Mailbox battle in Chesterfield's Brandermill brings protest
Day by day, more of the yellow boxes are popping up. In fact, one more for our camera early this morning. They are standing out in a community making a big visual statement about a decision that hits their wallet. But it's a decision that the community association board says has been publicized for months, like in the community newspaper.
They are hard to miss -- one yellow box after another. When-Dee Morrison spearheaded this protest. "They definitely stand out. It doesn't go with our park-like setting," Morrison said. This, just days after the Brandermill Community Association decided each home in this community must get this new mailbox. Those boxes would cost $155.________________________________
As political scientists are wont to do, Evan McKenzie, the owner of this plot of cyberspace real estate, has labeled the yet unorganized political movement that rejects the authority of private HOA governance (but oddly doesn't lobby states to repeal HOA enabling statutes) as the Pink Flamingos.
That token of expressing discontent and defiance arose out of HOAs going after inmates who dared to plant the tacky pink plastic avian decorations on their front lawns, potentially driving down property values faster than a trailer park full of deteriorating double wide FEMA trailers.
Now another symbol of protest against dictatorial, unresponsive Privatopian government has emerged: the yellow mailbox. Perhaps not coincidentally the same color of the Gadsen "Don't Tread on Me" flag that has become the symbol of a somewhat more organized political movement called the Tea Party.
4 comments:
I live in a Florida Recreation District called Barefoot Bay which is a special district with enabling legislation. It runs like a Super HOA with sovreign immunity.
Meeting with our state legislator did have some positive results when they were imposing illegal fines for DOR violations. Some fines totlaled more than 140 thousand dollars on a mobile home. They never refunded the illegal fines collecting citing Miami vs Keanton (mistake of law) even though they never had the jurisdictional authority to impose fines ever.
However people have to pay constant attention to these things as you never know when state law can be changed by condo commandos to allow for such fine.
So you are right, people have to get get involved and stay involved.
We all live with a yellow mailer box, yellow mailer box, yellow mailer box. We all live. . . .
Just don't paint the flag yellow too, as that specifically violates 39 CFR Part 111, and you might have the postmaster on your case.
Yeah, and he's not just the postmaster, he's a general!
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