Ignorance can be an amazing thing.  I spent almost 20 years of my life as a police officer and I used to have a saying that was very handy "Life is tough, and its even tougher if you are stupid"  Believe me in that time I ran into some people that did some stupid stuff.  

Recently at the June 20th, 2008 city council meeting of the City of Missouri Valley Iowa an interesting conversation occurred with the city council, and keep in mind, these are people that are actually running a city.  For 10 of the years I was in law enforcement this was the exact city I worked for.  During their discussion about messy yards and tall grass a city councilman asked if real estate agents could be held accountable for the messy yards.  Well, hey thats a fair enough question, I mean after all this guy is a city councilman and who would expect him to have a very very very basic understanding of the law anyway?  It was the response to the question that nearly made me choke, but the city clerk responded with "we already tried that, it just doesn't work" 

How in the world are these people running a city?  Could you imagine planting your sign in some sellers yard and then being responsible for their behavior, errors or ommissions?  Certainly its always good advice to tell a seller to keep the yard clean, but if they don't could you imagine being ticketed by the city for it?  I have a hard enough time keeping track of myself, let alone the actions of others.

Below is a copy of the conversation from this website http://www.missourivalleytimes.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=123&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&S=1

VEXING HIGH GRASS

Miller led a discussion on how the city should handle mowing of tall grass and weeds on properties that have been foreclosed on, and are unoccupied. She said her office often has trouble finding out who is responsible for the properties, and by the time she does and an abatement letter is sent out, it is often weeks before grass is cut. The result is high grass all over town.

She asked the council for input on whether the city should pay to have the mowing done and then charge for it later, when a responsible party is discovered. She also wanted to get their views on how to pay since the lot sizes and conditions vary wildly--should she start a list of available mowers, put the job out for bids?

Councilman Struble said he would like to see the cemetery mowers get the work. "They're already working for the city."

Councilman Marshall said, "Can we legally do that since we don't have permission to go on the property?"

Miller said the mowing takes place after the abatement letter has run its course. "Someone gets notice," she said. "We want to be ready to mow as soon as the notice letter expires."

Councilman Dinsmore asked, "Can real estate agents be held responsible?"

"We tried that," said Miller. "It just doesn't work."

Mayor Sargent said, "Let's have Curt Bonham do it."

Struble said, "Let him set his own price. We'll get it back."

Bottom line, said Dinsmore: "Let's let Rita make the decision, we'll get the work done quicker."