Day Two

I’m going to cover more back story today, because I want everyone be involved in every step we make. Explaining some of the decisions I’ve made so far will help explain the events to come.

On March 7th, I wrote the Ed Norris Show. For those who don’t live in Baltimore, he’s the former police commissioner who was railroaded on trumped up charges, so he typically has an ax to grind with government and how it functions. His show mostly involves local current events and tossing in his two cents on the crime epidemic facing this city. I figured if anyone would be interested in spreading the word it would be his staff. I sent a lengthy e-mail, detailing the situation, some of which I’m posting below:

Re: Where’s the outrage???

[I basically explained the situation as I did in yesterday’s post, then added…]

They told me they sent out "at least four notices", none of which I received. Why? Because my tags were from Virginia, thus they most likely sent four notices to my Virginia address that were never forwarded to my Maryland address. I was told they were "returned". Really? So, first the city has been wasting tax payer's money out of either incompetence or laziness or both to send three more letters to 80,000 people after the first was returned, which I estimate would cost $170,000 in postage, paper, envelopes, and toner (not including the man-hours for printing and stuffing the envelopes). But here are my two biggest problems: 1. There's no cap for the fees. Is a $600 fine justifiable at any time no matter how late for a $27 crime??? And further more, if the city can legally look the other way, hide behind the excuse of "Well, we tried to find you" without providing ANY of the proof we are required to overturn THEIR decision, why would they try to find you at all??? Where's the motivation? If you could make an extra 132 million dollars by simply dragging your feet and throwing letters at a brick wall, wouldn't you??? I know I would! By turning these accounts over to collection agencies the city has tacitly admitted they are completely incompetent, and then proved it because these businesses were able to find and properly contact 80,000 in a matter of weeks. If these fines were capped, we would have been contacted YEARS ago, because then the city would have the motivation to collect the maximum allowable penalty BY LAW, once they had reached that point. Isn't it fascinating that we've hit an economic crisis, and I'm sure the city is finding itself in a shortfall, and they take the opportunity NOW to cash in their 132 million dollar lottery ticket to cover the difference? Amazing.2. By my math, adding $16 per month to a $27 fine for just over three years is equivalent to a compound interest rate of 176%. I understand that the longer the fines are assessed in their manner, the compounding interest rate will effectively seem to drop. But, if they had contacted me 5 years past due, I would owe $987 on $27, which would be the equivalent of a compound interest rate of 105%. Or why not wait 10 years for $1,947 on $27 (interest rate 53%). How is this not usury? And how can I invest some money in this system? Wouldn't it be fantastic? I'll give the city $5,000, and using the system they've applied to me, I can have $105,122.88 in three years!!!

Now they want me to bend over again, and take it to the tune of $600!!! I've had it. We need to organize. We need to stand together and fight this as a group. Individually we have no power, but if we can band together and get Sheila Dixon's name attached to this miscarriage of justice, maybe we can get somewhere. We have the numbers (80,000 potential members), the motivation ($132 million dollars being vacuumed from our neighborhoods during a time of economic crisis), and the means (media, internet, social networking sites) to get something done. The way I see it the problem is two-fold: 1. we need to address the current financial issue and settle the predicament the city has caused. I have no problem paying the city for something I have done, but there needs to be a fair compromise. 2. new legislation to prevent this from happening again. Specifically, caps on accrued fines. You want that cap to be higher for more substantial fines? OK. But there has to be something. Understand the city needs to make a buck, and a quick way of doing it is late fees. But the power which they have afforded themselves needs to be checked.I hate to get preachy, but our founding fathers fought a war against tyranny, and the straw that broke the camel's back was a tax on their freakin' breakfast drink. How would they have reacted to this? When I thought I was alone in this matter, I was willing to take it, just like the rest of the garbage I've been force fed from this administration. But when I found out there's 80,000 of us, I felt empowered. I think we've lost the revolutionary spirit this country was founded on, and we as a people have become resigned to doing whatever the government tells us to do, no matter how ludicrous. Unless we stand up and show them we're not going to take it anymore, we'll continue to get bullied. Perhaps now, with the economy in the tank and people losing their jobs, this is the time to make some change.If I'm the only one contacting the show, then disregard this, and I thank you for reading up to this point. But if there's more, if you're getting hundreds of e-mails like this, that means there's probably thousands who haven't expressed their outrage. I always felt like this show meant something, and inspired people to get involved and make their community a better place, and maybe this is an expression of just that. But how do we make that expression more lasting? Changing the laws? Inspiring new legislation? Sounds good to me.

What do you want to do?

Thanks for your time, consideration, and any advice you can give me to get the ball rolling,
Jason

The next day, I realized I was putting the horse ahead of the cart. Even if he did show an interest, what were we going to talk about? Me? How angry I was? What was the point? I called a couple friends from college who are now lawyers, to get their take on the situation. I can be a little hot-headed from time to time, so I wanted to know, was I overreacting? Both agreed the situation is intolerable. In fact, before I’d even told one of them what I was planning to do, he simply said, “Well…..looks like you’ve got a Tea Party on your hands.” Exactly.

One of my friends suggested I contact my local representatives in Annapolis; the other suggested I contact the local paper and write an editorial to publicize the issue. I thought both were great ideas. But first, if I was to do either, I needed something to point to. A place for us to build a community so when I write a letter to a representative, or talk to a reporter, I don’t have to say me. I can say us. So I started the Baltimore Scofflaws Facebook group. The introduction is posted below:

Last week, we the current and former citizens of Baltimore were informed the city will be extorting us to fill its dwindling coffers. Their weapon of choice comes in the form of excessive late fees associated with a variety of parking tickets, in some cases, many years old. According to NBC, 80,000 of us have been contacted concerning 183,000 citations totaling $132 million dollars. Some of us have now been individually saddled with THOUSANDS of dollars in fines to ease City Hall's debt. Despite the government's assurances, we feel due diligence was not taken to inform us of our apparent transgressions, and we are furious the city views our bank accounts as their personal ATMs, for which THEY write the rules for withdrawal. With no limits on how much they can fine, coupled with their clear incompetence in settling the matter, the city has ostensibly issued itself a license to print money. Are we to sit back and allow this? Clearly, Sheila Dixon views her constituents as either too stupid, too afraid, or both to band together and fight this injustice, otherwise she and her associates would never have approved such an action. Alone, we stand no chance to reverse the financial misfortune she intends to inflict, but together we wield the power of democracy. Hopefully, this group can serve as a foundation for change. Tell us your story, and then tell a fellow Baltimore Scofflaw to join our ranks. Let's start a record, and let's find our critical mass for social change. Anyone directly related to this catastrophe or anyone interested in watching how this train wreck unfolds is welcome.

That’s probably enough for today, more tomorrow….