Posted on 05/31/2016 4:09:38 PM PDT by dontreadthis
Great myths in America include the notions that we own our property and that government exists to protect us rather than do us harm. The story of a 90-year-old widow in Sarasota, Florida shows both notions to be among the all-time great lies.
Marie Louise Sikorskie lives on a fixed income. After her husband, a military veteran, died several years ago, her house fell into disrepair because she lacked the financial and physical wherewithal to keep it up.
This prompted complaints to the city from neighbors who didn’t like that the yard was overgrown and the fence was broken. Now she is facing thousands of dollars in fines and possible eviction from the home she owns outright even though a Good Samaritan has stepped up and made necessary repairs.
Seem Miles Gomis ran afoul of the crony Sarasota system. He performed some of the repairs even though he’s not a “licensed” contractor, and he solicited various other contractors to do others, including replacing shingles, repairing siding and doing some power washing. But he failed to purchase the $200 permit required for city sanction of the repairs and so the city isn’t “accepting” them.
So despite the fact that the house is now repaired to the neighbors’ satisfaction, the city continues its attempted shakedown by fining Sikorskie $500 a day. Her fines now total $150,000.
Gomis hit the nail on the head in this case when he told Channel 8 News:
“I just had the work done without a licensed contractor even though I knew that was wrong,” Miles said. “They said it was a safety issue, but which one is the priority? Is the priority to give the city their $200 for the permit or to get the safety issue fixed right away? I decided to get it fixed and just deal with the consequences later.
Property taxes and requirements for pre-approval of repairs and the use of pre-approved contractors are anathema to the notion of property rights. They just mean you own your property with conditions – conditions with which if you don’t comply your property can be taken from you. In other words, you don’t own it. You just possess it as long as you pay the king’s ransom or don’t run afoul of some arbitrarily-imposed “rules.”
We live in a nation in which aliens are encouraged by the government to cross illegally – or are outright shipped — into the country and are then provided thousands of dollars in housing and other benefits. Yet an elderly citizen unable to maintain her home is treated like a criminal by a government functionary, and a man who volunteered his time and money to help her is essentially told his efforts were worthless because he was not “licensed.”
We live in a nation in which Sikorsky’s neighbors, rather than step up and help a needy neighbor, complained to government to have it eradicate the problem.
Gomis placed a couple of large signs in the yard proclaiming “I’M A 90 YEAR OLD WIDOW. I’VE LIVED HERE 70 YEARS. NOW THE CITY OF SARASOTA IS TRYING TO STEAL MY HOUSE! HELP!” This prompted a lot of media coverage and some offers for additional help by local businesses. Gomis has also set up a GoFundMe page for Sikorsky.
In response to the media attention, the city of Sarasota tweeted: (Sarasota Tweet about Sikorsky)
But the cubicle-dwelling government zombie who instigated these proceedings could end them immediately if the city had a real interest in resolving any remaining issues “fairly and with compassion.”
God bless you
So sorry you lost your wife
Wonder how much of a campaign contribution you have to make to be an "approved" contractor in Sarasota.
The city of Sarasota is run by hard core leftists who have been elected by other hard core leftists. It became that way when California moved here in the early 2000’s. As such, we are getting the government we deserve. This incident is just another reminder that big government is there to serve itself. We’ll see if the left rallies around the people they pretend to want to help or if they side with government bureaucrats who want to steal this woman’s home.
The myths being perpetrated in sponsored propaganda say that we should not own property and that we can do nothing about corrupt government.
It’s nearly time to stop the slavery. Support open source equipment design and efforts toward much more distributed production. Build the “robots” yourselves and own them, too. Production is for everyone—not only for the few.
You should own your own property. And after the defaults, have the government serve you.
And you will be remembered for it. People watch.
I do the same for my retired neighbors, mow and snowblower.
According to our Constitution she has a right to know which neighbors complained about (accused) her. And the petty cubicle-dwelling government zombies who instigated these proceedings are supposed to be public servants that operate in the open so their names should be of record too. Then the public could redress their grievances in the right places. but we all know that little tyrants prefer to operate in obscurity.
God will bless you for your kindness.
Made me smile too!
You are a good man and neighbor.
You are a good man and a good neighbor as well.
Growing up, we had a retired widow next door.
My mom made sure I shoveled her sidewalk as well as ours when it snowed, and generally looked after her until I married at 22.
She had a corner property, so there was a sidewalk on two sides. Thanks, mom! ;)
It was a wonderful little city....
There was always a leftist bend to the city because of the local college...
Nothing out of control though...
I see the fascist have taken over...
Very sad...
Bravo to you...
So what ever happened to the America of old, where instead of complaining about the condition of her home, the neighbors banded together and helped her fix it up?
Major homosexual infestation?
What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
“What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”
It does not apply to “civil” matters such as zoning regulations. You have to go through all the zoning first, with its appeals. Then you can appeal to the civil courts.
If you have enough money and time, you might win.
Kind of like having to travel a thousand miles and spend a thousand dollars to get the right to appear in court for a traffic fine. Sure... due process is there to assert your rights... but the process is the punishment.
Still, we are far better protected than most of the rest of the world.
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