Musings from Brian J. Noggle: Warrantless Searches in Waukesha

Warrantless Searches in Waukesha

Waukesha County gives cash for trash: Selected homeowners given $100 for recycling:

Diane Penosky was tinkering in her garage when she heard someone - or something - picking through the family's recycling bin outside.

Bruce and Diane Penosky of Summit carry cardboard and plastic bags to their vehicle to take to the recycling center. The couple were chosen as winners of a $100 cash reward as part of Waukesha County’s recycling program.

It turned out the intruder was neither a thief nor a critter, but a Waukesha County employee who was sizing up Penosky for a reward for being a good recycler: $100.

Waukesha County is believed to be the first government agency in southeastern Wisconsin to distribute a friendly bribe as a way of encouraging homeowners to recycle.

The government of Waukesha County has employees whose job entails rifling through your recycling to make sure you're doing it properly:

Who gets Waukesha County's cash rewards is a matter of luck.

Moving from community to community, county officials pick a street by throwing a dart at a map. Then they head to that street on curbside recycling day and make a winner of the first homeowner whose bin is found filled correctly.

It's good that Waukesha County officials and employees have handled all of the city's other business, eliminated crime, and has reduced taxes as much as possible to cover all the minimums. It's just unfortunate that it spends all of its remaining effort and energy not on private enterprises of the individuals in the government, but on freaking going through citizens' recycling by hand.

Because that would never be abused once citizens become accustomed to it.

- posted by Brian J. @ 9:22 PM