As stated today on raisethehammer.org "By-law enforcement is complaint-based. We need to break the cycle of willful negligence and emergency demolition in this city by reporting reporting property standards by-law infractions to the city when we see them" and on February 6th, the first Bylaw Crawl will commence.

I am no stranger to the City's bylaw's, namely parking, and I don't think that those particular by-law officers are motivated by public complaint, however, the biggies, such as property standards, are primarily activated by public complaint. This in itself poses a problem simply because most of the time it's neighbors having to make the complaint...and that may not do well for good relationships on the street! Many years ago, I met a family who complained to the City about their neighbor...and their hedge accidently burnt down a few days later!

We've all been brought up with the old "Tattle Tale" fear...and perhaps people may fear repercussions if they rat their neighbors out. Forming a group of people actually doing a crawl, may in fact give property owners some anonymity. Perhaps they can call the "Crawl"...and have them visit their particular problematic neighborhood? City Hall may soon get the hint and put a solid bylaw enforcement program into place!

Visit http://www.raisethehammer.org/  and get the details!