EDIT: I see now that the meeting I mention in this post will be at noon. Sorry I missed that the first time through.
I just saw in a comment at arborupdate that City Council member Robert Johnson of the 1st Ward will not seek re-election in the next round. Johnson has been a major supporter of dog parks and an all around good member of Council.
This won't mean any changes until the next City Council election this fall so it is not going to change things for us in the immediate future. However, it would be nice to get a replacement that will also be a strong advocate of off-leash play and dog owners.
There will apparently be a meeting of First Ward Democrats to discuss the next candidate. If you live in the First Ward, consider going to this meeting and letting the pool of candidates know that this is an important issue. Even better, if you live in the First Ward and have some time on your hands run for this seat and be our champion on Council.
According to the post at arborupdate, the meeting will be this Saturday June 9, at the Community Center, 625 N. Main at Noon.
With Council primaries coming up in August, this is a good time generally to find out which of your CMs are up for re-election, if they have challengers in the primary or general election, and where both the incumbents and challengers stand on dog-park-related issues.
I see for example that Wendy Woods in the Fifth Ward has a primary challenger. If you're a fifth Ward voter, contact both of them and find out what they'll do for us.
CM Woods spoke at length during Monday's discussion. It appears that she is generally supportive but doesn't understand why we are so frustrated. She made a fairly elaborate show during her questioning of Jayne Miller that the city has provided the land for Swift Run and is doing ever so much to help dog owners and that those of us who are voicing frustration just don't know how good we have it. I don't think she is opposed to the project at all, but she really seems to believe that we've got more than we really need and we should just sit back and be quiet while the move at whatever pace they choose.
If you don't know what ward you vote in, you can see a map here.
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2 comments:
I do wish I had more than honorary citizenship in this country to be able to legally participate in the political process, but I do wonder what can be done to explain the frustration to people. I think sending an aggregate of the info collected with the petition signatures would be good (how many people/dogs have been waiting for how long), and also maybe to reiterate the example of the basketball courts/playing in more detail and in writing. It's one thing if they make the "our hands are tied" argument, but quite another if they don't understand the urgency of the matter.
Yes, urgency seems to be the key here. Most people are not philosophically opposed to dog play areas, they just aren't in any hurry.
I think that city officials and other residents who don't know the history of this issue probably find us irritatingly impatient. Part of the problem is that we have been too patient for too long, believing them when they say that they have heard our voices and are going to do something.
But my spidey-senses tell me that the tide may actually be turning in our favor. Between what I've heard at the most recent meetings and the fact that Parks had a special meeting this week to talk about this issue (at least that's what Jayne Miller seemed to be saying in her discussion at Council), I think that they may be sensing the urgency.
Of course the best way to stay on their radar is to keep a high profile, so let's keep making ourselves visible until we have something tangible.
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