Hello all, just some clarification on some of the questions surrounding this issue. Mainly I will repeat what I said at the public meeting on October 15th, with some additional info.
The purpose of the public meeting was to begin the conversation about off-leash hours at the parks. This will be a lengthy process, and starting the public conversation is just the beginning. At the meeting, I had said that the Parks Commission would likely be voting on this issue at the end of October or beginning of November.
At the meeting, and since then, the question came up as to whether the Parks Commission has the authority to allow a trial of off-leash hours. This question has been posed to the City Solicitor, who has responded after reviewing the ordinance. The ordinance as it is currently written does not allow the Parks Commission to allow off-leash use. Any changes to the ordinance would require a vote by the Aldermen. Then if the ordinance was changed, the Parks Commission could allow usage of particular parks.
This changes the timeline of this process, if it does indeed go forward. Whether the green dog option continues forward at this time is up to the citizen group which is working on the proposal, the Melrose Dog Society. The Health Department/Canine Control office's role in the process is to facilitate the process, by hosting meetings and this blog, and providing technical assistance.
There have been concerns voiced about how well the 10/15 meeting was publicized. The meeting was posted in both papers and on cable, and flyers were distributed in several locations. There had been plans to post more flyers around the neighborhoods, but unfortunately there was a miscommunication about who would handle this job, for which I take responsibility. This is one reason that I opened the blog up to this discussion, to provide an additional venue for discussion. Before any sort of vote is taken I will make sure that the info is publicized.
In terms of enforcement, I agree that more enforcement is needed. I have been trying to work different shifts in order to arrive at the parks during the early or late hours. However, I can only spread 30 hours so far, and I do have other duties which I need to handle. We are beginning to discuss this with the police department to get additional enforcement assistance.
Lastly, though the green dog proposal remains controversial, I did notice a lot of additional support for the concept of a dedicated, separate dog park. Anyone interested in working on this should contact Melrose Dog Society and offer to help.
I will try to post more next week, after the citizens who are working on this project have had a chance to decide what their next steps are. I'm sure many of you have participated in a public process like this before, and understand how much work is involved. Please continue to be respectful of each other as we go through this process. Thanks! -Diane
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5 comments:
Diane,
As a taxpayer I don't believe we are getting sufficient performance from you in discharging the duties of animal control officer the city is paying you for. If you stopped blogging & spent less time being manipiutated by the Melrose Dog Society we might get enforcement of the leash law that is on the books.
If you wrote as many citations as you do articles favoring the MDS, the city would be a safer & cleaner place to live.
Anonymous,
That's just what we need, more citations written out against the taxpayers of Melrose struggling to get by as it is. How many "citations" do you think all the different inspectors in the City could write out if they visited your house? If you say none, you're VERY naive.
To Willie,
Keep your dog on a leash, follow the law & you won't have to worry about a citation. If you don't and get cited, your not naive, just a fool !
Wow, some of these comments are not terribly constructive, are they? We support increased enforcement and we ALSO appreciate your clear communication, Diane, about the status of the off-leash dog proposal.
"Anonymous"
I have even a better idea. Why don't we institue a "drop a dime" progrwm to report any owners we see with unleashed dogs? And forget the citation bologna, just throw these scofflaws (as well as their dogs) right in jail! Good enuf for 'em. If they allow their dogs to be unleashed, they're probably just a step away from more violent crimes anyway.
You've convinced me. Let's get 'em all.
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