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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
August 31, 2003
Straining out the
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If you live in the city of
Kankakee, you have seen them, those little white economy cars with
the city's green logo on the doors, driven by sharply dressed,
uniformed servants who examine the city dwellings more thoroughly
than weapons inspectors did in Iraq.
Like stealth bombers, Code Enforcement officers cruise
the neighborhoods undetected, looking for signs of community
deterioration, safety hazards and property depreciation. If
your house was originally painted purple but has since faded to
lavender, leaving only a square inch area at the bottom of your
garage door bearing the original color, a code officer will find it
without leaving his or her vehicle. The only way you will ever
know they were there is when you receive a letter of correction in
your mailbox.
The letter will give a specific description of the
violation in terms only an engineer can understand. It will
also have a must be completed by date and the range of fines should
you not comply.
If only President Bush had given Saddam Hussein one of
those letters to disclose his weapons of mass destruction, we might
have avoided a war. Should you have problems finding the
manufacturer of the original paint or have other reasons that keep
you from meeting the fix-it deadline imposed by Code Enforcement,
you may request a hearing to plead your case before an adjudication
judge. That experience can be punishment enough.
Not only are you given the same appearance date and
time as hundreds of other residents, but it's publicly announced
that the pre-1990 milk can from your old Uncle Fred's farm in
Mississippi doesn't fit the neighborhood theme and must be removed
from your front porch.
The men and women of Code Enforcement do an almost
incredible job, but from the word on the street, I don't think they
will ever win a citizen's appreciation award. It's a big
responsibility making sure all properties meet safety and
cleanliness standards. I am amazed at how they can find the
smallest infraction like chipped paint on your door, a discolored
porch, a bent gutter or a broken step while driving through
residential areas. However, it's more amazing that they have
not once stopped downtown to peek over the plywood palace and pool
at the intersection of East Court Street and Dearborn Avenue.
Could there be a safety hazard hiding there?
Isn't there something more than an aesthetic violation? In
2002, Illinois led the nation with 900 human cases of West Nile
Virus and 66 deaths. Kankakee County had one human case and 20
animal cases last year. According to the current West Nile
Virus Surveillance Map, Illinois is again one of 16 states in 2003
with positive cases of West Nile Virus in birds, mosquitoes or
horses.
The number one suggestion given by experts to reduce
mosquito infestation is to eliminate standing water. The
Illinois Department of Public Health Web site states, "The best way
to prevent West Nile encephalitis and other mosquito-borne illnesses
is to reduce the number of mosquitoes around your home and
neighborhood and to take personal precautions to avoid mosquito
bites."
Staying away from downtown Kankakee as a personal
precaution to avoid mosquito bites or for any other reason is
counterproductive to the mission statement of the city's economic
development task force.
It seems the mosquito breeding pit sitting downtown
would be a major safety concern and serious code violation. Of
course it would take getting out of the vehicle to notice something
that large. |
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