SUBJECT: The city I live in is laying down the law,... either do what they say,.. or they will fine you. They are going around house to house and telling people things like "you need to plant a new lawn and maintain it", "you need to paint your whole house" and you only have 7 days to comply or they'll fine you. Mine was: "paint your overhangs and water and mow your lawn". And their reason is because "they" want our city to look nice.

I think they probably have lots of people that agree with them there. That they would like their city and neighborhood to look nice. And I know how it's better for selling a home purposes too that homes all look nice and maintained. I think my Dad next door is one that probably agrees and would like every body's houses around him to look nice like his doe's. It's like everybody has gotta look like the Jones's (so to speak).

I like the idea of having a nice house and nice looking place too,.. my problem with having a nice house here is: "in order for me to like this house it needs a major remodel, and I just don't have the money to even get started with that". As far as my lawn goes,.. I've had a gardener here ever since I moved in. My uncle has been watering and mowing my lawn ever since we moved in. I've heard that it's just the type of grass that I have,.. and it turns yellow at certain times of the year.

My problem with what the city is doing here is "the way they are going about it". (Either do what they say or they will charge you money). I think that some people may be having a hard time just affording to pay their house payment, let alone having to pay for a new lawn or a full house paint job,.. or even a fine because they couldn't do it.

Here is how I might be if I was the boss of our city: For starters,.. I'm not the type that wants this type of thing. So,.. I'm doing it because lots of other people want this.

Maybe first of all we need to find out where everybody in our city stands on this issue. I think we should send out an official letter to every home,.. (not just literature mixed in with the utilities bill, because what I do with that stuff is,.. I just throw it all away, then look at my bill and pay it). Or maybe it should just be hand delivered like what they are doing now with their stipulations.

The letter could read something like,.. We here at the City of Riverside need to know where everybody stands on this issue. We are interested in making some changes in our city,.. and it's going to involve you. Please take a moment and fill out and return our questionnaire.

Would you like your home to have a nice looking always maintained lawn?

Would you like the homes around you to all have a nice looking always maintained lawn?

Would you like your home to be repaired in any area that looks like it needs to be repaired?

Would you like the homes around you to all be repaired in any areas that look like they need to be repaired?

Would you like your home to have a nice looking paint job?

Would you like the homes around you to all have nice looking paint jobs?

Can you afford to do or have any of this type of work done to your home?

Will you do any of this type of work to your home in the near future?

Are you willing to pay a $5.00 dollar fee in your utilities bill each Month so that the city can start doing this work to the homes that cannot afford it?

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire.

(Letter finished).

From there it's all about reading all the return Questionnaires and finding out where everybody stands on this issue.

If the major majority is for making the city look better in these ways and willing to pay a little extra,... then maybe it's OK to start tacking an extra fee to the utilities bill for this.

If not,... then maybe all the people that do want this to happen should band together,.. putting the money that it's going to take together and start going around to the houses that they want fixed and fixing them.

It should probably start with a letter of intent. Or like another questionnaire type letter like so,..

We here at the City of Riverside are now prepared to start making the city look better.

Are you going to fix the items described below?

Scrape all loose paint on fascia boards and apply new paint.

New window installed, but stucco patch is not the color of the rest of the house. Paint stucco patch to match house color.

Plant a new front lawn and water and mow it regularly.

If you are not going to, or are not able to,. we at the City of Riverside are going to start doing this for you.

You have 30 days to comply.

(Letter finished).

Now,.. to me,.. even this is something that some people are not going to like. And it is not "my way" to impose this kind of thing on any body. But,.. I can live with this way,.. and I don't care to live with the way they are doing it now.

I'm preparing to sell my house and move from here. Before the City did what they are doing,.. I was always thinking that I was going to keep this house and let my uncle live in it while I move on to another home,.. and keeping it as a rental if anything ever happened to him, being that it's right next door to my Parents house.

But the more I think of selling this house and moving,.. the more I like it. Because,.. I may be able to get a house this time that doesn't need such a major remodeling. Maybe even get one with a floor plan that I actually like. Also,.. I may be able to get a home closer to where most of my work is,.. and that could save me possibly over $600.00 dollars per Month just in gasoline. And also because,.. I may even be able to purchase a new work van with the money that I sell my house for,.. or have a chunk of money that I can put down on one.

I'm not counting on being able to bye a new truck though right now,.. because it's too important to put as much money as I can down on the new house in order to get the payment to a comfortable rate.

JURY DUTY: I'm being summoned for Jury Duty again already. And since this page is written as if I'm the boss of the City,... I think it's also time to find out what every body here thinks about doing Jury Duty.

Personally,.. I've been thinking that maybe we should make it a job that we hire employee's to do.