LA COUNTY BANS FOOTBALL AND FRISBEE TOSSING ON BEACHES
LOS ANGELES — When you head down to the beach for a little summer fun, county officials want you to leave the pigskin and Frisbee at home.
The Board of Supervisors this week agreed to fines of $1,000 for anyone caught throwing a football or Frisbee on a beach in Los Angeles County.
The 37-page ordinance, passed on Tuesday, outlines the responsibilities of law enforcement and other public agencies in combating the rash of football- and Frisbee-tossing that tends to go on at beaches.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the ordinance will go a long way toward covering the shortfall in revenue Los Angeles County has been experiencing during the economic downturn. “We expect to collect between $250,000 and $500,000 in fine money each summer from this brilliant and much needed legislation.”
If the ordinance successfully increases revenue as is expected, many other activities and behaviors could be outlawed to raise additional money—and not just on beaches.
“Fines as income,” said Mayor Villarigosa. “Who’d a thought?”
Lawrence Hafetz, a lawyer for Los Angeles County, said he expects some criticism to come from the new ordinance. “But they shouldn’t bother. We can easily and quickly commission a study that shows tossing a football or Frisbee is somehow dangerous and that someone, every million years or so, could be seriously injured. Therefore, the whole activity needs to be banned ASAP.”
County board member Tom Allen said people shouldn’t be surprised with the ordinance. “If you elect a group of people whose only job is to sit in a room thinking up new laws, eventually everything will be illegal. It’s simple math. Anyway, people can still go to the beach and sit on a towel. For now.”
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