With the exception of one item to added to the agenda
for Monday night’s meeting everything has been covered this past week
especially by Bernice in her PlaintalkerII blog.
There will be a “brief presentation” by Plainfield film
maker, Alrick Brown, about an upcoming film and an opportunity for the city’s
involvement. I read that as a request for funding.
Amazingly none of the thirteen Resolutions are on the Consent
agenda although 330-13 recognizing 9/16/13 as National POW/MIA Day could well be
as well as331-13(national Hispanic Heritage Month) and332-13 (condolences to
family of Ronald H. Lewis) could well have been.
The big kicker which is
to be introduced as R339-13; the Maree Group request to conduct a Rodeo
Event on Parking Lot #9 on September 29,2013.
I would hope that for once this Council will give short
strife to another commercial endeavor on municipal property. There can be no
justification of this as a “cultural activity”. I am not sure if the Council’s
own rules of a 45day pre-notice were met for this “event". However, even if it has
been; the enterprise which may be of interest to many does not belong in our
city business district.
Bill Reid should be able to leave by 10 PM.
Municipal Code Sec. 11:17-4. Use of public property.
ReplyDelete(a) No official or employee shall request, use, or permit, the use of any publicly-owned or publicly-supported property, vehicle, equipment, labor or service for personal convenience or the private advantage of himself or any other person. This rule shall not be deemed to prohibit an official or employee from requesting, using or permitting the use of such publicly-owned or publicly-supported property, vehicle, equipment, material, labor or service which is the general practice to make available to the public at large or which is provided as a matter of stated public policy for the use of officials and employees in the conduct of official business.
Hi, Doc,
ReplyDeleteI hope you will permit me to re-post a comment I placed on Bernice's blog a few days ago regarding the "rodeo" idea. Given the 45-day rule that the city council itself put in place, I am surprised it is even appearing on the agenda--given that the Maree Group wants the event to take place less than 3 weeks from a 9/9 approval.
In addition, I am the Chairperson of the council's Public Safety Committee, and I have received no feedback as yet from Police (including the Traffic Committee's recommendation), Fire Safety, the Health Division (regarding the animals, animal welfare, sanitary conditions and safety), or Public Works about the issues of concern that certainly must be a part of any conversation. I know nothing about the proposed scope of the event, either. Here's my original comment, which I feel must be reiterated:
"I am not a fan of rodeos, from an animal rights standpoint. However, they exist in spite of my feelings--that said, rodeos should take place in venues that make sense and that properly care for the animals--it should be entertainment in a large, open space. Having a rodeo in a stadium or a fairgrounds, or on a farm with stadium seating would perhaps be a more practical idea--having a rodeo in a small municipal asphalt-paved parking lot in the middle of downtown is ridiculous. How can the safety of the animals be ensured on asphalt, rather than on grass and dirt? My family members who live in Texas regularly go to rodeos--Texas is a big rodeo place--with rodeo-sized room for the horses, bulls, and other livestock to run. In addition, there are public safety aspects that go beyond what our police and fire should be expected to commit to. Insurance, I would imagine, would be extremely expensive as well. There are proper venues where livestock can be properly cared for, but our local parking lots don't fit the bill. Perhaps one of the county parks can be convinced to host a rodeo--and then have the lawns cleaned and seeded. That is what I would suggest to these entrepreneurs."
Rebecca
as predicted.. this is on the agenda after it was struck down....
ReplyDeleteYou know.. those damn unresponsive Republicans on City Council who go out of their way to ignore what's right and backed by the people..