When we returned home from our vacation, the vacant lot was a shock to us all. TAD had not just bulldozed the house. He had flattened everything. There had been three large oak tress on the lot, one of which was right next to the property line. There was absolutely no reason to cut it down. But he had. So I called the city shortly after returning and I filed a complaint with Mike Jones. I explained the situation and I asked him to check the satellite photos, I was sure they had not updated yet. Mike checked out the online photos and said that he could see them and they were large, and yes, he would look into it. I asked about the palm trees in the right of way. Mike is the one who told me that you had to have a permit for that too and that TAD never got one. I was impressed with how little TAD seemed to respect the neighborhood. Seems to me that if you're going to do business in a city, you would actually try to at at least pretend to care about the laws and codes. TAD sure wasn't. It wasn't long before I noticed another problem. My fence and my yard were getting washed away. I went to pull weeds long the fence and I found all of these holes along my fence. Every time it rained now, I was losing my property. Along the fence, where that oak had once stood, it was really bad. Within two rain storms, a cavern had formed under the rim of my driveway. I also found a crack in my driveway that had never been there before. Ripping that large oak out had unsettled the soil and the consequences were looking serious. I filed a complaint with the city immediately. I figured I had two more rain storms before part of my driveway became unstable. I was pulling weeds in the front yard a day or so later when TAD showed up. He started off by thanking me for being the most reasonable neighbor around. He lamented at how angry and unreasonable every one else was. Even neighbor to the south had had words of sorts with him. Then he mentioned that my reputation as a PIA had proceeded me and that he had been warned (I'm assuming that came from the City), but I was turning out to be the best of the bunch. I looked right at him and said "Don't hold you're breath. This thing isn't over yet ." I continued to pull weeds, but not for long. Someone from the city had shown up, and TAD and I both watched him approach. I got up and followed TAD into the lot where Freddie was standing. TAD approached Freddie and I hung back, watching like a spectator. Freddie announced that TAD would have to put a silk fence around the entire perimeter of the property. Then he cited the code that made this a requirement. I was a little stunned. If it was a code, why had the City waited so long to do or say something about it? TAD begin to argue with Freddie. He said that he didn't need a silk fence everywhere because Mike Griffin had said so and he told Freddie to go talk to his boss and get his facts straight. Freddie, impressively stoic, calmly informed TAD that Mike sent him out and asked him to do this. TAD went into a full blown tantrum. "What changed" What kind of bullshit happened that I was told by the City that I didn't need an erosion barrier but now I do? That erosion barrier isn't going to do shit. " I was having hard time watching this scene. TAD's behavior was completely appropriate for a five year old. I was personally offended by the way he said that required things like erosion barriers didn't matter. Especially when I was watching the consequences of life with out one. Freddie's demeanor was more than admirable, it was sainthood material. Freddie calmly told TAD that he could be fined if he failed to comply. TAD turned purple and roared in his face while he did the angry dance. "WHY? WHY NOW? THIS IS BULLSHIT". I wanted Freddie to fine him. I wanted Freddie to throw the book at him. Instead, Freddie looked down at his shoes and then looked up at me and answered matter-of-factly "We've had a complaint". TAD looked confused, and I raised my hand like a school girl "That would be me" I chirped with a smile. TAD looked at me, the red color draining from his face, and asked me "Why?". "It's called property damage TAD. I'm giving you the opportunity to do something to fix it. My property is washing away." I answered firmly. TAD put his poker face back on and walked over to my yard to see what I was talking about. Then TAD told Freddie that we didn't need him anymore because we would work it out together. H wrapped a paw around me and squeezed me for visual effect. I said "I get to pick who I work with and whose side I'm on. I'm working with Freddie". I expected the City to be working with me. TAD said that erosion barriers were useless and that he would bring a truck of dirt and dump it along the fence. Freddie asked me if I was ok with that. I asked him if it would solve the problem. He said yes. So I agreed to the dirt plan. TAD took the opportunity to wrap a paw around me and squeeze me again while telling TAD what a nice person I was. I looked right at Freddie and said "TAD is a forked-tongue devil. Don't let him fool you." And I rolled my eyes while I peeled TAD's arm off before going into the house.
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