Thursday, January 15, 2015

Caught in another lie? UPDATED

I couldn't decide on that title or "The Dumbest Thing Dave Ever Said." I was not at Tuesday's commission meeting, nor had time to watch the videos, but I did read Matt Santoni's Mt. Lebanon seeks deer decree.

Kristen Linfante was not at Tuesday's meeting, but municipal staff could not verify the whereabouts of the private hunt. Chief McDonough had not heard of any complaints about hunters or wounded deer. Even Kristen also could not identify where her hunt was taking place. Hence the title of this blog posting.

According to the article, we're back up to six locations for hunting; Iroquois Park, the golf course, Bird, Robb Hollow, McNeilly, and in the conservation area off of Connor Road which must be 50 yards away from nearby homes and 150 yards from schools and playgrounds. Isn't there a playground in Iroquois Park? Neighbors will not be notified by letter. It would be too much work and not effective. I bet the Recreation Department could handle that. They contacted 8,000 residents and non-residents when they were soliciting non-municipal funds for the turf project. But according to Dave Brumfield,
“The minute people get a letter from us and see it's not a tax bill, they're going to throw it out,” said Commissioner Dave Brumfield." [Dumbest thing he ever said.]
Residents will be notified via LeboALERT, postings around the killing fields and through the municipal website.

January 15, 2015 7:45 PM The Almanac reports in their article,  Mt. Lebanon still hopes to thin deer population
Mt. Lebanon Police Chief Coleman McDonough said the municipality had qualified five employees for bow hunting on public land and could qualify as many as seven more before the permit application is approved.
The archery hunt was to begin on December 26, 2014 with 20 municipal employees participating. None had been vetted. As of January 13, 2015, the municipality only had vetted five employees with potentially seven more before the permit application is approved.  Was the lack of tags the real issue or couldn't they find anyone who qualified?

In the Post-Gazette's Mt. Lebanon ready to begin deer hunt, only Kelly Fraasch was thinking about residents.
Commissioner Kelly Fraasch asked if letters could be sent to residents who live near likely places for the archery hunt.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you would please illuminate one of your dimmer readers, what's the lie to which the post's title refers?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Brumfield figured that out from the number of mtl magazines that people throw out.
Now there's a waste of energy, paper and postage.

Anonymous said...

Yeah 8:39 AM, but the magazine preserves a bunch of over compensated jobs and the propaganda spin machine that has us believe that everything is marvelous in the bubble, including photo ops and words of wisdom from the commission and senior staff. Money is no object.

Anonymous said...

Go back to sleep 7:48 AM - you're completely out of touch !

Anonymous said...

Is Brumfield inferring that our well-paid public information staff aren't savvy or creative enough to design and send out informational letter to residents?
It didn't seem to be a problem when the school district inserted Kubit's FAQ on the high school project.

Anonymous said...

"Commissioner Kelly Fraasch asked if letters could be sent to residents who live near likely places for the archery hunt."

"Providing such notification, though, could result in delays in launching the hunt, according to Commissioner Dave Brumfield. He suggested that if specifics are known well in advance should a similar program occur next year, residents could be notified by letter. ... “That would make more sense,” he said.

I'm extremely disappointed in Dave, who initially didn't support bow hunting, because of safety concerns. Truly, what is the urgency to kill deer, that would preempt taking appropriate safety measures to notify residents. The Commissioners (Dave) know that this is all about deer eating the ex-commissionettes tulips and their garden tour gardening friends.

I should add that I'm disappointed in all the other Commissioners that I assumed sided with Dave and voted Kelly's request for safety notification letters down.

In addition, I'm extremely disappointed with Chief McDonough, who seems to be coordinating and pushing Linfante's agenda. Wish there was some way to bring Chief Thomas Ogden back. He would never have launched a hunting program in Mt. Lebanon, and expressed serious concerns with the past culling program. Tom spent 30 years developing one of the best professional police forces in the county, and established the best police/community relations, which Chief McDonough has destroyed in short order.

BTW, I'm assuming that they aren't closing any of these parks and hunting areas down while hunting is taking place. How can they think residents and children using these parks while hunters are shooting lethal weapons at deer is safe?

Have they all gone mad?????

Anonymous said...

Here's a suggestion.
Rather than running those inane, meaningless polls like the one currently up on Lebomag.com, the PIOffice ask residents/taxpayers questions that relate to current issues before the commissioners.

Here a suggestion for this week's poll.
Would you want to be notified if a deer hunt is about to start in your neighborhood?
Ward 1: _ yes _ no
Ward 2: _ yes _ no
and so on.

This way Commissioners would know how their ward's constituents are thinking so they may represent their interest, which is what they're suppose to do.

Then here's another idea.
Can the municipality create an ordinance that demands that any hunter must notify the Chief or Commission of a planned hunt 24 hours before it starts?
This doesn't interfere with state laws that supercede our local weapons ordinances, just requires notice. With this information the police can confirm with the PA Game Commission that the hunters have the proper tags.
If everything is legal what is the problem?
If this is stepping on state law, maybe Miller or Smith can author a bill at state level to put it into effect.

Anonymous said...

The municipality is basically criminalizing deer that live in suburbs for the benefit of gardeners and drivers. Many residents have mocked people who have opposed the cull based on the statistics of risk and their appreciation and love for wildlife.

After the municipality is finished killing the deer, they will pass a pedestrian ordinance intended to shame residents who fail to cross the road at right angles. This effort builds on a long-standing automobile manufacturer driven mantra that jaywalkers are the problem on our streets.

It's will be the same story, different target. Stay tuned for more shaming and mockery.

And remember the current storyline: Mt Lebanon is a walking community that is somehow safe for pedestrians -- even kids -- but not for deer.

Anonymous said...

How about this survey?

Bow–Hunting

The maximum range for a compound bow is 595 yards, and an extreme cam compound bow 931yards. State law provides a "safety zone" restricting bow hunting within 50 yards of occupied buildings, and 150 yards if in proximity to schools or day care centers. However, this 150 yard expanded safety zone doesn't apply to back yards or parks with children playing.

Do you believe that bow-hunting in Mt. Lebanon poses any kind of safety risk to your family, children, and companion animals? Yes_____ No_____ Unsure_____

Would you support your neighbor being allowed to bow-hunt on his property? Yes_____ No_____ Unsure_____

Would you support bow-hunting being allowed in your neighborhood park? Yes_____ No_____ Unsure_____

Would you support bow-hunting being allowed in your neighborhood park, while the park remains open? Yes_____ No_____ Unsure_____

If a wounded deer came onto your property for refuge, would you allow a hunter on your property to kill the deer? Yes_____ No_____ Unsure_____

Do you think seeing wounded deer would be traumatizing to your family and your children? Yes_____ No_____ Unsure_____

What kind of buffer zone do you feel is important if bow-hunting were allowed in Mt. Lebanon? Specify your desired distance in yards from any dwelling, school yard, hiking trail, or road ____________yards.

Anonymous said...

Great survey. Unbelievable place this is.

Anonymous said...

Post the survey on their FB site. Tell them, since you pay their salary, you demand that they facilitate this survey instead of their vapid, entitled ones.

- Jason M.

Anonymous said...

Or stop posting on here and actually send out the survey to the community with a return envelope addressed to the commission.

Anonymous said...

12:48, so now you've moved on to attacking the Chief? Just going to throw out that he's "destroying" the department with no examples? And this gets included in these curated comments? You aimlessly lash out, personifying the myriad voices in Mt Lebanon as a singular ideological enemy. Truly pathetic. I could not imagine living in your skin, where everyone with whom you don't share an opinion deserves your fury.

Anonymous said...

6:50, did it ever occur to you that you might be painting with the same broad brush that you accuse 12:48 of using?
Not everyone in these curated comments believes the Chief is destroying the department.
But because certain parties have a propensity for believing they are the chosen few, conversation is stymied.
We saw it at the school board when Linfante and pals snickered rudely while Gillen presented the petition signatures. Kubit sat on his gavel and let it happen. Linfante though is ready to clear the chambers when she doesn't like comments from the gallery.
We saw it on the turf town hall in which the conversation was one way... we speak, you listen.
We're seeing it with Linfante and her position on the private hunt. There is a hunt, and it is none of our damn business.
So, you're going to get anger here like that displayed by 12:48.
Want to get rid of this blog, open up, welcome everyone in, drop the attitudes.
This resident for one believes the Chief and his department do a pretty good job overall. I certainly don't think I could do it better.
I do though believe though his position on the private deer hunts is dead wrong.
As a homeowner/taxpayer, in my opinion (I'm allowed to have one , aren't I?) Mt. Lebanon is too densely populated to have just anyone walking around taking shots at deer, private land or not.
It seems PA hunting laws overrule our local ordinances.... BUT I don't see anything that prohibits the police from checking on whether the "legal" private hunt is indeed "legal."
Furthermore, if the private hunters are doing it "by the book" what is the harm in notifying their neighbors of the hunt.
Wouldn't that just be common courtesy?
Back to the Chief. How do we know if the hunter has the required license and tags to hunt in the first place? Our selected volunteer employees didn't. Then if we don't know where the "private" hunt is occurring, how do we know if it meets the safe zone distances"
We supposedily had a dead deer on someone's lawn on Roycroft. Did it die of natural causes? A vehicle accident? An arrow wound?
If it was the last, isn't the archer suppose to track and finish the deer off? Did they walk away because the homeowner wasn't one of the people giving permission?  The PA Game Commission rules require finishing the job. If the hunter didn't, then it is no longer a legal hunt!
The Police Dept. is supposed to serve and protect everyone and see that the laws of Mt. Lebanon, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and the US are followed.

Anonymous said...

According to The Almanac-- "Per state law, hunters must have a license, or tag, for each deer they kill."

If Linfante's doesn't know who's conducting her rumored private hunt, the Chief doesn't know anything about it and The Game Commission obviously, doesn't give a rats behind who the hunters are and where they're hunting... who's duty is it to ensure it is a legal hunt?

If that is the prevailing attitude of the authorities, I suggest we do away with things like inspection stickers and license tags on our cars.
Hey, everyone's vehicle is assumed legal until somebody complains, right. And of course we're all going to rat out our neighbors, of course.

Anonymous said...

http://blog.pennlive.com/pa-sportsman/2015/01/pennsylvania_game_commissioner_3.html

"Among the reasons offered by commission staff for the need for such a secondary permitting system is the lack of a reliable mechanism to deliver information to non-hunters about using the state game lands safely, such as wearing fluorescent orange to alert hunters to their presence."

But here in densely populated Mt. Lebanon the Game Commission nor the Commissioners see no need to issue alerts to residents that hunting is going on in their neighborhood, so they can  use Yards, woods or parks safely.