Oliver: Woman’s case should kick the bucket

Last November, when I first wrote about this, I had hoped that reasonableness would prevail.

That somehow the saga of the doggie doo-doo station in Algonquin could be resolved quickly.

Alas, that was not to be.

If you’ve been following this story, you know that McHenry County Judge Charles Weech recently rejected a motion to dismiss the case against Carrie Fosdale, who removed the waste station in question. Her action, she says, was to protest the bucket’s placement near her town house.

To recap: The Old Oak Terrace Homeowners Association was trying to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets. To aid in that effort, the association installed waste stations along Old Oak Circle.

One of the stations was 25 feet from Fosdale’s front door.

Fosdale contends that the homeowners association did not notify residents that the stations were coming.

Had it done so, she would have requested that the station be moved farther away from her home.

Several attempts by Fosdale to contact the association were met with silence.

So Fosdale, by her own admission, removed the canister. She put it in her garage, which is what she told the police detectives when they came looking for it. They took the canister with them.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

She started receiving mail from lawyers offering to represent her. There was a warrant out for her arrest. For theft.

She surrendered, was fingerprinted, and was released on $100 bond.

And so, more than six months later, here we are. Another step closer to trial.

The theft charge, by the way, is a misdemeanor that is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

Dare I mention again that this is over a doggie doo-doo station?

One has to believe that prosecutors have better things to do than to continue with a case over something so silly. I’m sure taxpayers can think of many things they’d rather be paying for than a poop bucket dispute gone wrong. In essence, a failure to communicate.

The members of the homeowners association board should be ashamed of themselves. If residents want to discuss their decisions, they ought to at least listen.

Perhaps this whole thing could have been prevented. Perhaps not.

In any event, Fosdale says she was just protesting and never meant to keep the bucket.
Of course, protesters often understand that if they break the law, they will have to suffer the consequences. Civil disobedience comes with a price.

Fosdale’s case returns to court Thursday for a pretrial status hearing.

It’s time to bring this sorry saga to a long overdue end.

Because the whole thing stinks, and not just from what’s dropped in the bucket.

• Joan Oliver is a community editor for the Northwest Herald. She can be reached at 815-526-4552 or by e-mail at joliver@nwherald.com.