Get a City Ordinance Citation
Don't get us wrong. We aren't saying you would purposely do things wrong, just to get your local city officials to cite you for violating something they have an ordinance about.
But perhaps after you understand what authority your city officials do and don't have, and after you are already prepared with some of the foundational concepts we teach here, who knows? You might end up setting your priorities a little differently, and if that means you get a citation because you spent time with your family instead of mowing the grass in your front lawn, then you won't be too scared about it; you'll take it in stride, and maybe even with a smile.
What is a Municipality?
Municipalities are corporations. Just like any corporation, they can create rules as to how they want things to run, what they will and won't allow, set up metrics and conditions and consequences and exceptions, as they see fit.
Unlike other corporations, we tend to think we all owe municipalities allegiance, even when we really don't owe them any such thing. They're a special kind of corporation, but they're not gods.
Example: Showing Up
Let's say some random corporation with a burger franchise makes up a rule that says everyone must show up for work on time and in uniform, wearing their nametag on their chest. They define "on time" as meaning within 2 minutes of when the designated shift begins. If a person is supposed to show up at 8:00a then they must arrive and clock in between 7:58a and 8:02a. Any sooner than that, and they'll be in trouble for trying to pad their timesheet. Any later than that, and they'll be in trouble for tardiness. Violations are recorded by facial recognition and your punishment varies based on whether it's your first violation (verbal reprimand from supervisor), second violation (written reprimand), or third violation (termination and you incur the cost of your uniform and nametag). After all, it's only fair: the burger company initially was going to take on those expenses, given the employee's commitment to be at work on time.
But then you schedule with a friend (neither of you being an employee) to meet in a church parking lot at 8:00 so you can car-pool somewhere. Does the burger company's definition of "on time" apply? Would your friend be in trouble? No, of course not. What if it's the third time she made you wait more than 5 minutes for a car-pool? No; the burger company is not involved. But what if your selected meeting place happens to be the parking lot of that burger franchise — right there in their "territory", and even observed by their uniformed parking lot attendant — wouldn't that mean your friend owes you the cost of a red apron and nametag? No, of course not. It sounds silly when we put it in these terms. And yet this is exactly the kind of scenario that we the people get confused about, and duped by, every day.
If your friend meant to arrive at 8:00 and doesn't arrive until 8:05, she knows that's not right. Especially if it's happened more than once before! But what would make her tend to think that a uniformed parking attendant can hand her a slip of paper, mentioning the cost of a uniform and nametag, and she must pay the burger company? What would make us tend to think that we must pay a municipality whose code enforcement officer hangs a citation on our front door, mentioning a punishment of $250 for letting the grass grow over a few inches tall?
Ordinances are Not Laws
Municipal corporations, also known as "cities", do have legislative authority to do certain things. Lawmaking is not one of them. We the people have elected legislators for that purpose, and they cannot delegate that authority (even if they wanted to).
As men and women, we may do anything we want as long as it is not explicitly prohibited by law. On the other hand, persons that are not people (fictional entities such as burger companies, other businesses, trusts, even governments) may do nothing unless it is explicitly allowed by law. Pay attention to these polar opposites.
In America, whether we're looking at a state's legislators or at the federal legislators, they are part of the legislative branch of government. By contrast, cities are not.
Municipal corporations are persons... which may not do anything unless there is a law (from elected legislators) that explicitly grants them permission to do it.
We the people, via our legislators, actually have granted municipal corporations authority to write ordinances, as well as the authority to establish municipal courts.
Those municipal courts serve two very different purposes, and we'll learn more about that later in the course.
Lest you start thinking that just because city ordinances are not laws binding on the public, so you're going to disregard every ordinance you can, and thumb your nose at the city officials for the fun of it, watch out! Not only would you be exposing yourself to the dangers of painful consequences from poorly-trained public officials, but also you would potentially run afoul of a real actual law. Some of the city ordinances are merely restating what is already binding on the public,