The Spirit of ’76 is alive and well in America, despite everything: Witness the California couple who became pothole-filling local heroes.
Alex and Daisy De La Rosa, of Compton, got so sick of the decayed streets in their city — where potholes wreak havoc on tires and car suspensions and make driving a nightmare — that they began to fill them in themselves.
“We’ve begged the city for help, but they can’t keep up,” the De La Rosas said. “Many of us are hardworking and cannot afford” the “costly repairs” for the damage the potholes cause.
Alex and Daisy De La Rosa were ordered to stop filling in the potholes scattered throughout their neighborhood in Compton, California. ABC7/YouTube
Right. What’s more American than tackling a problem like that head-on?
No waiting around for permission, no bureaucratic delays: Spot an issue and take action to fix it using grit, gumption and basic know-how.
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And the problem the De La Rosas tackled was a community problem: The potholes make everyone’s life worse, and by fixing them on their own dime and time, the pair were displaying true civic virtue.
Yes, it may be small-scale. But this is what our country’s all about.
No wonder that, once they set up a GoFundMe to help defray the costs of their asphalt philanthropy, the money came pouring in.
The villain here (as so often) turns out to be local government.
The couple’s work was halted after they received a cease-and-desist order from city officials. GoFundMe
As soon as the De La Rosas’ valiant efforts started to get attention, California’s omnipresent Ellsworth Tooheys started throwing their weight around.
“Your actions have raised serious concerns as they post a threat to public safety and the integrity of our city’s infrastructure,” griped Compton’s Community Improvement Services Department in a cease-and-desist letter.
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It’s pose a threat, not post a threat, guys: You’re as bad at spelling as you are at fixing the roads.
And the only threats to the infrastructure here are your taxpayer-funded, asleep-on-the-job crews.
The De La Rosas are simply following the best American tradition and stepping in where the city won’t (and embarrassing local muckamucks in the process, which doubtless explains the legal threat).
That’s why we’re joining all of Compton in crying out: Let them fill!
And let freedom ring.
Source link: https://nypost.com/2024/04/01/opinion/pothole-filling-california-couple-shows-the-spirit-of-americas-alive-and-well/