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WEBVTT ANTHONY: THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. AS YOU CAN SEE BEHIND ME, MEMBERS FROM THE PALM BEACH TENANTS UNION ARE PROTESTING AGAINST LAKE WORTH’S OPERATION RED TAG, CALLING IT A TAX ON THE POOR. WITH IMMIGRANTS HERE JUST TRYING TO MAKE ENDS MEET. THE CITY PASSED THE ORDINANCE IN 2017 GIVING CODE ENFORCEMENT THE POWER TO TAG CARS THAT NEED TO BE TOWED. THE OWNERS NEED TO PAY THE TOWING COMPANY IF THEY WANT THE VEHICLE RECOVERED. AND IF THEY RESOLVE THE VIOLATION BEFORE THEIR TIME TO CORRECT IT IS UP, THEY DON’T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING. BUT THE TENANTS UNION SAYS THE CITY ISSUED HUNDREDS OF RED TAGS IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS FOR MINOR VIOLATIONS SPECIFICALLY TARGETING LOW INCOME AND NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING RESIDENTS THE TENANTS UNION IS DEMANDING AT THE VERY LEAST THE CITY STOPS CODE ACTION UNTIL THEY HIRE A BILINGUAL CODE OFFICER THAT CAN TRANSLATE THE TAGS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SIMPLY CAN’T AFFORD IT. >> IF YOU’RE A POOR PERSON AND YOU GET ONE OF THESE TAGS ON YOUR VEHICLE OR ON YOUR HOME, YOU’VE GOT FIVE DAYS TO PAY. THAT IS NOT A PAY PERIOD. THAT MEANS THAT YOU SUDDENLY HAVE A NEW BILL THAT YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF RIGHT NOW OR THE CITY CAN COME AND TAKE YOUR PROPERTY. >> IF THERE IS A WAY WE CAN GET THE MESSAGE OUT BETTER, WE CAN TAKE THAT TO HEART. BUT THAT DOESN’T -- WE ARE TO CONTINUE TO ENFORCE THE LAW THE BEST WE CAN. ANTHONY: THE LAKE WORTH CITY MANAGER SAYS ABANDONED AND INOPERABLE CARS HAVE CLUTTERED COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS FOR YEARS. WE’RE JUST NOW STARTING TO SEE THE RESULTS OF OPERATION RED TAG. AS I’M SURE YOU CAN HEAR BEHIND ME, THAT PROTEST IS IN FULL SWING. A LOT OF THEM SAY THEY WILL GO INSIDE TO EXPRESS A LOT OF THEIR CONCERNS AND FRUSTRATIONS TO THE CITY COMMISSION. WE WILL YOU

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Members from the Palm Beach County Tenants Union protested at the city commission meeting Tuesday night. It’s all over Lake Worth’s Operation Red Tag.The city passed the ordinance in 2017 giving code enforcement the power to tag cars that need to be towed. “This is a tax on the poor. It’s completely unnecessary, frivolous, arbitrary, code violations and it’s being selectively enforced on the poorest people in the city,” said Adam Wasserman, co-chair of the tenants union The owners need to pay the towing company if they want the vehicle recovered. If they resolve the violation before their time to correct it is up, they don’t have to pay anything. “If you’re a poor person, and you get one of these tags on your vehicle or on your home, you’ve got five days to pay. That is not a pay period. That means you have a new bill that you need to take care of right now or the city can come and take your property,” said tenant union member Samson Kpadeno. The tenants union says the city issued hundreds of red tags in the last two months for minor violations, specifically targeting low-income and non-English speaking residents. The tenants union is demanding, at the very least, that city stop code action until it can hire a bilingual code officer who can translate the tags for the people who simply can’t afford it. “For the city to not do this is really a sign of disrespect to one of the largest communities we have here. If you don’t know the code, it’s quite easy to violate it doing things that you don’t think is a problem,” said Kpadeno. The Lake Worth city manager said abandoned and inoperable cars have cluttered commercial and residential areas for years.We’re just now starting to see the results of Operation Red Tag. “If there’s a way that we can get the message out better, then we’ll definitely take that to heart. But it doesn’t remove the fact that these vehicles are a problem and we’re going to continue to enforce the law as best as we can,” said City Manager Michael Bornstein.