I am not having trouble understanding how this works. Perhaps Nick Schalles or the other commissioners would explain how they ARE able respond on their mtlebanon.org email address.
Tonight, I did some research on Upper St. Clair's parks and recreation. I found the results of a 1997 survey which seemed to be done in a more equitable way, rather than having eblasts sent out to all the parents of sports teams urging to them to storm tonight's meeting. http://www.twpusc.org/rec/parks/boycemay/masterplan/survey.htm I found Question #4 to be most interesting. This question was not asking what was wanted, but just what residents enjoy doing outside the home. Considering that 82% of the respondents had at least one child in the household up to age 19, it is curious that soccer (#6 out of 8) and baseball (#8 out of 8) were at the bottom of the list.
Tonight's exercise reminded me of the high school renovation process all over again. Those who were the loudest, got what they wanted. It is sad that this community is being controlled by a special interest group, while the older residents get ignored.
Elaine
-----Original Message-----
From: Kristen Linfante <kristenlinfante@yahoo.com>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Thu, Apr 19, 2012 10:34 pm
Subject: RE: RE: Parks and recreation
From: Kristen Linfante <kristenlinfante@yahoo.com>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Thu, Apr 19, 2012 10:34 pm
Subject: RE: RE: Parks and recreation
Dear Elaine, I believe I already explained to you that I don't have the ability to send mail through the mtlebanon.org server as it is only a forwarding service. When people send me (and the other commissioners) mail at the mtlebanon.org address is automatically forwarded to a designated address, which in my case is the yahoo address. This is not my personal email account, but rather one that is set up specifically for this purpose. I'm sorry you are having trouble understanding how this works. If you would like further explanation, I suggest you contact Nick Schalles, our IT director at the municipality. He can be contacted at nschalles@mtlebanon.org. I'm sure he would be happy to explain the process to you. Kristen Linfante Commissioner, Ward 3 -----Original Message----- From: egillen476@aol.com [mailto:egillen476@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 8:41 PM To: commission@mtlebanon.org Subject: Fwd: RE: Parks and recreation Kristen, As you can see, I did not attend tonight's meeting. First off, using your yahoo account is not being transparent. I would love to see your mtlebanon.org email be your official email. Secondly, the commissioners are far from acting on a whim. You wrote about a rec bond on your campaign website back in October. It was your second to the last post. Wasn't it a campaign promise? So why are you responding on behalf of the commission? I sent this response to the entire commission so that they were included. It is a shame that eblasts were sent out to all the sports parents. The older people in this community don't stand a chance. When do they get represented? When eblasts are sent to hundreds of people saying to show up at the special meeting, it is really a command performance. It is not a true reprentation of the community. Rest assured. Elaine -----Original Message-----
From: Kristen Linfante <kristenlinfante@yahoo.com> To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com> Subject: RE: Parks and recreation Date: Thu, Apr 19, 2012 2:29 pm
Dear Ms. Gillen,
Thanks for taking the time to contact the commission. We have received a multitude of emails regarding fields/rec, and we will surely receive more input from the community at large tonight. It is wonderfully transparent, open-forum discussions like these that surely discourage commissioners from acting on “whim”, but rather on information received by the community. Rest assured.
Regards,
Kristen Linfante
Commissioner, Ward 3
From: egillen476@aol.com Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 1:14 PM To: commission@mtlebanon.org Cc: sfeller@mtlebanon.org Subject: Parks and recreation
Dear Commission:
You are elected stewards of taxpayer funds. It is your responsibility to spend
my money wisely and without regard to influence from special interest groups.
While I know two of you have made campaign promises in the past, it is my
sincere hope that you are now realizing the folly of floating bonds to pay for
your every whim. We do not have the money.
I support the commission spending an appropriate amount of the existing fund
balance to maintain what we have.
Spending more than the existing fund balance or floating bonds for recreation
use should be off the table in this economic environment.
You will, in the very near future, need to ability to float bonds for other uses
that should take priority over recreation.
Please use fiscal restraint when considering how to address your parks and rec
issues.
Sincerely,
Elaine Gillen
Note: I apologize for the variations in fonts. 
7 comments:
Elaine,
I think our elderly and many other less self-focused residents are too humble to converge on the Commissioners Chambers, slam their fists on the table and selfishly demand things for themselves at others' expense. It's just not how things are done in other corners of the universe, outside the loud and politically-savvy "me first" mentality of a segment of Mt. Lebanon residents.
If the Commissioners succumb to that behavior, then surely this place has gone to the dogs.
-Charlotte Stephenson
Nope, Charlotte. It hasn't gone to the dogs yet. Wasn't McNeilly Park supposed to be a dog park at one time?
Elaine
Elaine,
Well, my dogs can't read e-blasts but even if they could, they would have better manners than to belly up to the Commissioners with their sad eyes asking for everyone else to fund a good place for them to play.
-Charlotte
Another couple of things, Charlotte. It isn't just the elderly, it is people in our age group (no, we're not elderly!) whose children have graduated from high school. We are an older community. Yet now, we hear that five or six year olds' needs aren't being met.
Also, I understand the room was packed. Care to comment on that, Charlotte? What the Kluck?
Elaine
Elaine,
Well, some of my fondest childhood memories consist of playing kickball in the street or kick the can in someone’s backyard. We never expected or demanded expensive fields or anything from others to provide a landscape for our fun. Maybe that’s why we did O.K. for ourselves. When my next-door neighbor’s dad whistled it was time to go home.
As for the meeting, as I understand it, there wasn’t room for many folks who had other opinions so the community representation of those who forced their way in was “skewed”.
-Charlotte
I for one was afraid to attend due to the way people were treated as they had to walk through a mob of people asking for your ticket and others shouting "What the Kluck" at the last Town meeting. One of the mob was Commissioner Linfante's husband. I stopped at the Coffee place across the street where people were watching the mob challenge folks as they walked through the crowd of angry people. I was worried to walk through the mob but did it anyways. I was very intimidated walking through the mob of angry people. It was very interesting that the mob brought their children which intensified the situation. One can not be sure what someone will do to them when they bring their children into a situation where the children are watching their parents intimadate others because they are trying to understand an issue in the community. I will not attend a Town meeting ever again.
Freda Witness
Freda, Commissioner Linfante, my baggage free commissioner was in the mob, but I think you may be getting her husband confused with her BFF's husband. Commissioner Linfante's campaign manager was invited to the town hall meeting and took pictures during the meeting while the mob was outside protesting.
Elaine
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