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Saturday, July 13, 1996 Page:
Township gets reminder about who’s the boss
YOU can fight City HallIn this instance, we are not talking about Hazleton
City Council which has been waging all-out war with Mayor Mike Marsicano
almost since the day he took office.
We mean you — taxpayer, private citizen, put-upon property owner. Take
Anthony Bortone of Hazle Township, for example.
Bortone has had the misfortune of living and owning property next to
someone who has turned his land into an old-tire repository and graveyard for
junked cars. After fruitless efforts spanning several years of trying to get
his neighbor to clean up, Bortone has filed suit against Hazle Township for
failing to enforce its own laws.
In our highly litigious society, we don’t generally applaud news of yet
another lawsuit clogging up the courts. But Bortone’s move seems to have been
a last resort, a lever meant to dislodge the wedge of bureaucratic inaction.
Regardless of the outcome or whether the case even goes to court, we are
struck with the common-sense approach that Bortone has taken.
Government exists for the benefit of its citizens and frames laws to
protect its constituent’s basic rights. And if a citizen genuinely feels that
those laws — whether they pertain to property, personal safety, or public
services — are not enforced, the government in question should be held
accountable.
And Bortone’s complaint is about the township’s accountability.
The message the lawsuit sends to the township is that when government fails
to live up to its contract with the people, it is liable. The message it sends
to citizens is that, within reason and after appropriate time and effort, you
can, and perhaps should, fight city hall.