It's official, killing delayed

At the Aug 15th Council Meeting we heard Public Works Commissioner Jim Stanek say he could have a pilot bow hunting program in place by Sept 24th, the start of deer hunting season.

In a private conversation before the Safety and Public Properties meeting, Stanek indicated that the city would NOT move forward with any killing before the election.

At the end of the Safety meeting Chairman Russo talked about Deer Mgt, which was not on the agenda. He wanted to correct some "falsehoods" (interesting word, seems he got that from SolonDeer.com); He then said there would be "No culling before the election". He was interrupted and asked for clarification on hunting vs killing by any means, including a pilot program, he responded that there would be "no hunting, no bow hunting, no culling" before the election.

So it's OFFICIAL on the record, the city will not kill before the election. They've heard the public, make sure they hear you again on Nov 8th by voting YES on Issue 94.

For more details see the meeting on video here at 7:19 pm 1 hr 29 min 26 sec to the end of the meeting

It has been Russo's habit to use his position on council to discredit those who disagree with him.  He brought up the following points:

• DVA accidents since culling stopped
  Police chief said he had no new data since May at which time he thought they increased significantly, but had no exact figures
• Choosing properties
  is done on a volunteer basis, but must meet certain criteria
• Safety protocols in place
  A dedicated police officer to make sure no one enters a culling zone (they'd be trespassing)
• Hunting or Wandering
  No one will be roaming the city with deadly weapons
• Scaring the public
  by saying people are roaming the city with deadly weapons is a "falsehood"
• No "culling before the election"
  taking necessary steps to move forward IF we are going to cull
• Presumptuous to assume that everyone who signed the petition is for hunting ban
  Russo knows a number of people signed it so it could be settled once and for all
• Taking steps to insure that we can take steps during THIS hunting season without another year going by

And as usual, Russo made mis-statements too.

• He tried to say DVAs are up to justify moving forward this year, yet there are no numbers available.
• In the past neighbors could "veto" a property being used, in this USDA contract, it isn't readily apparent.
• While no one will be roaming the streets with deadly weapons, if a deer isn't killed it can wander onto someone else's property and hunters may track it off the approved property.
• It isn't about guessing how many of the 1600 will vote for Deer Preservation Act, its about ALL 1600 expressing their right to DECIDE instead of city hall.
• In order to TAKE STEPS one should have data, there IS NO DEER COUNT and no current DVA count.
• Russo erroneously thought the hunting season was Jan-Feb, its actually Sept-March.  One should know these things before they decide on them.

At 7:33 1:23:40, Russo was asked to clarify the "no culling", he responded, that there would be "no culling, no crossbow, no lethal methods".

Status: Third Draft


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