Not Our Problem?
Dear Editor:
Are others in the canyon are facing this, since many of the electrical poles have been replaced in Topanga?
On June 15, SCE installed a new electrical pole in my front yard and tore down half of my front fence. The supervisor for the SCE work crew onsite took photos and absolutely assured me that they would return to repair it (to make it like it was before). They left my front picket fence leaning against a neighbor’s fence and wired together. Three posts were ripped from the ground. The supervisor assured me that SCE would make it like it was before.
When I did not hear back from SCE, I filed a claim online, and a Claims clerk, Greg Kafka, told me over the phone that they were sending a contractor to repair it. In fact, I was told twice that a sub-contractor supervisor was going to come by to estimate the damage and arrange for fence repair.
Four months later, a subcontractor showed up and told me that, since I did not have a two-foot clearance, SCE would not be repairing my fence.
I admit my fence is not brand new, but, the posts would have lasted for a few more years if the SCE work crew had not pulled them from the ground (they pulled three posts from the ground). It does not matter whether my posts were deteriorated or brand new. I am not asking for a new fence. I just want my front fence to be like it was before the SCE work crew tore out half of my front fence. Those three posts were holding the rest of the fence up. I am not asking for any special favors or a free ride. All I want is to be made whole again. SCE damaged my fence and they should repair it. Not to mention, they left branches and leaves and trampled my front yard.
The subcontractor said the problem was that there was a two-foot clearance law. No one said that to me in four months, but how would a two-foot clearance have stopped the work crew from demolishing my fence? Even with three feet of clearance, they would still have had to tear out my fence; I watched the work, and it would not have made a difference whether the fence was an inch away from the pole or three feet away.
It does not seem right that Edison should be able to tear out half your front fence
and say, “Oh well. Not our problem.”
—Millicent Borges-Accardi