Laurels & lances: Action & inaction

Laurel: To asking for more. Brackenridge residents aren’t waiting for small problems to become big trouble.

At a meeting this week, resident Heather Artman made a simple but important point: If ordinances aren’t enforced, they don’t matter. Maybe uncut grass and overflowing garbage cans don’t seem like a big deal, but for those living next door, they can be.

Borough officials did issue 27 warning letters and 11 citations last month. However, those cases can disappear when they reach court, leaving residents frustrated and problems unsolved.

The real issue? A part-time code enforcement officer simply isn’t enough to keep pace with growing problems, especially in a borough with a high number of rental properties.

Residents raising their voices aren’t just complaining. They are advocating for the things their community needs to remain a great place to live: structure, consistency and accountability. They are doing what too many people don’t — being active participants instead of passive observers.

Brackenridge doesn’t need to write new rules. They have ordinances. What the borough needs is to ensure those ordinances are being followed. The borough has a responsibility to make that happen.

Lance: To missing a point. To make a mistake is easy. Everyone does it. But a paperwork error is a one-time thing. It is not a 12-year issue affecting 20,000 cases and impacting lives years later.

That’s not a mistake. That’s a failure.

Allegheny County’s Department of Court Records has made that kind of failure. The office neglected to send paperwork to PennDOT to suspend driver licenses. It wasn’t just once or twice. It happened dating back to 2013.

Justin Snodgrass, 43, of White Oak, pleaded guilty to a DUI offense in 2021. He surrendered his license. He fulfilled his sentence.

Now, because of a bureaucratic error, he is facing his suspension all over again, with the very real possibility of losing his job, which requires him to drive. He can appeal — if he pays $145 and waits for a hearing months down the road. And he is just one of many people facing these kinds of problems.

This would be easier to accept if the department was taking appropriate responsibility. But while Director of Court Records Michael McGeever says he is “sickened” by the error and his “heart goes out” to those affected, his words stop short of a real mea culpa.

“There was no malfeasance,” McGeever said.

The word malfeasance means wrongdoing by a public official. While there may have been no malice or intent to the department’s failure, something was definitely done wrong. Incompetence doesn’t seem like much of a defense.