By Ken Snyder
It's surprising just how many connections you can find in KCK. Some may think I'm paranoid, but they said the same thing about my BPU case.
One particular incident comes to mind. I have an old (1985) GMC truck I keep at my other house (the one I've been renovating) because I don't have room where we're living. I don't drive it very much because 1) I have another truck, and 2) it overheats due to a radiator I need to replace (it's too small and I haven't been able to afford it so far). When I can get the time I have plans to rebuild this truck and replace the one I currently drive.
Well, I did something that wasn't totally square with the city codes. Behind the house I'm renovating I parked the truck, but it wasn't on an "improved surface" like the codes want you to. I kept parking it there in order to keep the driveway clear behind the gate (in the back yard, mind you).
Surprisingly enough, someone from the Unified Government (Kansas City, Kansas -- BPU's keepers) decided that where my truck was parked (behind my house, practically hidden from view from the street) was such a grievance that they needed to send me a notice of code violation. Also surprising was the fact that the inspector (who had only been a matter of weeks on the job) decided to travel all through their territory in KCK, get out of their vehicle, climb up the hill in front of the house, walk half-way to the back of the house in order to not only see that the license plate wasn't on the back of the truck (removed to prevent it from being stolen) but the truck wasn't parked on an "improved surface."
OK, once I got their initial notice I went back over to the house and moved the truck back onto the driveway. Keep in mind that my driveway probably dates back to the 1920's or 1930's and isn't in the best shape. But I made damn sure the truck was on the driveway. That wasn't good enough for them, or at least they decided to skip a reinspection before sending out a second notice. With it, I had to appear in court for the transgression of something not even viewable from a public street.
I was preparing for another deployment at the time, and the last thing I needed was to waste time dealing with this nonsense. But I took the time to appear in court, and once again things seem far too coincidental. I took the time to send a set of questions to the inspector that I expected to ask when we had our date in court. But that would not happen; not during our first date, and not during our second court date (given that this couldn't get reconciled in just one court date). That second date was the fiasco to end all fiascos: first, the attorney (who, by the way, works for City Attorney Ms. Boeding -- the same Ms. Boeding I caught in a LIE regarding when she knew about my case) told me he'd drop the charges if I put some more gravel on my driveway -- which I showed him didn't need any gravel (remember, it's old). Next, he comes back and says he's not going to drop the charges, we'll have to go before the judge. Finally, once each and every other case has been heard it was time for me to appear -- and they dropped the charges. I waited that entire time just to be told they wouldn't "prosecute." Coincidence, or another case of BPU "connections"?
Their next stunt was to try to turn a neighbor against me, saying I was complaining about his yard and what he had parked on it. Nice try. How much more of this crap was going to happen? I don't think I've seen the last of the Unified Government or BPU trying to get under my skin. No matter what they try it will still fail to deter me from getting justice, sooner or later.
Next: No Quarter
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