Who is Mary McFarland and why...

The 9:20 PM comment under "Parting gifts and the budget: "Who is Mary McFarland and why is she perpetuating the same jibberish of too many Mt. Lebanon residents who are too stupid to grasp the dangers of bow hunting in our highly dense community. They've all been drugged." This is in response to the latest letter in The Almanac, Right to Know information not vital

In response to the article, “Mt. Lebanon resident granted right to know request, ” (The Almanac, Dec. 2-8) I have a question: Why is this information so relevant and important enough to be publicly disclosed? Just because a Mt. Lebanon resident (as a private citizen) sent an email to their commissioner (as private communication) offering to use their yard as part of the deer hunt doesn’t necessarily mean that that particular yard was actually used for the purpose of hunting. The White Buffalo representatives sent emails, made phone calls and visited homes to determine the safest and most effective places for them to use. Only then did they set up their base of operation. The deer population touches almost every yard in Mt. Lebanon, yet not every yard is a proper or safe hunting site. 

If Ms. Gillen is sincerely worried about where the actual hunting is taking place, then she should request that information from White Buffalo, not Mt. Lebanon. Having access to email and home addresses of people who contacted their commissioners in the context of private communication is none of her business. The actual deer cull has been going on for several weeks and so far there haven’t been any safety issues yet. Ms. Gillen insists that she needs this information for safety purposes and continues to ask for more correspondence from Mt. Lebanon. By the time she gets this (if she does), the cull will be over. Again, what good will this do? 

There are visible signs all over Mt. Lebanon with regard to hunting/ no hunting in the area. Anecdotal evidence so far shows that the cull is successful. I see fewer deer and I have not heard of any accidental human injuries. It would be interesting as well to see if there have been fewer traffic incidents. 

Mt. Lebanon is not the only community that has to cull it’s deer population. This activity goes on all over Allegheny County, as well as the entire state of Pennsylvania. Why has this become such an issue in Mt. Lebanon? 

Mary McFarland

Mt. Lebanon

The good news is that Mary McFarland doesn't think we need sharpshooting since she thinks the cull is successful and that she has seen fewer deer. The bad news is that Mary McFarland doesn't understand that communication to commissioners is public information. Agencies, such as Mt. Lebanon Municipality and School District are permitted to redact certain information such as Social Security numbers, health records, information about minors under 17, phone numbers, personal email addresses, trade secrets, autopsies, academic transcripts, executive session discussions, etc. There are 30 exceptions. Well, that's a lie. There are 31. The 31st is Susan Morgans is permitted to leak out executive session discussions if it suits her. Especially if it is about the commission appealing a state decision made in my favor.