The management of the condominium complex, which rents mostly to working-class Latino residents, initiated the dispute by enforcing a policy that requires vehicles parked in the complex's parking lot be free of "conspicuous damage."

Abbey Court has imposed an absurdly strict interpretation of the rule, towing its own residents' cars away from the spaces outside their homes, presumably on the basis of "conspicuous damage" that consists of nothing more than common wear and tear -- minor dents, scratches, windshield cracks, faded paint and so on. The policy also calls for towing vehicles that don't have proof of title, insurance, registration and so on -- documentation that some residents may not have.

Desperate residents, not surprisingly, have objected. On several occasions crowds have gathered to protest, to try to stop the towing or to hurriedly move their cars before they can be hauled off. Thursday night Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton arrived at Abbey Court to find about 100 people engaged in a tense standoff with a tow truck operator.

Chilton has been active in trying to help the residents. He has directly urged Abbey Court to suspend the towing policy; the answer he got, he said, was no. Truth is, there's only so much the town can do. Abbey Court is a private enterprise and, as Chilton told the crowd Thursday night, the town doesn't have much authority over the management's parking and towing policies.

It does, however, have authority over housing codes. Enforcement of the housing codes is complaint-driven -- that is, the town doesn't arbitrarily conduct inspections of existing structures, but it will investigate if it receives a complaint about a specific building.

Chilton told the crowd that Thursday night, too, essentially inviting anyone with concerns about the condition of their units at Abbey Court to file a complaint. At least one resident responded by lodging a formal housing code complaint. Chilton has asked the town staff to respond as quickly as possible and, if code violations are found, to act accordingly.

Abbey Court's position is that it is merely enforcing a policy designed to prevent overcrowding of the lot and to keep the neighborhood looking nice by removing unsightly vehicles.

Give us a break. It's one thing to prohibit junked cars or abandoned heaps. What Abbey Court is doing is something else entirely.

Some might criticize the town for involving itself in a private business's affairs. From where we sit, though, elected officials serve the public, and when they see members of the public --especially those with limited resources -- being treated unfairly, they have not only the right but the responsibility to act.