TXLFD: Visionary or Nutcase?

[XLFD]

I recently came across this story and noted a lot of parallels with a notorious Ludington citizen.  Now to go with my lost son in FL, I have a twin in TX.  Please read this condensed article about Anthony Schneider's crusade for public safety against the current of local public safety officers.  A link to the full article follows.

 

 

Marion to take a second look at street signs

By Ron Maloney
The Gazette-Enterprise  

Published February 11, 2010

 

MARION — Marion city officials will soon begin reviewing the placement of traffic signs in its school zones in the wake of being contacted by a San Antonio man who says as many as two dozen warning, street and school zone signs in the community don’t comply with state regulations...

 

Mayor Glenn Hild said he and Public Works Director Randy Schwenn have begun looking at the signs after being contacted by e-mail by Anthony N. Schneider Sr.

 

In a series of e-mails Schneider sent to Marion officials this week that were then sent to the Seguin Gazette Enterprise, Schneider informs Schwenn and Marion Police Chief Reed Crane of what he says are numerous violations in the placement, materials or repair of traffic control signs around the city — including signs placed in school zones that lower the speed limit or prohibit cell phone use, which Schneider says use non-standard colors or materials that raise issues of uniformity with state signs out on FM 78...

 

“You know us,” Hild said, taking time out from helping customers in his family’s grocery store. “It’s a potential safety issue, we signed on to take care of this community, and we’re going to address it.”...

 

Schneider lives in the San Antonio area and said he works in the telecommunications industry, but he has a very real interest in traffic safety signs that goes back to 1972, when, riding his bicycle, a woman ran a stop sign and nearly ran him down.

 

“That’s what got me interested in this,” Schneider said. “I wondered why she ran the stop sign and learned that instead of trimming back the branches that obstructed the stop sign, the city had left them there, and officers used it to write tickets and generate revenue.”...

 

“Now, I pretty much identify traffic control devices that are not compliant,” Schneider said.

 

“Many are being used by cities to generate revenue without regard to safety. Sometimes they put them up with the right intent, but miss the mark altogether. The worst thing is, these signs can be unsafe and give a false sense of security to children, parents and the public.”...

 

“Sometimes, the engineers thank me for pointing these things out,” In Luling and in Gonzales, he said, that wasn’t quite the case.
“They spent and wasted all this money to do it wrong, so they have no excuse that they can’t cough up the money to do it right,” Schneider said.

 

“If a child gets injured and the right lawyer gets involved, they can get sued, and that’s why TxDOT gets right on these issues,” he said.

 

Again and again, he said, he’s pointed out to city police departments that violations of the law pertaining to safety sign placement, which are a class C misdemeanor. To date, he’s never seen one act on it.

 

“I have yet to get a law enforcement agency at the local level to file the appropriate changes,” he said. “It’s actually a misdemeanor offense. But where do you get a police chief to cite the public works director? There’s professional courtesy there, I guess.”

 

But it’s important because of tort and civil liability issues, Schneider said.

If signs have to be reset or replaced, he said, the city would do it with street funds — as best and as fast as it could.

 

“We appreciate having this pointed out, and we appreciate the opportunity to address it,” Hild said.

It won’t happen overnight, though.

 

“We have four employees in our street department,” Hild noted. “But we’ll look at it, and we’ll address it.”

[AQUAMAN]

It must be hard to look in the mirror everyday, knowing you have illegal stop signs and traffic signals, then trying to say you are right anyhow, and justify the means to an end with $$$$$ sign excuses, and of course, whistleblower statutes. Then look the other way when people pay fines and others get hospitalized or die, just for the sake of the almighty $$$ and arrogance.

[XLFD]

The sad thing is that City Managers and Mayors have a sworn duty to uphold the laws, and yet you will find them kicking and screaming so as not to do the minimal effort to follow the laws mandated by the city, the state, and the federal governments.

Municipal police chiefs have the job of traffic engineer by default in most cities, and the ones who actually respond to a citizen's complaint backed by laws are rare. When I noticed a dozen stop and yield signs placed beyond the crosswalk in Ludington, our police chief ignored several letters about the safety and liability issues the city would have by their inaction. As did our CM, John Shay. Only when the MI DOT got involved was anything done.

Marion's mayor (they are one of those lucky cities who do not have a city manager) sounds like he will at least make that effort; whether it was because of political pressure or his conscience, is not important if it gets done.

[AQUAMAN]

It's truly not ALL Mayors and city mgrs. X, it's OURS! They think and act like they are ABOVE the LAW, and carry out their respective responsibilities accordingly. As long as noone asks nor complains, it will continue, and get worse. JMO and that of the City Attorney.

[Mary A.]

The city attorney is not on board with the mayor and CM?

[XLFD]

I second Mary's question, Aq. Are you talking of a former City Attorney, or the current? Is that opinion of theirs published anywhere, or just verbal?

[AQUAMAN]

Lud. City Attorney, Roger Anderson, is the fountainhead of ideas/interpretation of laws, and bending of laws, that Henderson/Shay rely on for their actions, or lack thereof. He was reappointed last winter for about the 35th year to serve. Now p-t, due to wintering in Tx..

[XLFD]

CA Roger Anderson retired late last year for good. Richard(?) Wilson is the new CA. Attached below is the city council meeting where the torch was passed. I will grant you, CA Anderson did not serve the citizens of this city well, and the accolades heaped on him at this meeting was, noticably, only from the lawbenders he served faithfully.

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks X, never heard nor saw this posted anywhere before, pretty hush-hush I do suppose. It's amazing to look back and remember how many times Roger-dodger had his finger in the dike for the council. I know for a fact he was "in cahoots" with city fathers way before 1991 too, more like 1981, but, maybe he didn't hold that particular seat, maybe just an advisor then, not sure. An excellent architect at bending, shaping, and interpreting law, to achieve the desired agenda results, at ANY cost! Like Byers, just for openers, on a laundry list long enuf to fill your bookcases with. It's gonna be really hard to fill his vacant shoes, with the unwavering arrogance, audacity, and questionable (almost but not quite illegal) tactics he applied to that job. Never heard of Richard Wilson, he is either farmed from out of town, or new here, which is it? Or did you mean Ron Wilson? I thought he too was retired. Thanks.