If They Get Away with Doing This to Me, Will You Be Next??

Adria Ross is organizing this fundraiser.

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Earlier this month, I had the idea of wanting to meet my neighbors by sharing my pool during an extreme heat wave event. So I posted the invitation on two private FB groups for the local Boulevard and Mountain Communities, and I made a special page on my website to tell people how to sign up for it. But the only one who showed up was the County of San Diego Health Department claiming I was "operating a public pool" without a permit. At the same time as they were citing me for this supposed "public pool," they were also referring the case to the Planning Department as an unpermitted "private pool," two mutually-exclusive designations. The pool in question has been here since the late 1940s. I did not build it. I just dug it back out because it had been filled with dirt after a fire in 2012. According to the codes, pre-existing pools with no structural changes don't require a permit. Regardless, I have now been fined a fee for their investigation of 2 hours at $194/hr for a total of $388. But, unfortunately it didn't end there. A few days later, The Planning Department Code Enforcement showed up telling me he was going to be issuing multiple violations and demanding that I remove everything off my property, despite the fact that you can't see anything from any public right of way. But I'll get back to that in a minute.

There are some very significant issues here beyond just the kind-of dick move of punishing someone for trying to do a nice thing for her community during an extreme heat event in a remote, rural area of the backcountry where there are very few pools at all, zero public pools (or parks, or even a library for that matter).

Problem #1: The county is not supposed to investigate anonymous complaints, but I have asked several times what steps were taken to assess and verify the identity of the complainant, and I have received no answer. Secondly, in a call with a reporter (see transcript), the Health Department officer admits that the only information they have in their system is an email address that is not valid.

Problem #2: At the same time as the Health Department officer was citing me as a "public pool," she simultaneously referred the case to the Planning Department as a "private pool." These are conflicting designations, which raises questions such as: if its believed to be a public pool, then how and why are they also referring it to another department as being private? And if its being referred to another department for being private, then how and why are they also citing it as public? This seems a bit like just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Problem #3: In a conversation with a reporter (see transcript), the Health Department official clearly states my pool is private, yet they are still citing me as public. This demonstrates some level of disingenuousness and deception.

Problem #4: The Health Department official has repeatedly stated that if more than 2 neighbors use (or even intend to use) a private pool, this somehow automatically reclassifies it as public. However, no such code or regulation exists which supports this claim. It appears to be a completely fabricated standard of evaluation.

Problem #5: The Health Department official claims there is no process to appeal her decision, which violates state and federal law and my right to due process.

Now... getting back to the second issue with the Planning Department, the fact is that no complaint was ever made about the things on my property and there is nothing at all visible from any public right of way. Had this unfair public pool persecution not occurred, this related issue would not have come about either. We're talking about 2 sea containers, a few trailers used as an office, woodshop and crafts shop, a couple of vehicles and a tractor on 31 1/2 acres. Fact is that Boulevard is a rural community where probably a good 80% of the properties have similar setups (if not worse, and in many cases much worse). To me, this selective enforcement of something that would, if enforced uniformly, displace a majority of the population of this area seems like I'm being singled out and picked on.

Therefore, I am asking my friends, neighbors, local community, and anyone who is not happy with the bureaucratic overreach so prevalent in our society today to help me fight back against this unfair treatment by contributing to this GoFundMe. The funds collected will go toward paying the fine and then hopefully to hiring an attorney to help me stand up for my rights, for private property rights in general, for the rights of people to make their own choices about what is safe for them and their family, for the rights of communities to come together if they choose to without the imposition and overreach of some bloated bureaucracy deciding for them whether they can come cool off in a neighbor's pool or not.

Let me just say for the record that I am not against some manner of reasonable safety guidelines, and I obviously recognize the need for some measure of order in a functioning society. However, I think we have all noticed by now that the institutions we built to serve us have gone way beyond any reasonable standard of regulation and now seek to regulate every minute facet of our lives. This problem has gotten completely out of control, and it's gotten that way because we have allowed it to do so. Now is the time to stand up and say enough is enough because if we all continue to let these agencies steal our agency, it will soon be too late to do anything to change it.

Every little bit helps, no matter how big or small. And if you can't spare anything, then please just share this as much as possible. Thank you so much for your time and support, and as much as I'm fighting for my rights, it will be on my mind that this is a stand I am taking in solidarity with everyone who hasn't been able to stand up for their own rights and anyone who may face a similar situation in the future.