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Complaints prompt removal of roadside memorials
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Patrick Jensen doesn’t know who complained about his son’s roadside memorial or why.
He just knows he has to take it down by Friday.
Watch Tribune reporter Nicole Beyer's report
Jensen was notified last week that someone had complained about the east Mesa memorial for his son, Jason Jensen, killed in a traffic crash last August.
According to city policy, roadside memorials are not bothered unless there is a complaint — any complaint.
“It could be either people who just don’t like them or feel like they are a safety hazard,” said Mesa Transportation Director Jeff Martin. “Really. it could be for any reason.”
After a complaint is made, the city places a notice on the memorial that it must be taken down within two weeks.
Former City Councilman Rex Griswold said he has heard comments from residents in favor and against roadside memorials.
One complaint he heard was that the glass candle holders at a memorial in another neighborhood were being smashed on the sidewalk.
“The neighbors got upset and the kids couldn’t walk to school,” he said.
Griswold said the city policy seemed reasonable, and that if the memorial “doesn’t get out of hand, allow it.”
But he didn’t want the city to discriminate against the more humble displays.
“It’s almost like if you’re not wealthy and have a homemade one you can’t have one,” he said. “And that’s not the message we want to send.”
Jensen said he has had a hard time communicating with city employees, and that some were not showing compassion.
“The city’s policies and rules change depending on who you’re dealing with,” he said.
Jason Jensen was 16 on Aug. 16, 2006, when another truck slammed into his, rolling Jensen’s truck into an orange grove near Greenfield and McKellips roads. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
His family recently commemorated the one-year anniversary of Jason’s death and has raised about $100,000 in charity golf tournament funds to go toward junior golf programs.
Jason Jensen had been ranked No. 7 in the state in junior golf and “had a smile to die for,” his father said.
“My son was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Patrick Jensen said.
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