All communication among commissioners, staff, wildlife management consultants, PA Game Commission, and state officials concerning the deer archery program, licenses, and permits from December 15, 2014 through December 23, 2014.I heard back from Manager and Open Records Officer Steve Feller on December 31, 2014, who said that the Municipality was obtaining a legal review of my Request and that I would hear on or before January 29, 2015.
My request yielded 265 pages. Even though I requested them in pdf format, I am still being charged $66.25 since they had to print out the pages to redact personal email addresses. Donations toward the RTK fee will be accepted. :)
Here is the Right To Know information that I received today.
A few highlights include page 198 where Susan Morgans tells the PG that hunting will occur one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset. Page 199, Morgans tells Feller that there is a ton of misinformation swirling around. On page 201, Morgans tells Cissy Bowman, from the school district, that the hours of the deer hunt would be one hour before sunrise through one hour after sunset.
Coleman McDonough admits to Kristen Linfante that he is writing in to my blog on page 217. It must be a private joke. Guess who is troll cop?
Page 23 has the letter from Steve Feller telling the commissioners that the archery program was suspended for more reasons than what we were told.
On page 37, Kelly Fraasch is calling out Kristen for breaking sunshine. The commission is not permitted to discuss business as Kristen is doing through email. It must be done in public.
On October 26, 2014, Kristen Linfante tells a resident on page 214, "It is now estimated that we have over 100 deer per square mile."
There are many emails against the archery program from PETA and Mt. Lebanon residents.
Those are just a few things that I noticed, glancing through the RTK.
32 comments:
I see that video conferencing through Google is taking place with Mt. Lebanon employees. Does anyone know if those video conference calls are subject to right to knows?
Nick M.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive." —Walter Scott, Marmion
If you ever needed proof that the inmates are running the asylum just read through the RTK.
Why is it that petitions against turf or outlandish high school projects carry no weight, but a pro dear killing one suddenly has clout?
Why don't people who want deer out of their yards install fences? The squeaky wheels regarding deer can certainly afford a fence.
Why don't our municipal employees tell the truth to the public? The numbers of deer are inflated and the archery program didn't fly, one reason was a lack of qualified hunters but who knew?
Why is Kristen Linfante so cruel to endorse such inhumane acts that are like shooting fish in a barrel? She is so "concerned" about public safety that she championed the toxic turf - what a hypocrite.
If you want to know about the real threats to our residents, read the police blotter. It's not deer for crying out loud!
I spotted two deer along Washington Road at dusk this evening. I slowed down to avoid any issue just as I do when kids are walking to or from school with their earphones on and oblivious to what is going on around them. I did not have an accident.
And we pay these salaries, stipends, etc. for this joke of an administration?
What a sick joke and it's all on us.
I haven't had time to review the RTK information directly yet. However, based on the info. that Elaine posted, I find it very disturbing and unprofessional that Chief Coleman McDonough was anonymously posting to Elaine's blog (troll cop), and that he appears to be working in collusion with Linfante in promoting her deer killing agenda in private communications.
I always wondered why he was so proactively promoting deer hunting in Mt. Lebanon. The perception I'm getting from this RTK info. is that Linfante has him under her thumb.
When she first came on board as a Commissioner, I observed her using her flirty girlie and damsel in distress manipulation strategies with the other male Commissioners to persuade them to support her deer killing mission. All men are such total meatheads when it comes to female manipulation, and Linfante is the Zen Master of manipulation. She chews them up and spits them out for breakfast.
However, I also observed that after taking that early flirty girlie strategy as far as it would go, that phony facade quickly dissipated, and the mean, rude and arrogant behavior surfaced and took over. I've observed this kind of manipulation in a corporate setting many times.
So I found this particular piece of RTK information extremely informative.
Remember Benner and his Wildlife Society status as a member and past-president?
The society has a position statement on baiting and they do not support it:
http://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Baiting-and-Feeding.final_Renewned-Oct.15.pdf
http://triblive.com/mobile/7626707-96/snow-deer-cost
"An observation: Years of dickering and dithering over culling Mt. Lebanon's exploding deer population has led to a plan to corral and shoot deer by a conflicted contractor (a consultant for the municipality turned culler who never has used the methodology) and at a cost to taxpayers of $500 per deer (up to $75,000). The cull will bow next week. But had Mt. Lebanon run a consistent program over the years, using local licensed hunters, it would have cost virtually nothing."
But our solicitor says there is no conflict with Brenner as consultant and eventually winning culler.
Q.
Did the legal advertisement of the Cull Bid Invitation appear in a newspaper with general circulatiion as per municipal code Section 152.5 10 days prior to bid opening?
Q.
If Linfante violated Sunshine law isn't she subject to Sec. 163 and 164 of the Municipal Code Ethics Violations?
One thing that really stands out to me is how Linfante breaks sunshine so easily. Anyone know where to file a complaint? Ethics board? Obviously the President of the commission and the municipal staff couldn't care less.
6:09 AM, add solicitor to the mix. Why does Weis let it happen? Remember, he OKed Brilliant MTL Commissioners and the Voters Violate State Law, had no problem with Gateway Engineers donating to the turf project, and believes that there is no conflict of interest accepting the sole bid from the deer management consultant, who listed MTL as one half of his experience in his proposal. Weis also had nothing to say when Kristen to threaten to shut down the commission meeting.
I still can't get over how Linfante was harassing Market District customers to sign a petition for deer management in Mt. Lebanon, which was only a death sentence for the deer.
I cannot be the one to file a complaint with the Ethics board. Kristen will go into victim mode again and trash talk me on her private Facebook account and to anyone who will listen. Why does Linfante get so many free passes?
Elaine
You noticed that 6:09, that nowhere in the municipal codes or charter are there instructions or path to pursuing officials or employees that violate the codes or charter.
I'd say contact the state attorney general, but she's got her own troubles. You could contact Harrisburg, but whom? Everyday we see someone else resigning or being investigated.
Closer to home we have-- "Page 23 has the letter from Steve Feller telling the commissioners that the archery program was suspended for more reasons than what we were told." So good luck getting advice from him. He couldn't even be upfront an honest about a lousy archery program.
But keep snoozing people, whether the Home Zrule Charter was gender neutral was the most imperative item for us to vote on.
She has violated the sunshine law multiple times. But unless someone files a complaint with the ethics board, nothing will happen.
And 100 deer per square mile? She's insane. I mean like clinical. Ive seen about five deer in the last six months and that's everywhere including Bird Park.
My other thought--so we now have some bullshit ordinance prohibiting feeding deer. We have some gardening babes, the former power chicks of the bubble, planting flowers that are proven to be the equivalent of filet mignon for deer. So...they get to put out food for the deer yet the solution is not to enforce the ordinance but kill the deer? Wtf. All those chicks are violating the ordinance. Maybe instead of doing Krissy's bidding, the cops can do their job and start citing the greedy green thumbs for causing the problem. Matter of fact, the flower ladies should be footing the bill for all of this.
Gotta run. Im setting up a trough for the deer.Im giving them safe haven. I dare one of the hunters to set foot anywhere near my property.
For the Jaeger Pro M.I.N.E System (the corral) to work, Brenner must feed the deer so he'll be violating the ordinance too.
Goggle the Jaeger Pro system, so far I have yet to find one reference about it being used for deer, just hogs.
I wonder, is Brenner getting paid or getting break by Jaeger to beta test the system for use on PA deer?
Remember no one else bid on the RFP.
Where did the 100 deer/sq.mi. number come from? Commissioner Linfante mentions an expert, but who was the expert and what was the number based on. That seems high to me. How did the infrared survey miss that many deer? Maybe we should ask for our money back.
At the very least, i implore you people to file an ethics complaint. I am sincerely busy with my own on other people and if you really want mt lebanon to be a decent place (which is too late for me) in the future, share the burden. help each other. there are rules and ms. linfante scoffs at them and there is documented evidence.
They failed to remove an e-mail address in the signature of a message from a resident on page 34. What a sloppy job at protecting the privacy of citizens!
Linfante is hot on petitions now so maybe we should be too.
Is there one resident (lawyer) out there that could pull together an ethics complaint that we all could sign and submit to the proper authority?
One person complaining won't get results, but several hundred filing a complaint en mass and to the news media will get attention.
But, it has to be well documented and organized.
On page 55, Linfante says that a cull, a type of which they just approved, would be a waste of taxpayer money....
My petition days are over since the days in which I presented close to 4,000 signatures to the school district.
If an ethics complaint is crafted, I would be willing to help every way I can through the blog. Linfante is not going away.
Just to clarify, the man's name is Benner, not Brenner.
The 100 deer/mile has been thrown out at various times. We have only heard Kristen quote that number during meetings when she said that DiNicola estimated that during a phone call she had with him. Of course, there is no documentation for that. Also, Kristen said that the aerial surveys can be off by 80%. Kelly challenged Kristen on that statement, prior to the vote on Monday night. Kristen was going to forward the documentation that stated that claim to Kelly. I don't know if Kristen ever followed through. Looking through the RTK, Kristen has estimated close to 100 deer/square mile as well as well over 100 deer per square mile throughout her communications to residents. I am not a deer expert, but I have been told that the births occur in May or June, after a seven month gestation period. The numbers do not continue to increase throughout the year, Kristen. If anything, since they are such a public safety issue as you claim, the numbers should start decreasing because of all the collisions.
10:45 AM, that happened a few times in this RTK. Look at the date when it was printed. The deadline was on or before yesterday. It was printed on 1/28. I think it was a rush job. But that is how Feller rolls now. He abuses the 30 day extension and waits until the last minute.
Elaine
7:55 AM, Kelly asked the solicitor if the deer feeding ordinance should be amended. Phil said no. Brumfield said that they don't enforce the deer feeding ordinance plus, the municipality would not cite themselves.
Elaine
Well, isn't that interesting. They don't enforce parking ticket penalties, now deer feeding and ignore state law about publishing notices in newspapers.
What else do they ignore?
Apparently, we have a municipal government that makes things up as it goes along.
Why did they waste time writing an ordinance they don't plan on enforcing? Did we pay the solicitor to compose the deer feeding ordinance?
"My time and energy is extremely limited at the moment. You're trying to keep deer alive, and I'm trying to keep myself alive." Linfante to Fraasch on 12/22/14
Commissioner, if I may offer some advice.
If you're having a life-threatening issue, do yourself and your family a favor and focus on the important issue.
Don't be a matyr, there are 10-20,000 MTL residents (some are very smart) that can pick up the slack if you leave office.
Give yourself a break, we'll take care of the community.
2:50 How dramatic! How does anyone take this Commissioner Linfante seriously? Commissioner Fraasch isn't trying to keep deer alive she is trying to manage deer in a response, humane and safe manner. Never mind can't reason with unreasonable.
Elaine did Kelley get the document from the Commissioner-all-knowing.
3:30 PM, I am not sure what you are asking. Are you asking if Tom Kelley got the document (which document?) from Linfante?
Elaine
For a lot of reasons, some people really enjoy being martyrs. But aside from whatever pleasures being a martyr may bring, in general it’s not a good strategy for leading a happy life or becoming successful in the workplace.
Why? Because no one likes to spend time with a martyr, particularly when the martyr keeps rubbing your nose in their martyrdom. What’s more, except in legends and myths, most people who feel themselves to be martyrs tend to be exaggerating how much they suffer and how little good they receive.
Most of the time, a person who sees himself or herself as a martyr is actually refusing to take responsibility for their own actions and choices. They are giving in to sources of stress and problems they need not accept into their lives.
Many recovered martyrs eventually confess that acting like a martyr only made things worse for themselves.
Cori Vipperman is forwarded an email from Kristen Linfante. How is she in the mix? I heard she was a person running the next Commissioner race for that area. Me thinks if this is true the candidate she is helping is only going to be the same ol' candidate just different shoes.
10:51 PM, when you say "that area," do you mean Kristen's Ward 3? I don't know that person. I don't remember seeing a response to Kristen's email, do you, 10:51 PM?
Elaine
10:51 PM, you don't have to answer. I found that Cori Vipperman does live in Ward 3 and is going to be campaign chair of the next Democratic candidate for Ward 3. I feel sorry for that candidate. To be associated with Kristen Linfante is political suicide. Of course, the asleep-at-the-switch Republicans won't take advantage of that. I could probably run, without spending a dime on campaigning, and win with that news. No one should be associated with that woman. Kristen is bad news.
Elaine
Cori Vipperman has been working with Logan and others to unseat Fraasch in the upcoming election.
PETA will hear about this.
Amen.
Amen
Post a Comment