Tonight's meeting with District 11 Councillor Jerry Blumenthal went well. There were approx 30 people present, and he was very surprised at the interest shown,as well as the demographics represented. The individuals present were not only from his constinuency, but from Beaverbank, Prospect, Clayton Park, Fairview, and Central to name a few of the other districts represented. Well done! We made our point that the people who use the park come from all over. Further our efforts to keep the park clean, and our sense of community within the park were also duly noted and favourably commented upon. We received a committment from the Counsellor that he would work with us to help keep the park open and assessable to all, including dogs. To that end it was suggested that we present a petition to council vis a vis Jerry, asking that a fence be erected across the "imaginary" line that seperates the on leash area from the off leash area. Chloe's Dad (Jeff) , has accepted the responsibility of drafting the petetion, and then we will work to have it posted on line, whereby we can collect as many signatures as possible. By this method we are hoping to provide enough leverage to see if a fence can indeed be erected.
Presentations were made by Santana's Mom ( Donna) on the clean-up day, and Charlotte's Mom ( Donna ) on obtaining better signage to designate on/off leash areas, as well as additionbal garbage cans and their placement. A question and answer session followed with an excellent exchange of information between those present and the Councillor.
Each person who attended tonight helped bring home the point that Seaview is our community, as well as a park. By continuing to work together, not only can be strive to keep the park open, we can create a community through which we can hopefully make the park a focal point for all canine citizens and their keepers within HRM.
I have posted Councillor Blumenthal's contact info in the box on the right, as he is encouraging anyone with any questions or issues to contact him.
Everyone, give yourselves a big Woof & Snort !
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If you want to read my blog post about the evening, you can read it here - http://dogkisser.blogspot.com/2010/04/meeting-of-jerry-blumenthal-and-dog.html - it was great to see you Sandra - and to meet a couple other faces that I've emailed back and forth with!
ReplyDeleteGreat meeting! Although I'm still unclear as to who is wanting the park closed. How is their voice more important than mine? In any event, I will do what I can to keep the park open. When I got home from the meeting I sent an email to my council member, Russell Walker, as I don't feel that this is a "North End problem". The park is for all of HRM therefore all council members need to be informed of what's going on and for us as taxpayers to demand that they step in and help keep the park an off-leash park (i.e. give money from their allotment for the fence). So I would encourage all of you to not only sign the petition when it comes out, but to contact your council representative to get involved as well. We'll have a better chance if ALL of HRM is involved. Keep up the good work everyone!
ReplyDeleteRoxanne (and Hank)
I have one concern about the petition that we didn't cover at the meeting. From reading about other issues before city council I seem to recall something about them being unwilling to accept "online petitions". I could be mistaken but we should make sure before going forward in case this needs to be a pen & paper petition.
ReplyDeleteRoxy;
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct. Thats why we all need to get involved,and stay involved!
Jenny's Dad; HRM does accept on line petitions, HOWEVER ( this is the really silly part) all on line petitions MUST include civic address of the signatory as well as phone/e-mail. There is the conundrum..first off even if people were willing, most on line petition servers do not have an address field. Secondly, most people..me included have no desire to have my address published on the web. So it looks like its going to have to be done, the old fashioned way! stay tuned..