HANDS OFF – STEALING IS A CRIME

Hands off – stealing is a crime. Charlotte County employee’s absconds with Tonya the Robot, and her trike before our very eyes.

KIM CAMPANELLA·SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2016

Today, our beloved mascot Tonya the sign waiver was kidnapped. OK, nope, not this time. I am not going to sugar coat it. I will not succumb to the fear this time of retaliation. I need to call it what it is. She was stolen. When someone is kidnapped, there is usually a ransom or information that will bring them home. Where is our ransom note? While a theft around the store isn’t unusual, the perpetrator was. Who you ask? A Charlotte County code compliance official.
I have a lot of stories I could of shared, but usually have kept quite, solely out of fear. For instance: when we had our inventory stolen, found, then hauled off to a Ft Myers tow yard where we were handed a $800 tow bill with storage charges.
After 26 years of being in small business in Charlotte County , I can say with the strongest conviction, they have sank to the lowest of lows : theft. At around 11am Friday morning, county employee Andre was spotted from our window removing and loading in his truck our sign waver robot and trike outside. This was over $1,400 for worth of items. He never attempted to issue warning, a ticket, or even communicate the fact he was loading up Tonya and absconding with her and her trike. In fact, if we hadn’t of seen him with our very eyes, we still would have no idea he was the perp. When we asked him to give Tonya and the trike back, he sped off. Tonya was a sign waving robot with intricate moving electronic parts. She needed to be handled with care, not carelessly hurled into the back of a pick up.

Tonya, the sign robot was purchased when the county shut down the access road for their road project, as an attempt to let the public know we were open. The business suffered, as did many other businesses. It was no surprise the media contacted me at that time, and other business back then to see how we were “making do”, and staying afloat. The picture above with Tonya illustrates that. In fact, we are still now trying to recover. Tonya did her job, then went into hibernation.

Recently, as in 2 days ago, we decided to bring her out again. We saw many other business with signs out front, and needed to increase exposure and rebound from the effects of the road closure. The closure affected us, as well as other business’s as you can imagine with the help of the pictures below. To be fair, we were on a small strip of county property in front of our business though I’m not positive, only because our almost 5 digit annual tax bill indicates we are paying tax for the access strip in front of the store.

Regardless if it is county property or mine, that point is not the one I’m making. The point is our items were stolen with no indication on how to get them back. The point is if we “broke the ordinance”, then give us a fine. Tell me a a bad girl, lash me, fine me, but hands off my property. But remember Charlotte County: fine every other business as well. Don’t make an example of us to prove your point. Maybe then, this fight would be made in vast numbers. Maybe you would hear the voice of hundreds of affected business’s, and not just one.
Imagine if the cycling shoe was on the other foot. Imagine if I helped myself to one of their many bulldozers they planted in front of my business and drove it home. Imagine what the repercussion would be. After all, their machinery was an annoyance, and a financial hardship. It lasted over a year. What if I let my emotions supersede common sense? Of course that wouldn’t happen though- my parents taught me that stealing is wrong. I guess Charlotte County code compliance missed that memo.

As a side note,: we have obeyed and adhered to their often unreasonable, and unlawful requests to keep peace, but no more. Like being told our Bicycle Center Bus that is licensed, insured, and provides free service to county events could not be parked on the access road, because it is a “sign”. The same vehicle that is used to support any County health expo, event, and more. Although we disagreed with their opinion, we conceded. The vehicle was moved to the front of our building. It has since been the culprit of many near accidents, due to the fact it creates a blind spot for drivers.

We also sodded an area on the access road that was never ours, that we never utilized, because we were told to. One would assume, if we were made to sod the access strip of land, even though it wasn’t the one in front of our building, business’s must have some ownership. Otherwise, why would they be expected to foot the bill? Insanity? Yes!

This abduction of Tonya our robot and her ride, is the straw that broke the camels back.The spoke that popped the wheel, the nail that flattened the tire.
Even when I take away things from my kids, I tell them why, and give them the opportunity to right the wrong, and earn them back. I’ve traveled to many counties in Florida. Most have committees solely dedicated to help business’s thrive and survive. Sadly, I have been met with quite the opposite.
My point is this. If we broke the ordinance, and are guilty- then penalize me. But make sure that every other business’s on 41 also have to adhere to the same stringent standard. That means every vehicle, balloon, inflatable, wooden sign, plastic sign, and human sign waver also need to disappear. Additionally, don’t take my things, and not give me any information on who, what, where, or how to get them back. Leave me a ransom note, throw me a bone. Since I haven’t gotten information on how to get my items back, next stop is a police report, then maybe the media.

Or here’s a crazy thought- how about helping business’s in our community. Maybe a hand up, instead of constant harassment. Statistics are not on our side. We(all small business’s) need compassion, kindness, and advocacy if you wan’t us to beat the odds

Sorry Charlotte County: this Mom , of the Mom and Pop businesses, isn’t folding up her tent to fade quietly into the woodwork like so many other businesses have been forced to do. Give us our items back with an apology. We have a responsibility to provide for our employees and their and their families by keeping our doors open. Your “big dig” that was planned in the middle of the busy season, and went on far long then anticipated, caused great financial hardship. Thousands were lost. Furthermore, you cant play favorites by allowing some business to have homemade wooden signs out front for 2 years, the stealing signs of other businesses that gave been out 2 days.

Maybe this 40 something business woman is just tired of the double talk. Maybe my premenopausal hormones racing around my head, have caused me to shake my head, dig my heels in and declare- I will no longer tolerate the abuse.
Charlotte County- you can’t have it both ways. You can’t declare as your tagline, “Open for Business”, and then demonstrate, you wan’t everything but.Game on Charlotte County code compliance. Proving a point will only make me have to prove mine.