"New" Policy on Block Parties

It's always been this way, but according to Mt. Lebanon Magazine, there is a new policy on block parties.

For all my long time Lebo Citizens readers, you may remember these posts on block parties.

September 13, 2015 Another unexpected visitor That is when my buddy, Steve Silverman leaked out this information to his friend, who then came to my door and told me to mind my own business.

September 17, 2016 I know. Mind my own business. Susan Morgans' family has since moved from Sleepy Hollow, but Sleepy Hollow was once again excused from this rule.

September 19, 2016 A violation of the Sunshine Law? That is when I found out that the rules can change as often as...well, I won't go there, but you know what I was going to say.

Here is the official Block Party Street Listing. Notice that Sleepy Hollow is not permitted to have block parties. What once was old, is now new again.

Nick, wherever you are, we made a difference with this one too. All your RTKs paid off in the end. Thanks, Buddy.

Revised Block Party Status by Street

Spoiler Alert!

Sleepy Hollow is still not permitted to have block parties. (See Another Unexpected Visitor)

The latest list has been posted on the municipal website today.  Mt. Lebanon Roadways - Block Party Status

For those offended by the snow removal criticism and other sacred cows

Mt. Lebanon sacred cows continue to increase. Add Public Works to the list. On Nextdoor, a person made the mistake of questioning snow removal this year. Most of the comments have been civil, but there are always those who become very defensive. It turns out that this year has not been as good for a reason. The answer is on Monday's commission agenda.

The municipality is buying two trucks for snow removal.  See? There was a problem. Funding for these vehicles has been appropriated in the 2018 municipal budget. 

Block parties has been on the sacred cow list for a couple of years now. In fact, remember how our now commission president got one of his Sleepy Hollow buddies all fired up and came to my door to tell me to mind my own business? The police ended up going to his house and told him that the next time, he will be arrested for trespassing. See Another unexpected visitor Also, a member of our PIO's family received preferential treatment, also from the same street.

On Monday's Commission Discussion Session agenda, FIFTEEN minutes will be devoted to reviewing the block party street list. I will be curious to see if Sleepy Hollow and Roycroft will be added to the "OK to have a block party" list. A certain school board director, also on the sacred cow list, may have the power to get her family and friends hired in the district, so it will be interesting to see if she carries any weight with the municipality and gets Roycroft approved.

I know. Mind my own business. UPDATED 2X

Remember when Joe Kramer, from 327 Sleepy Hollow came to my house unannounced last year over his illegal block party on Sleepy Hollow? See Another unexpected visitor  Even though Sleepy Hollow is not permitted to have block parties since it is a collector street, they continue to be above the law. Do you think it is because Susan Morgans' family lives there or does Joe Kramer have some pull with the commissioners?

Update September 17, 2016 7:14 PM Straight from the Chief of Police:

From: Aaron Lauth [mailto:alauth@mtlebanon.org]
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2016 3:23 PM
To: Nicholas Meduho, Jr.
Subject: Re: block party

Mr. Meduho,

Police Administration, Fire Department Administration, Public Works Administration and Municipal Administration conferred and were in agreement that permitting this block party on Sleepy Hollow Rd would not cause any significant traffic or public safety concerns.  The language related to this approval can be found in the following guidelines for block party approvals, "permits will not be granted for highway, arterial or collector streets without review and approval of the Mt. Lebanon Police Department. Because of the volume of traffic on these streets block parties can cause unnecessary traffic restrictions and can present safety challenges to people residing along these streets."

Thanks,

Aaron Lauth 

Chief of Police 

Mt. Lebanon Police Department 

Sent from my iPhone

Update September 18, 2016 12:03 PM

Alternate route for Sunset

Limited edition bobblehead

Very sloppy work

Getting a Right To Know request granted in the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon is becoming a joke, at the requestor's expense. A RTK was filed for all 2016 block party applications received from June 11, 2016 through July 20, 2016.

The 30 day extension was applied so that personal information could be redacted. Typical.

The requestor was charged 25¢ per copy and had to be paid up front, even though it would have been $5.00. Not so typical. Most agencies waive the fee if it is under $25.00.  To pay less than $5.00 upfront is ludicrous. Only Mt. Lebanon does that.

Fee was paid, but the RTK was not available after the thirty days. Not typical, in fact, illegal. It was MIA. A letter had to be sent to the manager, commissioners, and Open Records Officer (ORO) questioning the process. Not the first time this had to be done.

The information was emailed, even though it was requested in hard copy. Again, not typical. Commissioner Brumfield objects to scanned copies, when it suits him.

Finally, the information was released and available here.

Reviewing the RTK, I was happy to see that Rudy caught the one scheduled for Halloween and rejected it. Not typical. Last year, there was one in Mission Hills. Our former police chief had advised that all Halloween block parties not be permitted for safety concerns.

I do see that one application was reviewed and accepted for a collector street. They even requested a barricade for a Castle Shannon street. Sadly, this too, is typical. A Sleepy Hollow resident appeared at my door last year and told me to mind my own business regarding their two block parties.

State Representative Dan Miller's Right To Know event on September 15, 2016 can't come soon enough. I just hope that representatives from  the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon attend Dan's event.

Another unexpected visitor

Mt. Lebanon Police just left my home. I had another unexpected visitor come to my door. I think this letter to the commissioners and Chief Lauth is self explanatory.

Commissioners and Chief Lauth,

Joe Kramer from 327 Sleepy Hollow Rd. just rang my doorbell and asked me very politely to mind my own business concerning block parties on Sleepy Hollow. His wife is an attorney and understands that there is something on the books pertaining to block parties on Sleepy Hollow, but the children in his neighborhood relish the two block parties that they have during the year. He also parks his car in the street as a form of traffic calming and particularly enjoys having his section of Sleepy Hollow blocked off because the cars race by all the time. He asked me to back off and concentrate on other issues. He will not tell me who told him. I said that I feel very uncomfortable with him coming to my door and asking me to back off. He said that he will not come by again.

I said that this is another example of you coming up with ordinances and you never enforce them. Instead of coming to me, he should contact his commissioner, Dave Brumfield, and ask that this be taken off the books. I told him how you don't enforce dogs in the park (and there was a dog in Rockwood Park), you don't enforce the speed limits, you don't enforce the deer feeding ban, in addition to illegal block parties, and now you want to ban smoking in the parks.

Since Mr. Kramer, from 327 Sleepy Hollow, came to my house unannounced and refused to say where he heard about this, I can assume that... you...told Mr. Kramer about my email to you yesterday...I don't appreciate you sharing the information with him. I am especially upset since you are protecting the private property owners and hunters who are involved with the archery program. Mt. Lebanon residents are really concerned that you will not disclose these locations, citing in my latest Right To Know:

Aren't you doing exactly that to me? A man came to my door unannounced asking me to mind my own business. I have called 911 and an officer is on his way to speak with me. 

Elaine Gillen

A followup call from the police...Mr. Kramer has been warned not to come to my house again or he will be arrested for trespassing. The officer told me that Mr. Kramer understood, apologized, and realized that he probably should not have come over. 

I have our commissioners to thank for all of this.

RTK for Block Party Permit Applications

A Right To Know was filed for all block party applications submitted from March 2015 to July 2015. Of the thirty one requests, only one was for a street that was on the No Block Party List. See page 28 of the RTK.

The request on page 28 was for the July 4 block party that I wrote about on July 4. See Special rules for special people. This request was made by our PIO's family member.

This is an example of the arrogance and self-importance that I wrote about in the previous blog post, Watch out, Lebo. You're starting to act like Greece. A friend sent this to me:

These folks have lost the definition of what it means to be a public servant. On Laura Pace Lilley’s Twitter page it states, ”I get paid to write.” What does she write for $32.00 per hour? Facebook, Twitter? Is [this] the best and most responsible use of taxpayer monies?  

I see that Timmy applied for a block party permit. I hope he was charged the $25 fee, like the rest of us must pay. Well, maybe not the one for Sleepy Hollow.

Special rules for special people

Mt. Lebanon has a rule for everything, including which roads are not permitted to have block parties. Guess where this block party is taking place today?

Sleepy Hollow is considered a collector street and is not permitted to have block parties. Thanks to our former commissioners, Bonnie VanKirk (who wants taxpayers to pay for her deer to be killed), and Joe DeIuliis, Mt. Lebanon residents must now apply for permits and pay a $25 fee for block parties. The link has in bold:

Also, permits will not be granted for highway, arterial or collector streets. Because of the volume of traffic on these streets block parties cause unnecessary traffic restrictions and can present safety challenges to people residing along these streets.

What is interesting is that this block is where a close relative of our PIO lives. This isn't the first time the rules were broken. My former commissioner lives on Roycroft. They were able to have block parties on Roycroft when she was commissioner.

Want to have a block party? That will be $25, please.

For those of you not at the Commission Discussion Session last night, you missed a lively discussion about block party fees.  Unfortunately, my recorder went on the fritz, so I can't post the podcast.  Bonnie VanKirk proposed a $50 fee for block parties, to pay for Public Works to drop off and pick up the saw horses.  Matt Kluck, Bonnie VanKirk and Joe DeIuliis agreed to charge $25.   Dave Brumfield objected because having block parties in Mt. Lebanon is such a positive activity which brings neighborhoods together.  According to Tom Kelley, we had around 105 or 107 block parties last year.  Based on a $42 million budget, $2500 or so is such a small expense that it is hardly worth discussing, Dave felt. Joe DeIuliis said we could cut back on roads.  By this time, it was almost 11:30 p.m.  The final vote (5:3) was to charge $25 for block parties.  I wonder what would happen if people just blocked the roads with chairs or put up their own barriers. 

It was also brought up last night that the Youth Sports Alliance does not contribute to municipal fields as Dave Brumfield had pointed out at a previous meeting.  Steve Feller verified that using municipal fields does cost taxpayers since there are no fees being charged.