Before the commission meeting, Barbara Logan asked me if I was Elaine Gillen. She reads my blog and wanted me to clarify that she is not a master gardener. Mrs. Logan didn't want to sound pretentious. I mentioned it in a previous thread comment, but I want to make sure that everyone sees the clarification.
During Citizen Comments, I followed Carolyn Byham. Wow, she is a tough act to follow. She told us that she was a commissioner for eight terms (would that mean 32 years?) She moved here in the early 70's. OK, I have her beat on that one. I moved here in 1961. But I don't own two acres of property as she told everyone tonight, so my tax bill is not as large as hers. I guess when one owns two acres in Mt. Lebanon, that guarantees that her vote counts many times more than mine does. Talk about pretentious!
Nick Meduho asked Dave Brumfield if he agreed with Dave Franklin's statement at the last Sports Advisory Board meeting. Franklin blamed the people who opposed the project, did nothing but delay the project and cost the municipality more money. Brumfield agreed with Franklin.
Fast forward to the vote. Oh, before I go any further, Kristen Linfante was able to attend tonight's meeting. John Bendel could not attend due to a family emergency. Kelly Fraasch ran the meeting and when it came time for the deer vote, Kelly read a prepared statement on why she was voting no. I hope that the camera was on Kristen. Kristen was rolling her eyes, throwing down her pen, and doing that weird posturing thing when she is really angry. She started to interrupt Kelly, but then chose to speak when Kelly was finished. Dave Brumfield spoke next, Kristen followed, and then Steve. The vote was 3-1. Deer killing could start next week, but there is a possibility that the Game Commission says no.
So there you have tonight's meeting in a nutshell. I am tired and really need a break. I will be approving comments, but that may be it for awhile. Kelly, you are a class act. Thank you for all your hard work.
Update January 27, 2015 12:15 PM Mt. Lebanon board awards contract to trap, euthanize deer
Update January 27, 2015 5:11 PM Trash collection draws Mt. Lebanon Commissioners’ ire
Commission vice-president Kelly Fraasch asked whether contracting with Wildlife Specialists constituted a conflict of interest, considering the firm’s president, Merlin Benner, has been the consultant assisting the municipality with the development of its deer management plan.
Solicitor Phil Weis said it was perfectly legal to award Benner’s company the contract, since Mt. Lebanon had sent a request for proposal to a number of different firms. “Some people might perceive a conflict of interest, but legally there is no problem,” he said.
Update January 28, 2015 11:35 AM As of now, there is no notice of where the deer killing will occur on the Mt. Lebanon website. I did notice that the official Game Commission letter received on Monday, January 26, 2015 denying the request for an archery program extension has been posted here. A common mistake, particularly this time of year, shows that Mt. Lebanon dated their letter January 8, 2014.
24 comments:
Excellent advise to all Mt Lebanon residents from Wm Shakespeare:
'Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none' -
Phil Weis says...it's not a conflict of interest for the author of the RFP to then accept the contract.
#dontbelievephilweisevenifheisnicetoyou
#lies
Reposting The Humane Society of the United States letter to Mt. Lebanon opposing trap and shoot.
The Humane Society of the United States
November 6, 2012
David Brumfield
Mt. Lebanon Commission
710 Washington Road
Mt. Lebanon, PA 15228
Dear Commissioner Brumfield and other Mt. Lebanon Commission Members;
I am writing on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States and its 638,000 members and constituents in Pennsylvania. The reason for this letter is to comment on a proposal to use clover traps to capture white-tailed deer and then shoot them at close range with a pistol.
While it may sound humane to live capture deer in this way and then euthanize them, the reality is quite different. First of all, deer are extremely stress-prone animals with a highly developed flight response. Once captured, deer tend to panic and "bounce off the walls" in response to being captured and restrained. Their fear level is compounded by the lack of visual barriers, which allows them to see oncoming threats but lack the capability to flee.
Trapped deer are especially prone to a syndrome called capture myopathy, which results from restraint-induced stress triggering a life-threatening physiological response. The outcome is a delayed death, even if the deer is released.
Any effort to safely and humanely kill deer captured in a clover-trap will be arduous and potentially dangerous. The stress levels of deer in a clover trap approached by humans can be huge. Some deer will lie down and try to become invisible, but others will repeatedly charge all the sides of the trap, making a lethal shot extremely difficult at best.
There are various protocols which can be used for capturing and killing deer in clover- traps, yet all have high potential for inhumane outcomes.
One scenario is that a person wrestles the deer to the ground, which, despite much experience handling and restraining wild animals, can lead to injury and extreme stress levels for the deer. Or a collapsible clover trap may be used, which means high stress and injury potential when the trap is collapsed on the deer, before it is restrained and shot in the head. Another scenario involves the deer being killed by gunshot, yet the shooter stands outside the trap. To do this properly, the trap must be located near an adequate natural backstop, which many properties don’t have. In addition, it can be extremely difficult to place a fatal shot at a panicked, quick-moving deer when the shooter is standing at a distance, outside the trap.
And of course pistols, like all firearms, are susceptible to ricochet and misfire, which raises additional humane and safety issues.
The potential for trap-induced injuries poses even more concerns: The clover trap’s trip wire can be an enormous hazard to a frightened deer (especially a buck). And there are many clover traps out there that are old, poorly designed, patched with wire or with holes big enough for a deer to entangle a leg, antler or sometimes a neck or head. Given that deer often enter traps at night, conditions requiring artificial lighting or flashlights may further impede a quick-kill.
In a perfect world, the deer would walk into the clover trap during the day, technicians would be in the trap within minutes and able to quickly grab and restrain the deer and get a perfect head shot. And yet, as any experience field biologist will tell you, this type of scenario is the exception rather than the rule when working with large prey species like white-tailed deer.
For all these reasons, the HSUS does not recommend the use of clover traps for live-capturing and euthanizing deer. This is also why we have chosen not to utilize clover traps in our own ongoing research projects which involve capturing and hand-vaccinating deer with PZP, a contraceptive vaccine.
The HSUS strongly urges the Mt. Lebanon Commission to take the clover trap proposal off the table and instead, carefully consider the issues and recommendations raised in our prior letter to the Commission of Nov 8th, 2011.
Sincerely,
Laura Simon
Wildlife Biologist
Connecticut Field Office
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
So we are now back to using lethal firearms in our densely populated and developed community, which puts all Mt. Lebanon families, children, and pets at risk.
Will Wildlife Specialists LLC be using pistols or rifles for this "close range" killing? BTW, how does that work? What does "close range" mean? If Merlin Benner and friends walk up to the corralled deer, the pregnant doe and her fawns will be bouncing off the sides of the corral trying to escape, and so how do they get a clean kill shot to their brains? Or does "close range" mean that the shooters will be some distance away and will be shooting high powered rifles at the deer in the corral? How is that any different from bait and shoot culling (shooters) that Dave Brumfield and the others were adamantly against, because it was too dangerous and puts all Mt. Lebanon families at risk. Either way, shooting pistols or firearms in our small parks surrounded by homes puts all Mt. Lebanon families, children, and pets at risk. A missed, ricochet, or misfired shot can travel for miles. This is negligent, reckless, and an accident waiting to happen.
"Phil Weis did weigh in to say that there was no conflict of interest hiring the advisor and awarding him the contract based on the RFP that Benner helped to write."
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, Mr. Weis is telling us, that it's not a duck.
BTW, how is this conflict of interest any different from 2006 when Mt. Lebanon paid the USDA Wildlife Services for an assessment, and then gave them the killing contract?
So it looks like, "Don't You Know Who I Am !!!" Carolyn Byham, and "My Shouting and Screaming at Them Does Nothing !!!" Baba Logan, finally got the taxpayers to kill their flower eating deer. However, the remaining deer will still eat their tulips. Commissioner Linfante's mission is finally complete. So this senseless killing and waste of taxpayers dollars will accomplish absolutely nothing. No doubt that Byham, Logan, and Linfante are joyful and will be celebrating this upcoming slaughter. I would feel sorry for them if they weren't so intent on inflicting suffering and death on others, and exposing all of Mt. Lebanon's families to danger from shooters, for their tulips and their own personal agendas. Still, it's hard to imagine the poverty of their inner lives. Incomprehensible.
$500 for killing each deer. You'd think Merlin Benner would have given Mt. Lebanon the RFP insider discount. BTW, how much was he paid for that "objective" Feasibility Assessment?
I am not surprised at all. Mt Lebanon is so ampt up on quick fixes the commissioners act more like addicts. They must be so proud.
6:38 AM, the pro-kill people all sat together with big smiles on their faces waiting for the discussion session to begin. I thought I was going to witness some chest bumping, but thankfully, that didn't occur.
Regarding the 2012 Humane Society letter to Dave Brumfield, Dave told residents that no one has ever come up to him with alternatives. Of course not, Dave. No one.
A couple of the pro-kill ladies spoke against Laura Simon's op/ed from last week's Post-Gazette. One woman said that Ms. Simon isn't from Mt. Lebanon, so how would she know? I pointed out during my five minutes that Merlin Benner and Tony DiNicola are not Mt. Lebanon residents, but the commission considers them experts in their field. So lame. But the commissioners bought into their comments.
What is the point of Citizen Comments? Why do our four commissioners have selective hearing? Why do I bother with any of this? It is painful to watch Dave Brumfield and Dave Franklin blaming concerned residents for delaying the turf project and costing Mt. Lebanon more money. It is so difficult to speak right after a woman who flaunted her wealth by saying that she owns two acres of property in Mt. Lebanon - look how much money she spends as a taxpayer - her secretary at her office did her research for her, out of the goodness of her heart because she isn't even a Mt. Lebanon resident. I am just a peon living in the low rent district near the Castle Shannon border. Funny how we both had five minutes to speak. Her vote at the polls carries the same weight as mine.
Yet I am the one who grandstands. I am the bully. I am the one who is on the wrong side of every issue. The high school project. The turf project. The garbage situation. Deer management. I don't have the luxury to order employees to do my research. Unlike Dave, Kristen, and John, I didn't go to Dan Miller to call those agencies over the turf project. I don't tell Republic, meeting after meeting, that they better get their act together and start doing a better job with garbage collection.
Our commission is useless. The puppeteers are pulling their strings. The average taxpayer doesn't stand a chance. Or am I just grandstanding?
This is when the trolls write in and tell me to move if I don't like it. I have decided to ignore all anonymous commenters who attack me. Want to tell me to move? Sign your real name. Stop being a bully and sign your name when you want to attack me. I sign my name to everything. Man up, guys.
Elaine
I just found your blogger today and find it interesting and informative. I was looking up the latest information regarding the deer issue that my neighbor began pushing in the last few months. My neighbor has wasted the taxpayers money and time with all this hoopla about the deer. We all get them and hardly care but the Baywood residents have had to hear our delusional neighbor over the past months with her harassment of our Commissioner and I just want to see it stop. I would believe her sincereity a little more if she was actively working to keep the deer out of her yard since they bother her so. I use to think highly of our neighbor but her tactics, antics and bulling behaviour towards me and my neighbors has been outrageous. Maybe she should pay mind to her own household instead of forcing a bad program with bad intentions down people's throats. She has so many of us dumbfounded by her actions. I have called and left messages with Ms. Fraasch sharing my apologies for all of this shameful crap she has had to endure from a select few. I don't know if you posts these but if you do I would encourage people to speak out.
Solicitor Weis is not the legal authority to provide a binding legal opinion on a conflict of interest question or challenge. Mr. Weis is hired and paid with local tax dollars to protect the interests of the municipality and commission. As such, his opinion in and of itself represents a conflict of interest, and has no legal standing. The only official ruling must come from the PA Ethics Commission.
Contact the Ethics Commission - they have a Pittsburgh office.
7:58 am - Elaine: Please dismiss anonymous haters. "Haters be hatin'" remember? Pennsylvania, and then Allegheny County and then Mt Lebanon... they all have serious problems with ethics and corruption. An honest blog is not welcome among the elite who have gained their positions without an ethical compass.
9:20 AM, thank you for your comment. Unless someone else contacts the Ethics Commission, it won't happen. I am emotionally drained.
Several of us spent the whole summer getting involved with the ACCD and the DEP, concerning all of Gateway's discrepancies and deficiencies with the turf project. As a result, we became the bad guys for insuring that the project is done correctly. All we did, according to the Sports Advisory Board, was delay the project and cost the municipality more money.
I have asked for someone here on Lebo Citizens to file a Right To Know asking for Merlin Benner's invoices of his billable hours, but has anyone done that? Who knows? I don't expect anyone to contact the Ethics Commission Pittsburgh office over this either.
Elaine
Elaine reported, "Benner is using large corrals and will be shooting the deer in close range."
Tribune Review reported, "Benner proposed trapping deer in corrals using bait, then euthanizing them with suppressed rifles."
They WON'T be shooting at close range. They wouldn't be using high powered rifles if they were shooting at close range. This is no different than the bait and shoot culling (shooting) program that Dave Brumfield and the others were adamantly against, because it was too dangerous and puts all Mt. Lebanon families at risk.
The rifle typically used in these deer killing programs is the .223 caliber bolt-action rifle with 55-grain bullets. The maximum range of this ammunition is 2.20 miles. A missed, ricochet, or misfired shot poses serious safety risks to all Mt. Lebanon families, children, and pets.
So it looks like Linfante, Logan, and Byham got what they wanted,a bait and shoot deer killing (culling) program, and Commissioner Brumfield and the others totally caved.
There are NO safe places to shoot high-powered rifles in Mt. Lebanon.
I think it's ethical to propose residents purchase fish fertilizer for their properties to ensure that the deer stay away from the tulips AND THE BAIT that will be used to kill them. Fish fertilizer is available online and in home improvement stories. It is often used to keep animals (and people) away due to its pungent odor. When the snow melts, put it down.
You watch - it will work - but the deer haters won't admit it and will see this idea as threatening.
I watched Commissioner Brumfield say that he would not vote for a bait and shoot deer culling program (using rifles), because he promised his constituents that he would not bring shooters into Mt. Lebanon. It was just crazy and too dangerous. However, last night he just voted for a bait and shoot deer culling program - using high powered rifles. This shooting at close range is all a bunch of BS. This killing program is no different that a regular bait and shoot culling program. So I'm wondering how Brumfield will twist this to make it look like he didn't break his promise to his constituents.
Hate free deer talk from the Pgh parks conservancy.
http://www.post-gazette.com/life/bookclub/2015/01/27/Let-s-talk-about-parks-Deer-in-winter/stories/201501270012
I'm signing my name and saying that I wish Mt. Lebanon had a dozen just like you, Elaine. You not only have your finger on the pulse of what is going on but you also know who is throwing rocks from behind trees and who the true "movers and shakers" really are. You don't pull punches, and you take a stand in public meetings and call out those who deserve to be called-out. I'm sure that few people realize how much of your heart and soul you put into your efforts on behalf of the community; on behalf of us all. But I've seen what this costs you and I've seen you refuse to let the wrongs go un-challenged. You are a legend in your own time, and it is an honor to say that I know you!
Barbara, that is so sweet. Thank you.
Elaine
LOL reading your clarification regarding Barbara Logan not wanting to sound pretentious. Unfortunately, that ship has already sailed.
So the corrals to catch the deer -- yes -- those corrals that NEVER BEEN USED before. That's right, scientists: there is NO METHOD to this MADNESS. We are the test community for the BAIT n TEXT switch.
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/7650421-74/deer-corrals-lebanon#axzz3Q5Yst8uf
I ditto Barbara Sollenberger's (January 27, 2015 at 7:50 PM) comment about Elaine. Elaine has been ruthlessly and personally attacked by this elitist group of hateful and mean women who think they own and run Mt. Lebanon. It would appear that the mean girl cliques from Lebo High don't grow up, but just get older. It takes a lot of courage to stand up to these nasty bullies, and so she gets my vote of respect and admiration.
I also wanted to give Commissioner Kelly Fraasch a shout out for having the courage to stand up to the peer pressure and intimidation from the other Commissioners, from the elitist deer hating puppet masters from the Democrat Party, i.e. ex-Commissioner Barbara Logan (who is not a master gardener) and Municipal Manager Steve Feller. (FYI, I'm an Independent, and so no political partisanship at play here.) No doubt, Commissioner Fraasch has been ostracized and likely attacked from all of the above. That's how peer pressure and group think works. It takes a lot of courage to stand up alone against all of that pressure, and few people have that kind of courage and integrity. I don't know Commissioner Fraasch, but I felt compelled to also give her my vote of respect and admiration.
"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."
In Lebo, mine is bigger than your's prevails!
1:19am Completely agree and I do know her and she is a class act!
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