An Open Letter To President Obama In Regard To Predatory Towing Abuses

Flickr.com Photo

On this historic day, I am taking the opportunity to write an open letter to our new president. The subject of the letter is not the usual stuff I put on this blog...

You see, I have an area of passion in regard to public policy reform...and what that area is, exactly, surprises a lot of folks, who think I throw all my spare creative energy into livability in North Minneapolis. In fact, I also care about the issue of "predatory towing," an emerging national problem.

For most of the last year, I've been doing more than my fair share just to help popularize the term "predatory towing" as part of a consciousness-raising effort on my OTHER blog, Towing Utopia Dot Com.

I believe cracking down on predatory towing--the seizure of vehicles on flimsy pretexts, which disproportionately impacts poor people and students--is a way to help protect individuals in this tough economy. Also, it's cheaper to regulate things than to fund various bail outs.

How do you fix an economy when your nation is in a deep financial hole? You regulate away the things which are hurting people, like taking their cars on flimsy pretexts when they need to drive to employment. You encourage cost effective high-tech solutions, like some cities have begun to implement instead of remaining stuck in archaic technologies. (Metal hooks and carbon paper, I like to say)

I hope those who regularly enjoy my Johnny Northside Dot blog may take a moment to read my Open Letter To President Obama on the subject of regulating predatory towing, click here for a link. If you read the many media stories I've collected on this other blog, you may be surprised to learn how much predatory towing impacts our nation.