Final Notice!

I got home from work today to find a photocopied piece of paper containing a generic notice taped to my front door from my friendly department of code enforcement. The language is exactly as follows: "PLEASE CUT BACK ALL TREES AND BUSHES THAT OVERHANG SIDEWALKS AND ALLEYS THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION VILLAGE OF MORTON GROVE".

Before anyone mentions it, no, there was no punctuation in the message.

So, I called the phone number that was printed on the message and surprisingly someone answered the phone. I was sure that I would end up leaving a message as it was only about 5:15pm because what self-respecting government employee is still working at that hour? I told the gentleman my name and address and then attempted to explain my confusion at the note. Basically, I tried to explain that a quick glance around my property along the sidewalks and alley revealed no overtly obvious issues. Before I could complete my thought, the gentleman replied that an inspector must have been around and noticed a problem. I replied that I would be happy to comply and correct whatever the problem was but that I would need the inspector, who I had to assume was not the person with whom I was speaking as I was given no names or titles, to be more specific as to what the problem was.

With that, the person on the phone got a little irritated. I'm not exactly sure why, but he raised his voice a little and began to say that whatever is overhanging a sidewalk of alley should cut down, more than likely in an attempt to make me understand that the onus was on me to decipher exactly what the problem was. I did not say it, but I wondered if they really expected me to cut things in my yard down at random until they were satisfied. Instead I replied, "Look, I'm not trying to argue with you here. I will be happy to do whatever needs to be done, but I need to be told exactly what the problem is."

At that point he took down my name and address (probably so that I can be easily harassed by the police) and said that he'd send the inspector back out tomorrow. Hopefully, the inspector will leave some kind of note and not just knock on the door hoping someone will be home. I'm really curious to see where this goes and just a little perturbed that my city can't be more professional about how they interact with their citizens in terms of legal matters that don't involve the police. There was no signature or date from the person who left the warning and it was not on any kind of official form or stationary. In a strange, unjustified way, I feel a little invaded. It's as if they are free to show up and tape any message that might strike their fancy to my door: "You must cease and desist from wearing any t-shirt with 8-bit video gaming character icons on it." Then they could punch me in the gut, tape a "Kick Me" sign to my back, yell "Nerd!", and run away.