Okay, this is juvenile - but too good to pass up. A July 24 letter from Madison's City Engineering Division to property owners in a west-side Madison neighborhood, notifying them of a special assessment to fix a drainage problem, mentions a city program to ease their burden: "This program provides pubic funding for ½ of the cost of the storm sewer required to solve these problems," so long as the affected homeowners pay the rest.
The letter really grabbed one recipient by the public hairs. "There was an obvious lack of attention to detail in the production of this notification letter," says Dennis Appleton, a freelance copy editor. "I'm not sure if this is just sloppy work, or if the homeowners in question are being subliminally forewarned that they're about to be screwed!"
Adds Appleton, "I only hope that the proposed construction will be subject to a higher standard of implementation and oversight than this communication was."
Word to the wise: When you send letters notifying people of their need to pay money, look it over real good.
