Harassment At It's Finest? Or not?

     I guess the word harassment and the word racist have the same effect on me.  To me they are way overused and exaggerated.  That's just my opinion.  And of course, each time each word is used doesn't mean that it isn't warranted.  However, what I'm trying to say is that these words are mixed in with a lot of drama at times and exaggeration occur.  Let me tell you about my situation with the City of Delphi, specifically with the current Code Enforcer and I'll let you decide what to call it.

     As anyone will tell you, nothing good comes in a certified letter.  So, I was apprehensive to pick up one on May 09, 2025.  But I picked it up and saw that it from the City of Delphi.  I thought to myself that there is nothing I am doing wrong, so how bad could it be?  Inside the sealed envelope were two Delphi Code Enforcement Ordinance Violations.  Both have my name and address on them, and they were both 'Notice of Abate'.  

     The first Notice of Abate was for my golf cart that sits behind my house.  The ordinance violation form says that there is an unlicensed or inoperable vehicle, golf cart, on my property.  Under the detail section it is written that I am required to fix the flat tire on the vehicle or remove the cart, and I have 30 days to get it done or the city may tow it.  The second one was in regard to my yard.  Okay, I do work a lot, and there are times where my yard needs mowed.  It has never, however, gotten to a point where it is 10 inches tall which is an ordinance violation.  But no, that isn't what this notice is about.  The description is that my yard is 'filthy, littered or trash covered'.  Filthy?  I guess I forgot to wash it.  Litter or trash covered?  I dare anyone to find my yard in that shape.  Remember, yard means grass, and grass means yard.  I have no grass behind my house, so she must be talking about my front yard on Indiana Street or my side yard on Franklin Street.  Again, this has never happened, and it was not this way on May 09th of this year or before or after.  Reading these, I really didn't understand where I was to begin.  The tire was straight forward, but nothing else.  Due my confusion I took ZERO action and did NOTHING.

     I then received another certified letter dated May 22 and it was titled Administrative Citation.  It states that my property has been found to be in violation(s) of Trash Covered Yard/Lots and Unlicensed and Inoperable Vehicle Prohibited.  I was fined on the second page in the amount of $25.00 and told to correct the golf cart or they may remove the cart within 30 days and be fined some more within ten days.  

     On the same day that I received this one I walked into the clerk's office and asked for a form to fill out as I wanted to make a request to transfer this situation to the county court level.  The clerk knew nothing about transferring this to the county level saying that they do that for parking tickets, but not these.  I found that odd.  What's the difference?  At that point she told me to hang on and she got on the phone.  She told me that she called upstairs to the code enforcement office and asked the code enforcer to come down and answer my question.  About five or ten minutes later Miss Plunk, (Jazlynn Marie), came into the clerk's office with the chief of police in tow.  I guess I'm a threat.  Jazlynn Marie then was on her computer and also spoke with the clerk, Julie Price, and they both agreed that there was no form to do what I was asking.  (I guess you are just supposed to be a good sheep, take their word for it, and pay your fine no questions asked).  One of them provided me with a 'Parking Ticket Contest Form', which didn't deal with my problem.  Plunk told me that she would work on a form for me and 'drop it off' in the next couple of days.  

     On May 28, I received another certified letter.  In the letter, I was told that there is no form for what I need.  I was instructed to fill out all the needed information on a piece of paper and mail it back to the Ordinance Violation Bureau, whatever that is.  No mention as to if this process gets my case transferred to the county level or it will be reviewed on the city level which I assume would be in front of the Board of Works.  Yes, I'm sure I will get a fair shake from the Board of Works.  I did not do this step as it was not clear or what I thought would give me my day in court.

     On June 3, I received another certified letter.  The letter was a Notice to Abate.  It again covered the trash covered yard and now the lots.  It quotes  section (E) and it says 'Filthy, littered or trash covered cellars, houses yards, barnyards, stable yards, factory yards or vacant lots'.  None of the above describes anything on my property.  Nothing was said about the golf cart this time.  And it should be noted that the tire is still flat and has not been corrected.

     On June 18, I received another certified letter.  This letter again addresses my golf cart and its flat tire.  The highlighted area tells me that I must air up my tire by June 28 or remove it.  It goes on to say that if the cart is not removed or the tire is not aired up I may be fined and/or have my cart towed away.  In another letter dated the same date in the same envelope there was an Administrative Citation.  My $25.00 fine was now increased to $50.00 with an addition fine on the filthy yard complaint.  

     On July 29, I received another certified letter.  This letter was a complaint and Notice to Abate the over ten-inch weeds on my property.  Come on over and show me where they are.  I will say this.  Two years ago I made it clear and I was not going to mow the sidewalks any longer that run on the two sides of my house.  

     Let's look at this situation and why I have taken the stand I have taken.

     When you come over to look at the no violation of weeds, you will also see the trashy sideway that is busted up, the sections not there, and a safety hazard for anyone walking.  This area is two blocks from the downtown square.  It was always expressed to me when I served on the council that sidewalks this close to the downtown were a priority to be fixed.  In fact, the council a few years back set aside several thousand dollars to fix sidewalks like mine, and the money wasn't spent and went back into the general fund.  I'm sure the work wasn't a priority when they realized one of the worst walks in the downtown area was owned by me.  When you drive by or look at the sidewalk you will see taller grass and weeds on the edges of the walk.  Those are growing there because of the cracks and missing concrete have turned to dirt.  I'm not mowing those as they are in the sidewalk and not from my yard.  

     None of the letters or any other paper were signed by anyone.  No one.  Jazlynn Marie, the code enforcer, nor did anyone sign ANY of the papers I have received.  The corrections are unclear as far as the corrective actions that need to be taken.  It should be noted that upon the delivery of one of the certified letters that Jazlynn Marie delivered to the post office there were words spoken by her for the public to hear.  It went something like, 'Yeah, maybe this letter will get his attention, and he'll clean up his yard'. This is very unprofessional.  The people in the post office very much knew who this letter was going to and the people directly behind could see, too.  Would you like your business talked about in public like this?  Again, very unprofessional.

     Last year when Nate Lamar was appointed by Mayor Yates, he and his staff wrote a LOT of parking tickets.  A LOT.  Some weren't even in violation of city ordinance, but they were written anyway.  Nothing corrupt about that, huh?  At least one of those tickets was protested and challenged.  The mayor had action on the agenda so county employees could address their challenges on their unwarranted tickets.  One of those that showed up at that meeting was our prosecutor.  The mayor told the attendees that the challenges would not be heard that night even though they were told to attend and they were on the agenda.  (I guess since the Indianapolis television media was in attendance to ask questions about parking for the murder trial it got put off.  We wouldn't want to have allegations about improper behavior to be brought up in front of them or all people.)   It's been almost two years, and no one can get an answer from the city, and it has never been put on the meeting agenda again. Other than being told and past around on phone calls and messages nothing has been done.  No accountability.  

     Did you know that the city of Delphi has no city court judge?  From what legal officials that are in leadership positions in this county have told me, the city of Delphi cannot legally write citations or at least require payment for the citations.  I know that of the several parking tickets that were written around the courthouse with the big percentage of them were written to the prosecutor.  He can't get answers, and his tickets are also in limbo.  City officials have been told that this is illegal and yet they continue to issue them.  I believe the statute of limitations for these citations are two years and they are about to expire.  In other words, we've wasted a lot of money for enforcement with no return.  (Bad leadership.)  Yet we continue to pay this enforcer $45,000 a year, see ordinance 2024-15.  Sidewalks and curbs, for the most part look terrible; trash expenses (a tax) keep going up; we spent a fortune on additional police cars and equipment, and we are paying on two or three water department loans with no end in sight in which that department has no budget.  No wonder we have to keep borrowing money. 

     Why didn't I just go out and air up that tire, you might ask.  Well, I was really hoping that she would keep her word and come tow it.  You see, there on the first page of the ordinance, there is a section  entitled 'Exceptions'.  In that section it states that golf carts are indeed exempt.  Did Mayor Yates even train this girl?  Was she also trained to noticed how a property is zoned?  Here's a new flash for Jazlynn Marie, my property is zoned business which means it gets treated differently than a property zoned residential.  But hey, let's not confuse these people with facts and details.  

     So, to wrap up.  I have received six certified letters costing the taxpayers just under $40.00, demanding a fine or two that may or may not even be legal to demand.  I have been threatened with other fines and loss of my possession.  I've been embarrassed at the post office and their staff.  And I'm hanging in limbo not knowing what is next or, worse yet, what the status of all these letters are.  Did you finally get some training or common sense to not tow my cart or is it just being delayed, Madam enforcer?  One would never know because you haven't had the decency to tell me, and probably other citizens in the city, one way or another. You see, that's the thing of it.  Local government can throw their weight around and then never communicate with the citizen to tell them that they've improved enough or the government made a mistake or changed their minds.  This, among many, many, many other areas of local government desperately need improving.  No one in government has any right to think and act like they are better than their constituents.  We need better people in government who love and respect the citizens.  We sure don't have that right now.