Government

Toward a More Friendly Government

It's time to evolve government.  It's time to evolve force of law
into laws of cooperation.

Tallahassee has a deep problem.  Every government on Earth has a
deep problem.

People unknowingly, and sometimes, knowingly fail to follow the
laws.  Sometimes people, once made aware of the law, wish to
comply, but have not the ability or tools to comply.

Sometimes the laws are wise, and it would be good to follow them.
Sometimes the laws are unwise, and it would be good to not follow
them.

The solution to this deep problem is to override such demanding
laws. Override them by applying rules of cooperation between government and its citizens.

In my opinion, the primary task of government should be,
not controlling its citizens, but facilitating cooperation among its citizens.

If there is a conflict between a citizen and neighbors, or a governmental agency, then that conflict should be settled in a way advantageous to both parties.

A prominent example has come to my attention.

City of Tallahassee law requires that residences look neat and attractive, [ and valuable.]

A code enforcement board has evolved. It is the duty of the code enforcement board to seek out those residences where the owner has allowed weeds to grow over 12 inches high.  The city gives itself authorization to cut those weeds if the owner does not.

The owner of such a residence receives a threatening "courtesy" letter outlining the demands of the city. No provision is made for people who would gladly allow the city to come in immediately, and cut the weeds for them.  The expectation is that the citizen, out of fear of the consequences of non-compliance, will find a way to comply.  The people on the code enforcement board are generally nice people, and will try to help citizens comply to the law.

The problem shown in this example is that public officials maintain that they have the right to make these demands.

Given that it is indeed desirable to have city residences look neat, attractive, and valuable, the city can make it so, and without having to threaten citizens with punitive fines.

The enforcement board workers can be trained in methods of cooperation.  They can contact the citizen, person to person, whose yard is at fault, and work out arrangements by which the city can maintain eir yard. It is my opinion that if the yard has not been maintained to city standards to date, it is not the fault of the owner.

Let future ages record that civilization began in the 21st
century, in Tallahassee, Florida, USA.


Kermit Rose
1914 Rosedale Drive
Tallahassee, Florida
32303
[e-mail]
850-385-6997
850-264-6120