Friday, July 15, 2011

Charges dropped but the plot thickens - and not the veggie plot this time!

I would love to say that the Oak Park case had a great Hollywood ending, with Julie Bass being carried on the shoulders of her neighbors as they paraded past her veggie beds after the city dismissed their charges against her. But alas, Hollywood only happens in, well, Hollywood Movies!

Julie's triumph over having the case against her vegetables dropped was short lived as the city slapped her with different charges - this time a re-dredging of an old case against her regarding her failure in the past to license her dogs. An oversight that she fully admitted to and took responsibility for by paying the fines at the time, and which she thought had been all sorted out and put to bed. Her disappointment and frustration is evident in her blog post.

It is just me, or does this sound like a petty vendetta? 

I liked this video clip of a local TV report on the matter. It was nice to get to see Julie and her lawyer, to get a measure of the people behind the story - after all, the camera never lies!

 Oak Park Drops Charges Against Julie Bass and Her Vegetable Garden: MyFoxDETROIT.com

She doesn't strike me as a big time trouble maker - just an ordinary gardener seeking an ordinary weed-pulling life. Unfortunately for Julie, the most toxic weeds she seems to be facing are at Oak Park City Hall.

Byddi Lee