Danger: public "servant" at work
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Fed up with pooches peeing in the flowerpot outside his restaurant, banh mi maestro Duc Nguyen decided to take action — then ended up being declared a public nuisance.
He received a visit Tuesday at his Orange Street Vietnamese restaurant, Duc’s Place, from a city public health inspector, who fined him $250 for a poster he put in his restaurant window aimed at owners of the urinating pets.
Nguyen promises to fight the fine. And he’s fighting mad.
“I’m trying to keep the city clean,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “And I’m a ‘nuisance’?”
Meanwhile, he said, “these dog owners think they own the city. They can roam their dogs and pee and shit everywhere.
Nguyen took action after watching too many dogs relieving themselves in this flowerpot outside the restaurant, which is known for its crunchy, flavorful banh mi and other specialties from his native Vietnam.
“It’s disgusting. It’s right out the doorstep,” he said. “it attracts flies. Every time the door opens, flies come in. This is a food establishment! It’s unsanitary.
“Every night I have to clean the sidewalk. It’s like a river. I’m just fed up with this.”
So two weeks ago he took action. He put a surveillance camera in the window to catch the critters in the act. And he posted this tongue-in-cheek sign. It invited dog-owners to come inside either to “pay” for the privilege of soiling the dirt in the flowerpot, or else have Nguyen “return the favor.”
So naturally, city code enforcer Honda Smith showed up and, refusing to acknowledge the obvious satire of Nguyen's sign, gave him a $250 ticket for creating a public nuisance. She did point out, however, that he was free to spend a few hours away from his business and appeal.
Asked about the anger directed at her by the owner, Miss Smith refused to back down: " Smith said she encounters upset people all the time. 'It doesn’t affect me,” she said. “I’m a public servant. I have to handle it. I’ve got to do a job'. "
In a perfect world, Honda Smith would be reprimanded, suspended w/o pay for two weeks and forced to apologize to Nguyen. None of that will happen.
(photo credit: Paul Bass)
