Ohio man arrested for mowing grass in park

The Columbus Dispatch ^ | Friday, May 29, 2009

[flutters]

An Ohio man arrested for mowing unkempt grass at a public park says he just wanted to make his city look nice.

John Hamilton said he took control of the situation because the grass in Sandusky's Central Park was about a foot high.

[AZLiberty]

With reverse inspiration from Life After People, I engaged in some entropy reduction yesterday. A nearby house has been unoccupied and on the market since late last fall. The lovely desert landscaping had been overrun by 4- to 5-foot tall desert weeds.

Seeing nothing happening for weeks, I just got fed up. To get some morning exercise, I went over and started pulling weeds and removing palm fronds that had fallen on the property. After an hour it started looking pretty good. A passerby suggested I should have called the city, but that would have been a likely way to invoke punishment. They probably would have written up a complaint about my yard.

[ScottinVA]

“I bet the city groundskeepers are union and threw a fit when they heard about it.”

---

Bingo!! I’ll bet you’re dead-on right!

[HamiltonJay]

How dare he make the city city's union maintenance workers look bad and incompetent!!

There, fixed.

[Abathar]

I heard a couple of stories like that over the years involving the union and volunteer efforts.

With the way our local economy is if I did this in our little town the mayor would come out and give me a medal for it.

[Star Traveler]

In Tulsa, OK, officials ask the citizens to help the city out... LOL...

[Cathy]

This is so sick - we had a situation in one of our towns where there was high grass on adandoned (private) properties. Citizens were offering to mow the grass free, but the BOS stepped in and considered it trespassing and a liability issue. The BOS hired lawn mowers - several hundred dollars per 1/3 acre property - at the tax payers expense of course.

Sadly, some considered this a victory.

[VicVega]

Meddling in local government business? Hang him. Maybe it was the local Obama Youth Squad that turned him in.

[massgopguy]

What’s orange and sleeps three?

[Obadiah]

I can identify with your husband.

[Califreak]

Where’s that pic of Forrest Gump cutting the grass?

[icwhatudo]

Reminds me of the guy arrested for taking his neighbors recyclables. If its really was about recycling and not a money grab by the state, why should they care?

[PGR88]

Hey Buddy - that’s a UNION job! How dare you do it for free!

[An Old Man]

City Manager Matt Kline called the arrest unfortunate and said he understands Hamilton's frustration. Kline said budget cuts have left Sandusky understaffed for seasonal maintenance work.

Makes ya wonder what the punishment will be. Should he be given 10 days in jail or a pay check for $10?

[catbertz]

If it goes to court, a sensible judge would give this guy community service ;)

[null and void]

A CalTrans truck.

[Bokababe]

Well, the City made it pretty clear, now didn't they? It isn't OUR grass, it's THEIR grass to do with as they see fit -- with our tax dollars supporting their lazy bureaucratic butts, of course.

This poor man got caught in a literal "turf war" and forgot who was boss!

[JimRed]

What’s orange and sleeps three?

A public works vehicle?

[M203M4]

Same deal when some folks try to clean and paint their moldy office walls, replace burnt out bulbs in a stairwell, prune a deadly tree branch (like one protruding into traffic), etc. You are attacked as a “scab” taking work away from a union employee. Complaints to the relevant authority will be used as grounds to justify increased staffing levels.

[Abathar]

My bet is the charges will be dropped now that it made it into the national news.

Just a guess, but the Sandusky cop was probably a former Cedar Point security guard who has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide.

[IYAS9YAS]

It used to be when I was a kid, cops lectured people on certain things.

When we were kids people had common sense. Had the park lawn gone unmowed, a group such as the Rotary, or VFW, or AL would have done it. If they didn't a local citizen would have, and everyone would have thanked him.