Sometimes, Saving the Planet Requires Butting Heads With Bureaucracy

Ever get the feeling that government harangues you to be environmentally correct, but then whacks you on the head when you try?

Case No. 1: We’re all supposed to be saving/hoarding/conserving water, right?

Yes, but if you live in the unincorporated areas, you need a building permit to install an ultra low-flush toilet in your home.

That’s a trip (weekdays, bankers’ hours) to the Building Inspection Department, a wait in line, and $14.60 for the permit. And then a visit from an inspector to check your new commode.

There’s a move at the Board of Supervisors to flush the permit requirement for retrofits. There’s also resistance among building inspectors, who fear the spread of outlaw toilets.

Building inspectors believe the Uniform Plumbing Code ought to be as hard to amend as the Ten Commandments.

Case No. 2: We’re all supposed to recycle aluminum cans so the Miramar dump doesn’t overflow.

But when Tom Barron, 18, a senior at Mt. Carmel High School, was sifting through the trash cans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, a no-nonsense cop told him to quit it or get busted.

Mind you, Barron is no renegade. He had paid his $3 to get into the parking lot.

All he wanted was to find some cans to recycle and make a few bucks before going off to college to major in environmental conservation and business (is he a true San Diego kid or what?).

“I was trying to do something good for the environment,” he said. “I wasn’t making a mess, hassling anyone, or making any noise.”

Bill Wilson, the stadium manager, says he’s all for recycling. He has recycling bins everywhere, including the sky boxes.

But he says there’s a county anti-scavenging ordinance that prevents people from rescuing aluminum cans from the trash. He says his hands are tied.

It’s enough to make you an environmental anarchist.

Half an Earful

Sunday surprises.

* Sign at Point Loma nightspot: “Semi-Live Entertainment.”

* When the Marine Corps recently planned to stage a training exercise in Borrego Springs, homeowner opposition made the corps retreat.

That was embarrassing to a community where pro-Desert Storm sentiment ran high and where officialdom had been gung-ho for the training exercise.

Today, the Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce is making amends: A hastily arranged Salute to the American Spirit and the Marine Corps, with speeches, music and a civic picnic.

* Look for Joe Dolphin, former owner of a San Diego paramedic firm, to join the Wilson Administration in Sacramento.

* Who says beachites are self-absorbed? The Ocean Beach People’s Natural Food Market donated $1,000 to the Bangladesh relief effort.

* Forget the rumors, La Jolla attorney Lynn Schenk says she won’t be running for county supervisor next year. She lost a bitter fight to Susan Golding in 1984 and then waged an equally bitter slander suit.

* Ben Tupper of Ramona swears he spotted two women driving matching Mercedeses on Interstate 15 near Fallbrook.

One with the license plate: ICIN4IT. The other: BNGOOD.

Overseeing the Power

More power to you. Or maybe less.

Michael Shames, executive director of the Utility Consumers Action Network, has decided not to make a run this year for San Diego City Council.

Even after helping kill The Merger, he figures there’s work left to do in watchdogging San Diego Gas & Electric. Dependable service at a good price, etc.

Take the recent television show during which Shames was interviewed for 30 minutes about the sins of SDG&E.; He set the timer on his VCR at home.

But, when he got home, he found only a third of the show had been taped.

SDG&E; had suffered a power outage in his neighborhood.