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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Solon Contracts with USDA

City council voted 6-1 (Pelunis disagreed) to enter into a contract with the USDA.

Here's my first cursory review of the contract

• Stanek is the point man for the city (no surprise, it could have been Viland though)
• Meetings are by invite only of Stanek or USDA
  
• They can amend any time without public notice or council action (eg add captive bolt)
• They likely would have to go to council for approving more than $128K (I will get the legal ordinance language)
• USDA will kill on public and private property with needed ODOW permits
• No provision is included to require adjoining property owner permission, it seems this is at the city's discretion
• USDA will supervise their own people and activities
• All media discussions about this MUST be approved by the city AND USDA (gag order)
  
• Any legal conflicts with USDA are governed by Federal Tort law (making any legal action must less likely)
• USDA told Solon there are private suppliers (wonder if they mentioned anyone other than WB)
• Only 2/3 of the cost ($87K) is for the killing activity the other $41K is for Vehicle, Travel, Supplies, and "Program Support" (Management overhead?).
• The cost is capped at $128K for USDA billing, however the city will incur significant costs over and above $128K for items listed below.
  

Items that will take city resources in addition to the $128K

• City must obtain ODOW permits
  
• City project coordinator must be accessible by USDA via cell
  
• Stock bait sites a week before and each day of killing
  
• City Police need to ensure areas are closed and empty
• City Police need to be present while USDA is killing
• Eviscerate, clean, store deer and ice carcasses after each day's kill
• Transport deer to processing plant within 24 hours
• Maintain records and produce reports for ODOW (didn't WB do that)
  

Status: FIRST DRAFT

Check back for text of contract

See Patch Article on this issue

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Aug 15th Council

Despite objections to moving forward, council discussed the plan and had it on first reading, no action was taken, the full council was not present.  Next council is on a special date Sept 7 at 7:30 due to labor day.

The meeting video is here, public comment from 10:30 min to 13:20 min, the plan discussed (item 9)  from 25:20 min to 29 min and comments from Russo from 57:20 min to 58:50 min.

Stanek forwarded an agreement with the USDA WS to the law director for review.  The quoted price of $128K was to kill 400-500 deer.  Stanek further said that if the city of Solon had to cancel the program they would only incur costs up to that point and not for cancelling the contract.

Russo asked Stanek to correct a misstatement by the Solon Sun who editorialized that lethal and contraception methods should be used together.  Ohio law doesn't allow this effective method to be used.

Lobe warned that the ballot initiative would repeal any inconsistent measures they pass, he said he's not telling them not to go forward, he's just stating that it could be repealed.

Russo discussed how much food banks appreciate donations of venison.

Near the end of the meeting, Russo also disputed the claim that the plan concentrated on lethal alternatives, he claimed it was better than previous plans that did not mention non-lethal, that last point may be true, but it doesn't answer the initial concern - Why doesn't this plan give equal consideration to non-lethal methods. Russo defended the council's decision to move forward because the city can't assume the Deer Preservation Act will pass and need to be prepared to move forward.  The point Russo was missing is that 1600+ people spoke up to ask for this to be on the ballot.  His response was that some of the 1600 people may be against it, but again he's missing that ALL of them wanted it on the ballot.

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Solon Videos

Frequently in these posts reference will be made to the time stamps within city video.  Recently I noticed that the Firefox and Chrome browsers no longer displayed these time stamps at the lower right corner.  Internet Explorer still does.  So for convenience of locating and fast forwarding, you may want to open these links in Internet Explorer.

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Coverage on NPR

The deer issue was covered on NPR radio here.  You can listen or download the broadcast and still can have the last word by adding your comment.

The coverage was rather biased toward deer culling, with the MetroParks speaking the most, followed by Councilman Russo, and than John Nolan challenging the deer culling.  Lane was a call in guest and also defended the deer, as well as some of the callers.

In the coming weeks, watch this site's Label NPR for further discussion on the issues raised during the broadcast.

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Bow Hunting close to home

Middleburg Heights: Neighbors help deer struck by arrow 

From WKYC TV

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS -- People in Middleburg Heights are searching for a deer that is in need of help. The deer has an arrow stuck in its neck. Someone shot the deer but the animal did not die. 

It's been seen in a Middleburg Heights neighborhood with the arrow still stuck. The sight has upset neighbors. People in the area say they feed the deer and say they are like pets to them. Police have called animal control officers to help locate the injured deer.

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Comprehensive Deer Management

That's what we're being told we're getting, let's take a closer look.

They start with a little history, then discuss the major safety problem, Deer Vehicles Accidents (DVAs) and promptly state that none of the solutions are "proven". Later they discuss the other problem, landscape damage, list all the plants deer don't eat, then say that if there are "too many" then they'll eat anything.

How many is too many? Well they just pick an imaginary number (see Cultural Carrying Capacity), and the number they've chosen is half as many as we've ever had, even during the height of culling. Why?

If you pick a low enough number, then you'll always have justification for killing more deer.

They mention "public information and education" briefly, they admit this is a sensitive issue, and the solution is to "educate" the public. Clearly they don't really want critical evaluation of this sensitive issue, they've made that clear with their adversarial stance on all opposing views. Just think of this as the propaganda component of the plan.

Next they have the monitoring component. They'll measure citizen complaints about deer damage (DVA and garden). But they don't mention collecting info on culling/hunting accidents, suffering deer outside the hunting areas, compliance with culling/hunting regulations. In keeping with their one sided lethal agenda, they aren't monitoring things that aren't part of their lethal program. They also mention citizen surveys, again just the complaints about deer, not about the city sponsored killing.

They'll also count the deer, it will always be higher than the new low target, so they'll always be justified to kill more. And of course they'll count the number of deer they kill, so it looks like they are doing something useful for the hundreds of thousands of dollars they'll be spending every year.

Under non-lethal alternatives they mainly list plants deer don't like, then point out that deer will eat anything. They mention repellents and then say that they won't work if the deer are very hungry.

They also list a feeding ban on citizens so sharpshooters can be the only one to lure the deer with bait stations to their own demise.

Two very effective non-lethal methods (contraception and relocation) are listed as "non-traditional" because the hunting interests won't allow them in Ohio.

Then comes the real meat of the plan, the killing methods (Captive Bolt, Bowhunting, and Sharpshooting) with nary a downside mentioned.

Nothing about rebound, nothing about the prior 5 yr culling failure.

So in conclusion they mention everything, 
but will be doing only one thing - KILLING!


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