Don't plant that water resistant plant here, podnuh

It's a Wednesday City Council agenda day today and I've got WRR on in the background listening to a bunch of folks on the council who try to "out-hero" their colleagues. What I haven't heard -- at least not yet -- is the usual criticisms of the city's Code Compliance department.

That's not to say Code departments are not in the news. Take this story from today's Los Angeles Times that tells the story of a homeowner who thought he was wasting too much water on his landscaping, especially when the area was experiencing a drought. So he put in what folks around here called xeriscape landscaping. He did not reckon with the wrath of his local Code Nazis, however, who descended upon him in full fury.

That also reminds me that earlier today that I received a news release from the City of Dallas promoting its "green" campaign and urging me take a cooking class instead of taking my sweetheart out to dinner, to plant a tree in someone's honor, adopt a pet and, yes, plant water resistant shrubs around my house this Valentine's Day. I'm betting no one in Southern California got a release like that from their city government.