Fight crime, not dogs
Rex Bailes
Monday, October 8, 2007
IT SEEMS to me that our commissioners need to be replaced if all they have to do is worry about dogs riding in pickup truck beds.
The people of Emporia and Lyon County would be better off if the commissioners would hire more police officers and sheriff deputies, with better pay so they would have a better chance of fighting crime and drugs in our county and city instead of making petty ordinances such as the one about dogs riding in the back of pickup trucks.
What gives the commissioners the right to make ordinances for 20,000 people in our community without the people having the right to vote on this ordinance before it is put into effect. We as tax payers should have this right.
Rex Bailes
Emporia
Editor’s Note: The city commission ended up not passing a new ordinance but enforcing an existing ordinance that the city attorney said could apply to dogs in pickup beds.
stevenlk (anonymous) says...
i absolutly agree with this, there are far worse things we need to worry about in this town than continuous petty dog ordinance's.
October 9, 2007 at 2:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
My theory is that if the commission keeps passing these petty ordinances (and I agree-this is petty), at least it appears they are working.
M
October 9, 2007 at 10:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
My understanding of the situation is that some Emporia residents brought the issue to the commission and the commission addressed it. The ensuing discussion did _not_ result in a new ordinance, just a clarification that dogs in pickups are already covered in an existing ordinance. Furthermore, the police chief said they "wouldn’t place a high priority on its enforcement over more serious matters."
I for one, am glad we have a commission that responds to the concerns of the citizens. If you have a concern, you too can take it to the commission and it will be addressed. Then people can write to the Gazette and talk about what a waste of time _your_ concern is, and others will go along with your misinterpretation of the facts and continue to take their delight in grousing about every single thing that comes down the pike.
October 9, 2007 at 12:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
Yes, we are all entitled to our opinions. I do believe that was my point, but obviously I didn't get that across. What I was trying to say was that the commission was responding to the concerns of citizens who took the time to take their concerns to the commission. These people are also entitled to their opinions. And a second point I was _trying_ to make was that when complaining about something, it would be worthwhile to at least get the facts straight. No new ordinances were passed.
Some people's opinions just seem to be consistently negative - complaining about every single thing that happens.
It's the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" thing. If you can't say something positive once in a while then people start to doubt your credibility. It seems to me that so much of what I see in these forums is negative, and I refrain from commenting because, yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
But- people - ask yourselves - is your opinion ever upbeat? Is there anything in our community you're proud of? Happy about? And if the commissioners are all just a bunch of time-wasting bums - what are you doing about it? Are you considering running for office so that someone-who-really-knows-how-to-do-things-right will do the job instead?
KStrebuchet (anonymous) - whoever you are - in the above, when I say "you", I don't mean YOU, I mean the constant grousers and complainers.
P.S. It's Tracey with an E.
October 9, 2007 at 8:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )