Local Tyranny, #1: Too Many Trees

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The elderly couple are literally in the final moments of their life. The doctors have given the husband a few months to live, as his dementia reaches a level where his wife must care for him as if he is an infant.  She changes his diaper.  She feeds him.  She bathes him.  She goes to dialysis three times a week, and has maybe a year remaining on this earth, herself.  They have a limited income, but the kids help when they can.  They've lived in Corona for over fifty years in the same house on a pie shaped lot on the curve of a city street.  They've always prided themselves in having a wonderful yard.  Now, the front yard is taken care of by a lawn service paid for by the kids and the once beautiful backyard is dirt and has the usual population of trees that have also been there for over fifty years.

The City of Corona never cared about the trees, until now.  A few weeks ago the old couple got a ticket for having too many trees in their backyard.  They can't afford to remove them, they can't afford the ticket, and for over fifty years Corona has not cared how many trees they have in their backyard.

Code Enforcement says a neighbor complained.

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