We are in the era of corruption coming to the light.  This is an act of courage.  The biggest fear in confronting injustice is retaliation.  Indeed, several employees of the Office of Refugee Resettlement sent off alarm bells, and were subsequently fired.  I don't risk being fired, but I do risk being fined, over and over, by the city.

I was trying to figure out how to appeal the hearing findings on the ticket, and boy it is not easy.  I was told by the main supervisor I needed to get legal council.  This is so bizarre given that on their own paperwork they say I have the right to appeal the finding.  You would think there would be an avenue outlined on how to do this.

Everyone discouraged me from appealing, stating I would be in front of the same hearing officer.  This is besides the point.  If I have a right to appeal, I should have an easy path to do so.  I was also searching for how I could make a formal complaint against Matt Hayes.  It was easy to find links to pages to make complaints about your neighbors so that the Dept of Community Harassment, oh sorry I mean Development, could go and fine your neighbor.

What is going on here?  Why do we live in a society that is so cruel, cold and uncaring.  Get our your measuring stick and see if you can measure your soul.  I guess you won't ever get a ticket because it is non-existant!

I finally found a way to submit a complaint, it is a complaint against a civilian, not a city employee, which their should be special options for that, but there are not at the moment.  Here is what I submitted:

This is a formal complaint of harassment demonstrated against myself by Matt Hayes, an employee of the Department of Communituy Development. In July of 2022 Mr Hayes was responsible for th destruction of my property at 800 W. Thrush Ave. I did not pursue legal grievances at that time, but was featured on the news. The hearing stated that I was guilty of having tall weeds outside the gated area. In this case, I would beg the question, why then did the city come into my back yard and mow down the blueberry bushes, apple tree, rose bushes, cucumber plants and more. I paid the fine, but immediately following the hearing, Mr Hayes repeatedly parked his vehicle outside of my house for several days in a row. I contacted the city councilman to complain and following this, Mr Hayes desisted.

On October 10th of 2024 I found a notice in my door at 2225 Sheridan Rd. citing a code violation of tall weeds. There were a small number of fox tales that had sprung up. I immediately addressed them, however, the date I received the notice (the 10th of October) was also the final date. The citation had already been issued.
There was no 5 day notice.

I believe this was intentional and reflects harassment. First, Matt Hayes is not assigned to this area, and so it is strange to me that he would be issuing a violation for my property at all. I believe that he saw the for sale sign, and was taking the opportunity to harass me, causing me grief and expense.

During the hearing, it was stated that he was told to do a sweep down Sheridan. This should be verified. Regardless, the fact that the notice was not put into the door until AFTER the citation was already issued.

How bad does it have to get before people speak out.  It is a moral obligation to shine light on things that are not right.  It is not right to create fear in a neighborhood and fine poor people for tall grass. I have had many cases in my life where I saw corruption.  

When I was in gradschool, I took a year off and worked at the Veterans Hospital in Dallas TX.  I love lab work, and I had so much freedom as the head technician there.  However, there were some strange things right from the start.  The place was so dirty, and to do microdialysis requires that you have a completely sterile environment.  I spent my first month cleaning.

Second, we used restricted drugs for our anastesia.  You must log all use of these drugs, and when I asked about this, I was shown a drawer full of empty bottles.  The manager said, "Here is our log."

But the real issue didn't become apparent until some time later.  I had cleaned up the system and was getting good data when the lab manager switched out the liquid mobile phase I was using and put in his own.  At first I liked it because it generated HUGE data peaks.  Something was odd though.  My data started to change.  Instead of having a rise and fall in serotonin levels, now they just rose and stayed elevated.  

After several weeks of trying to understand the issue, I finally gave up.  Because we were collecting so much data I was given an assistant.  The new guy didn't understand how to mix the mobile phase properly and so we wound up having two different formula.  This is not really an issue since each experiment is tuned, so to speak.  But it revealed the fact that the large data peak was NOT serotonin at all.  I believe the initial formulation was probably a desperate attempt to get viable data, but after it was discovered, they should have been willing to report the discrepancy.  

I had the opportunity to report them, and I didn't.  I feel like that was a mistake.  Today, I have made a decision that I will expose corruption.  The goal is to do it in the most elegant way.  What will cause the most positive outcome?  What will most likely result in positive change?  This is my charge, this is God's will for my life.  Believe me, I am not overjoyed at the prospect.  Nonetheless, I feel compelled by something greater than myself to step onto this path.  I wonder where it will lead me?

I had my hearing with the city about the ticket.  It was such a joke.  They did not listen to me, and said there was a proponderance of evidence against me.  They said that they would give me a ticket for the minimum amount (which is apparently half).  This is part of the way in which they manipulate you into just paying in the first place.  If you pay instead of having a hearing you can pay half the amount 50$.  For most of our community members this is a great deal of money.  

So when he said that in the hearing, I was not impressed.  Then I got the ticket in the mail.  It was not for half the amount, but for the full 100$.  If you try to appeal, it costs 60$.  I have to do something.  This is the age of fighting corruption, and this department is, as I said during the hearing, "a disgrace to it's name".

Can we do something different in our local government?  If I am to truly embrace my goal of loving and supportive community, then it may mean that I have to address the ongoing corruption in our local politics.  Am I ready for this challenge?  

​We will find out.

The new era of the Community House Network is all about collaboration.  One of my greatest regrets about having let go of the two main houses is that we can no longer host a food pantry.  I struggled so hard to make sure our food got out to the community, to the people who needed it.  It made a positive impact in our neighborhood and was a way to reduce the stress of hunger our kiddos often experience.

So, when Ethel asked me to participate in her feeding program, I was more than ready to help.  Ethel does everything big.  She had endless trays of food, Turkey AND ham, dressing, greenbeans, mac and cheese.  Boy it was a real feast.  It is a family affair too.  So much love present.