elle weems updates

North Port features

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:13:39 -0400

More work, waymarking and errands. Nothing really noteworthy today, just putting off the boring stuff.

It's always fun to see photos taken by others of the same places I've photographed. Seeing these places through the eyes of someone else gives a completely new perspective.

The mosquitos are bad in North Port right now. Don't they spray here? I wonder how the mosquitos are at the Warm Mineral Springs? That's coming up on my agenda but I may delay that until the winter months.

Tomorrow I have to really get some errands done, including grocery shopping.

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Justifying a paycheck through harassment of residents

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:56:08 -0400

I'm getting sick of the City of North Port unnecessarily mailing people Notice of Ordinance Violation and Order to Correct Violation notices. Just ourselves, we have received two in four months that have no basis in reality. There is no proof of these supposed violations. The older sections get hit harder than our relatively new neighbourhood because they're less likely to defend themselves.

Is the City of North Port that hard up for money that they're harassing residents on baseless accusations without a shred of evidence? What kind of a scam is this?

We do not live in a Deed Restricted Community. There was no contract that we had to sign that detailed specific standards of living that would render citation if violated. Deep Creek, a nearby Deed Restricted Community, will provide photographic evidence of the violation with the notice. City of North Port law is not even as restrictive as the City of Cape Coral. I had neighbours in Cape Coral who were never cited for clear violations in two years' time. Unlike Cape Coral, North Port allocates a chunk of its mortally wounded budget towards people who do nothing but patrol for violations, and they pay them quite a bit to do this.

It's likely that these wastes of money are only trying to justify their jobs by citing as many homes as possible, as many times as possible, during budget reviews. God forbid we fire them all, replace them with volunteers who would do a more honest and thorough job out of more concern for their community than for exploiting residents for revenue, and be able to better support the Emergency Responders with that saved money during this economic crisis.

The contact information at the bottom of these notices reads:

For Questions, Please Contact:

A Caporaso (941) 429-7188

Property Standards Inspector

"A Caporaso" never answers the phone and never returns phone calls. Accountability: North Port's never had it and I doubt they ever will.

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North Port Fire and Rescue Station 81

nobody@vox.com(yapidka) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:23:51 -0400

North Port Fire Rescue Station 81 - front view

As twilight approached, I decided to get some practice on Station 81, North Port Fire and Rescue's headquarters. As with Station 83, I received a positive welcome and was able to take as many photos as I wanted before I lost light. I will get to replace the cheap, uneven photos on the waymark (WMMBW) with some quality captures of the firehouse exterior and some of the vehicles. I've also geotagged these photos on my flickr. I'm still very slow on pulling out the business cards, which is something I seriously have to work on because I got these things for the sole purpose of answering questions.

Here are more photos of Station 81 and the vehicles:

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