Photo From Sophie's Blog"Sophie" sounds like a very nice woman, and we share a common interest of "re-purposing" cast off treasures. Who would be mean to somebody like Sophie? A nasty towing company called "Beaverton Towing," that's who...
In between discussions about antiques and her ordinary life, Sophie's blog tells a sordid, bloody tale about "the parking lot of doom" and her spontaneous crusade to get justice after a case of predatory towing. Click to the left for one of the most vivid entries, then use the search term "towing" on Sophie's blog to find all the ugly details.
Sophie's (layperson) attempt at legal research produced a classic bureaucratic runaround, and a discovery that a supposed "federal law" to protect citizens from predatory towing doesn't do much of anything...except allegedly empower states to do something. If they want. When they get around to it. Yawn. Nappy time.
On the one hand, the digging which went into my last handful of posts tell me Oregon is a predatory towing theme park. But on the other hand, I've discovered there are activists and journalists vigorously exposing these issues in Oregon...is it possible Oregon is no better and no worse than a lot of other places, but some folks in Oregon are awake and aware? I hope that's actually the case.
3 comments:
Thanks for helping spread the word about predatory towing issues, and for sharing lots of helpful information about had BAD it has gotten here in Oregon! I will share your blog with the Mayors assistant in Beaverton as more 'fuel for the battle'!
aj @ Sophie's
Kudos to you bigtime! I too have donned the cape of superhero crusader, and have working with Sean Cruz (Senator Gordly's Chief of Staff) in Oregon to attempt to put sensibility, reason, and good-faith back into the towing industry. They've been riding the gravy train on biscuit wheels since the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994, and slowly the 'Feds' are seeing just how much of a OOPS that was to deregulate the towing industry and allow piracy to run rampant by some in the tow industry.
So I'm somewhat of a legal advisor and an advocate for tow victims. I can quote Federal, State, and Municipal legal statutes almost by heart.
If you think Oregon is bad for predatory towing, check Gresham Oregon, where virtually every non-public property is a forest of signs regulating the parking of the seemingly countless acreage of 'vehicle harvesting grounds' - yes, of course... by means of 'Patrol Tow' agreements which place the decision-making authority in the hands of the tow driver with nearly full autonomy.
Thanks, Tim, I will check out Greshman, Oregon.
We should communicate more by email.
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