4 ms·
I live in Sacramento and I happen to also do work on my own cars. This law has not been formally challenged and suspect it won’t hold up if actually done. This
by samtho 4y ago
I live in Sacramento and I happen to also do work on my own cars. This law has not been formally challenged and suspect it won’t hold up if actually done. This law has been used to to persecute car enthusiasts by their neighbors who work on cars a lot and it’s honestly disgusting. Other than direct complaints, however, the law has not been actively enforced.
I’m the last 12 months at my home in a historically low-income neighborhood, I’ve done a clutch job (clutch, flywheel, throw-out bearing, rear main seal), coolant tank and hose swap, radiator fan swap, popping out minor dents, touch up paint work, oil and filter change, spark plug change, cabin and intake filter swap, and probably some other stuff. Never once had code enforcement or Sac PD come knocking.
Granted, I have a lot of privilege that not everyone has: I am white, fairly well-off, I can do work in the privacy of my fenced-off backyard or 1-1/2 car garage, I know many of the people who work in city inspections and code enforcement (who I have asked about the law specifically and everyone says it’s only been enforced by these departments during hoarding situations, unsure about SacPD).
My partner (who restores classic European cars with her dad) and I often help our neighbors by loaning tools, provide an extra hand, and on two occasions, offered our backyard to do the repair, with the condition it is done within a few days. I’m not worried about being caught personally because it’s such a low priority “crime” that won’t be investigated for days if at all and would require someone to actively report it.
I do think it’s important to share one’s privilege which is one of the reasons why my partner and I are very keen on helping our especially low-income neighbors. These people often have a job they must be present at and cannot afford a costly repair or a new vehicle, penalizing them for trying to maintain their own property is an egregious and unnecessary overreach that actively perpetuates “illegal to be poor” we so desperately need to move beyond.
- TigeriusKirk 4y agoI'm out in the far reaches of Sacramento County where it's mostly small farms and large lots. People pretty much do what they want and enforcement only comes around if someone makes an issue of things. Mostly there's a tacit agreement to mind your own business and everyone sticks to it.
- ghaff 4y agoLarge lots don't make all neighbor problems go away but it makes a lot of them do so. Especially in a more rural/farming-oriented community.
- 1letterunixname 4y agoMy grandfather and his dad were both mechanics in California. It's another sign of America's war against tradespeople, personal economic agency, freedom to tinker, and manual labor. In a related phenomenon, lawmakers don't have qualms with hiring undocumented persons to work for them, their supporters taking out advertisements of wages in foreign newspapers to encourage undocumented migration, or ICE ostensibly "enforcing" documented migration while avoiding enclaves of undocumented persons if they happen to work for large organizations (major meat packers and other large agribusinesses) who pay the correct indirect bribes to the right politicians. Public racist recriminations of people who are victims of Monroe doctrine, American neocolonialism, and America-led climate change seeking a better place for themselves to not starve, or be kidnapped or murdered.. but to certain groups of ignorance and hate, a wall is "needed" to "keep them out."
- aksss 4y ago> ignorance and hate To many, it’s admirable to do what you say and say what you do. If there’s a law, enforce it. If you don’t want to enforce it, change the law. If you can’t change the law by convincing enough people, tough luck - it’s what democracy and rule of law nominally means. Casting everyone opposed to illegal immigration as “hateful and ignorant” makes about as much sense as charging open border advocates as “enemies of the state”. If you have to denigrate your political opposition to understand them, you probably are not really interested in understanding them. Without understanding the steelman opposing view, you become a very poor advocate of your own.
- jonfw 4y ago> To many, it’s admirable to do what you say and say what you do. If there’s a law, enforce it. If you don’t want to enforce it, change the law. If you can’t change the law by convincing enough people, tough luck - it’s what democracy and rule of law nominally means. In the US- law enforcement have quite a bit of authority to exercise discretion. Since we say (and courts have supported) that officers have discretion- part of doing what we say is choosing not to enforce laws sometimes. I'm not making any arguments about immigration one way or the other, but the law does not excuse anybody from considering the ethics of their actions
- HardlyCurious 4y agoDo your low income neighbors work on their cars at their houses? Have they been busted for doing it while you haven't?
- samtho 4y agoYes, most do but may not have adequate driveway space. People I directly have contact with, not yet. A few of them have stories of their friends/family/other neighbors getting warned for it, but I haven’t seen anyone directly ticketed for that as an offense alone.