim to?

Farmington should be ashamed of themselves. And these pitiful power hungry local politicians need to find something better to do with their time and energy.

The CBS affiliate in Connecticut covered one of the stories. Read about it here.

Too bad Farmington just had their elections. The entire town council should be voted out. Not only are they allowing the Planning and Zoning representative to take these underhanded actions, but they couldn't even approve a mill rate freeze for senior citizens. What a joke. What does a town of 25,000 need with $83,000,000 per year?

Oh, one final thing. They only increased the mill rate by 2.4% this year. Somehow this was something that the council deserved a pat on the back for because they didn't raise it any further.