After the meeting, a resident asked Chief Lauth what we should do if we see or hear anything concerning that's related to this sharpshooting program. He said without a doubt call 911. Do NOT e-mail. He said he was very emphatic with his officers that any and all complaints that come in to 911 must be recorded. I know it's tempting to keep those complaints to ourselves, but please don't. Make the call.
Terms of the "sharpshooting" contract:
Private properties 7 days per week, shooting starts after 4 PM
Public properties 5 days per week, shooting starts after 6 PM
Public properties are McNeilly, Golf Course, Robb Hollow, and behind Public Works
[Didn't Keith McGill promise the Goddard School that there will be no sharpshooting?]
Apparently, Tony DeNicola was unaware of the Gun Free School Zone Act when he submitted his proposal. (Here we go again with our GPS equipment and Google maps.) He is looking for more private properties. Could my case be having a chilling effect? This might be an opportune time to mention this:
Baiting cannot start until after archery season is over. It is illegal to hunt over bait. Baiting will start January 24, 2016 and gunshots will begin February 1, 2016.
The PG reports Mt. Lebanon to use sharpshooters to cull deer along with this photo. Check out where this photo was taken.
Mt. Lebanon Commission approves sharpshooting program
Update January 13, 2016 9:56 AM My latest email exchange with the commission. Only received one response.
From: Kelly Fraasch <kfraasch@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Jan 13, 2016 9:31 am
Subject: Re: Sled riding
It will continue along with sharpshooting beginning Feb 1st.
Kelly
Sent from Kelly's iPhone, please excuse typos or auto-corrections.
On Jan 12, 2016, at 4:29 PM, 'egillen476@aol.com' via Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org> wrote:
Commissioners,
Looking outside my window, there are around six kids sled riding in Rockwood
Park. Sunset for today is 5:14 PM. Archery will be taking place at the golf course today until 5:44 PM.
Are you going to continue archery at the golf course or are you going to act responsibly and end the archery program at the golf course now?
Elaine Gillen
Update January 13, 2016 8:26 PM
From: Keith Mcgill <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: Commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Sent: Wed, Jan 13, 2016 8:21 pm
Subject: Re: Citizen Comments
Good evening Elaine,
Julie did tell me this earlier today. We were having some server issues last night. We almost delayed the start of the discussion agenda but Nick Schalles was able to correct the issue and then apparently during the 10 minutes you are referring to we had another separate issue.
On Wed, Jan 13, 2016 at 8:10 PM, egillen476@aol.com <egillen476@aol.com> wrote:
Commissioners,
Are you aware that about ten minutes of audio are missing during the January 12, 2016 Citizen Comments? The sound died during Lourdes Castallanos' comments. About ten minutes go by before the audio portion of the meeting returns.Interestingly enough, I was not able to hear Jason Margolis call out Susan Morgans for intentionally misleading the public as learned through RTKs.Are those comments lost forever? It is unfortunate that I was not there with my little recorder as I was on August 15 and August 17, recording Jody Maddock's archery infomercials and making the only podcasts available to the public.Elaine Gillen
--
Did they approve the Humane Society program that is fully funded and was supposedly presented by the Humane Society's Senior Director, Innovative Wildlife Management & Services?
ReplyDeleteWhy would they want to implement a fully funded, humane option?
ReplyDeleteThe pro kill people think sterilization is "stupid", without giving it a chance.
They don't want to take the fun and joy away from the hunters and the sickos who are donating their private properties.
I can just see the happiness and excitement on their faces with each gun shot, knowing they've snuffed the life out of an innocent animal.
Remember, these are the not so bright people who believe they will get lyme disease if there are deer anywhere near them and who believe deer are aggressive animals who will charge at them and kill them.
Don't you wish this insane pro kill group would just all move away to a congested place, void of wildlife, so the sane, kind, compassionate, intelligent people could live without depression and sickness in the pits of their stomachs?
Did anyone at the meeting ask why sharpshooting, when they have no idea how many deer are left? Also, if there are so many deer,why is there a need for bait?
ReplyDeleteWhat's next? Bringing in deer by the truckload from other places so they can be shot? Think trophy hunting....
Whose to say the private property owners won't request and allow continued archery (hush, hush) after archery and sharpshooting have concluded?
ReplyDeleteDo you think they'll stand for seeing even one deer on their properties during the non-hunting months?
It sounds insane, but they are all insane.
If one more Post Gazette commenter states the anti-kill crowd think deer are pets, I am going to scream.
ReplyDeleteThere are way too many pro kill people. I can't wrap my mind around the sheer number of cold blooded people.
Where in the heck did they come up with those bogus deer/vehicle collision numbers?
The P-G is too sloppy. A photo of deer in Baldwin Borough? This time, the P-G could have used one of their stock photos of Mt. Lebanon deer in the snow. They used it throughout the warm months. Why not now? I can't bring myself to read the article yet. However, it's my guess that if the DVC numbers are high, they are including road kill. (Plus some exaggeration on top of that.)
ReplyDeleteMy Post Gazette subscription will be cancelled when I receive my next bill... ive been a reader for years and years.. but after reading and personally talking to the writer.. I cannot support a person who feels SCIENCE is more important than life...
ReplyDelete9:54 no I don't think there are a large amount of prokill people.. they just have all the money and power...drive through the neighborhoods of mapleton, cedar and academy avenues.. with the older houses and small yards... and you see tons of NOT IN MY YARD signs.. then take a ride over to the Hoodridge and Markham areas (home of Delano,, Micalina and my motherinlaw (the woman who writes her speeches ) .. and there are no signs...
it's a very very sad day.. but not surprising...
Kids were sled-riding yesterday at the golf course, too. They don't know they might run into archers or sharpshooters.
ReplyDelete(shaking my head).
Is it just me or is the audio function of last night's Commission meeting not included in the video available online after comments begins.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone audiotape this?
Please retract that last comment. It starts to work again later. #impulsive #sorry
ReplyDeleteI'm listening to the portion of the meeting where the commissioners are explaining their votes regarding sharpshooting. Did my commissioner actually say that since Wards 1 and 3 garnered over 1700 votes each with both wards having only prokill candidates, that it tells him that the voters have spoken. Following his flawed logic, since both wards had male candidates only, and each garnered over 1700 votes each, the voters prefer males over females. WTF? Is he really that stupid?
ReplyDeleteElaine
Elaine, would you please email the commissioners and ask them to cut all the bull and start stating the truth to the residents, public and media?
ReplyDeleteThey should admit that safety is not a concern and this is totally unrelated to deer/vehicle collisions.
They should admit that the reason is because of the pro kill crowd who prefer to remain nameless for fear of being disliked, who have money and who are using their money and power to kill deer. It's because of their irrational fear of deer, and the fact that they don't want their flowers eaten.
There is absolutely no sane reason to continue killing with arrows and guns when they don't even know how many deer are left.
I would, but I have moved out of Lebo, so they'd just say I have no business commenting.
I do have family in Lebo so I feel I have a right to be concerned for their safety.
I'm also an anti-kill animal lover who hates slaughter for no good reason.
They need to quit making up reasons, attempting to make themselves look good.
I kind of hate Mt. Lebanon right now. Can anyone talk me out of this state of mind?
ReplyDelete3:17, it doesn't matter if you are a resident or not, your tax dollars are still being sent to Mt. Lebanon in one way or another and like you wrote, you have family here where safety is a concern.
ReplyDeleteGo ahead, take it upon yourself and write those commissioners and let them know how you feel. I bet they would love to hear from someone new.
Nick M.
Sorry, I can't help you , buddy.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Jason,
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed knowing that yesterday was your birthday (and that of your twins!) on top of all the drama at the Commissioners' Meeting. Boy, you really do know how to party, don't you? No, I'm not sure anyone can help with your attitude towards Mt. Lebanon today. I'm not sure any of us would even consider moving to Mt. Lebanon right now, if we had it to do again. As an almost original native (aboriginal?) from 3rd grade into my mid-30's and now an additional 15 year-long resident, all I can say is: SOMEONE HAS HIJACKED OUR COMMUNITY!!! I'm not going to let them get away with it, but this is a different fight than it was before/or a different fight than we were cognizant of, previously. No, the issue has never been about accidents. I just didn't recognize the degree to which the votes appear to be for sale! As I said, THIS COMMUNITY HAS BEEN HIJACKED!!!
4:04 Dignity is the answer to this conflict, not hate. Just keep repeating that to yourself.
ReplyDelete1:23/1:24 PM, there is a break in Citizen Comments, about a ten minute gap of silence. It stops during Lourdes' comments, skips Roger Duffy (I think) and never heard Jason Margolis speak. Who else am I missing? Jason, did you write down your comments? If so, please feel free to share here. If you had any negative comments about a certain staff member, I now understand what happened to the audio portion of Citizen Comments!
ReplyDeleteElaine
I called out Susan Morgans for being part of a group intentionally misleading the public, as quoted in the RTKs. Can she really delete that part? Someone should call them out on THAT!!
ReplyDeleteNo Jason?? He had a very powerful message directed at Steve Silverman. Are they now trying to silence the taxpayers?
ReplyDeleteNick M.
In addition, Susan Morgans was allowed to completely bypass the commission and make a decision on her own to review and select a company (Image Box) to update and improve the lebomag website which is totally unlawful and a huge slap in the face to the taxpayers. She gets away with too, too much.
ReplyDeleteNick M.
So, Laura and Jason took Silverman for a ride last night? Thank you, thank you, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI called out Morgans, but addressed my comments to Steve McLean ... as the potential swing vote ... and the obviously naïve (or compliant already?) commissioner, unaware (or purposefully ignorant) of the wall of lies that have created a fortress of falsity around this issue.
ReplyDeleteA couple of observations. I don't appreciate Keith McGill emphasizing that the Gun Free School Zone Act only applies to public property. As a parent, I wouldn't feel too comfortable with him making that distinction.
ReplyDeleteSecond, how dare John Bendel say in his pre-vote speech that, and I'm paraphrasing here, People who want sterilization must agree that we need to reduce the population of the deer before starting sterilization. I don't agree. I don't even think we need sterilization, but that is a compromise in my mind. As it was said last night, how can there be a compromise between life and death? I think sterilization is that compromise.
I bet Dan Miller is feeling pretty pissed right now. Those three commissioners (one of them at his first meeting) sure told him what they thought of his sterilization meeting with the HSUS, PA Game Commission, two commissioners and solicitor. Wow! What a slap in the face.
Elaine
And another slap in the face to the HSUS. Read their letter from yesterday.
ReplyDeleteElaine
I actually cannot understand why they turned down the HSUS proposal. Was it offered in such a way to say that sharpshooting could not occur this season? Did the commissioners think this was an either/or proposal? I think the Humane Society went to a lot of effort to help Mt Lebanon.
ReplyDeleteElaine, regarding GFSZ, I just found a new school in the area and I am not sure if it is close enough to impact any of the shooting areas but thought I would bring it to the attention of readers:
Young Scholars of Western PA Charter School
600 Newport Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15234
I am guessing some unpaid resident has already measured the distances between the golf course and both the Montessori School and Myrtle Elementary.
Yes, a couple of unpaid residents measured the distances. The maps are posted here.
ReplyDeleteElaine
HSUS was willing to continue to work with MtLebo only if Mt. Lebo stopped deer killing (archery and guns) immediately. Too much to ask in our rundown ghetto of a 'hood.
ReplyDelete