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South Holland, IL (WBBM) — Yvette Walker was laid off due to COVID-19 and now she faces hundreds of dollars in fines from the village of South Holland.
It started with a rusty flagpole the village found as they inspected houses around town. Walker told CBS 2 Morning Insider Tim McNicholas they came after her again when she argued against the first fine.
Laid off since March, and mother to a college student, fixing a rusty flagpole was not at the top of Yvette Walker’s list.
“Me helping him with college and trying to maintain my lifestyle here, I don’t have the money for that,” Walker said.
A letter from the village in June said they’ve been “conducting inspections throughout the village,” and gave her 30 days to fix the pole.
“Of course I’m not gonna get a ladder and try to go all the way up this pole. So I would have to get someone to paint it; prime it and paint it,” Walker said.
Walker said she explained that to the village, but they still fined her. She argued her case at a hearing earlier this month, but was struck down again.
A few days after her hearing, she got another fine in the mail; this time a $300 fine for a dead bush on her front lawn.
“It seemed like they are targeting me, because I refused to pay the $100 for the pole,” Walker said.
A $300 dollar fine for a bush without leaves in October.
Then they increased the fine for the flagpole to $300, and threatened to fine her more each day she doesn’t pay.
We found similar looking bushes outside the village hall and the mayor’s own house.
“This time of the year, a lot of leaves are shedding off bushes and off trees as well,” Walker said.
CBS 2 called and visited village hall, and got a call back from an administrative assistant, who said village fines are not about revenue, but keeping homes from falling into disrepair. She said she’d look into Walker’s case and call us back.
“All of this is a burden right now and it’s unnecessary,” Walker said.
She’s anxiously awaiting the response.
The assistant called back to say Walker is not in compliance. The mayor got back to us Tuesday night, saying he’s out of town — but there must be a logical explanation, and he’ll have his team look into it.
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