Downtown Delinquents That Cater to Cats

[XLFD]

The Problem:  We have a problem with stray and feral cats.  There is no doubt about it.  The City Council wouldn't have been considering for its third month a remedy for such cats if there was no problem. 

But we can also say there was no problem last year, as the City actually got through the year without even a consideration of such measures.  Thus, the problem has developed since last year and so we need to figure out what made the cats a problem since then.

 

The Genesis of the Problem? :  On July 12, 2010 the following was noted in the "New Business" portion of the DDA's monthly meeting:  "Dog bowl project information has been sent out. 11 stores have responded so far."  The always incomplete minutes of the DDA, mentions this here first and gives no relevant info about a "dog bowl project".  But less than a month later the Planning Commission met on 8-4-2010 and had this in their minutes:

 

And we're still flummoxed over what this initiative is.  The next months DDA meeting states:

First it's a project, then its an initiative and now we're talking dog stations.  We begin to get the impression that bowls for the feeding of dogs are being placed in the downtown area of Ludington.  And it began last summer.  Besides the above cryptic passages, there is nothing you can google or find in the City website except for the following which occurs in almost all local 'tourist information' sites:

 

Project Dog Bowl, courtesy of Mason County Transit Mix, out on the PM Hwy.  Now your pooch can stay hydrated while he shops downtown.  Look for water bowls. 

 

I did.  In August, I went downtown and took some pictures of the dog stations that are part of the dog bowl initiative-project. 

Sportsman's Dog Bar

108 Threads- Two Dog Ceramics

Snyder's Shoes and Dog Watering Hole

Blu Moon-Dog Restaurant

And some others including this one in front of AJ's Party Port:

 

OK, let's quickly review: the DDA Board decided to put bowls of water around the downtown area, along Ludington Ave and James Street to be dog-friendly to those who walk them downtown during last summer, and they still remain.  Let's go on.

 

Where has the problem been reported? 

 

According to my FOIA into cat complaints received by the City, there has been no formal complaint received, nor any problem with stray cats investigated by the LPD in the last year.  But there has been two people who bring in their anecdotes of 'the cat plague of 2011' into the City Council meetings.  The first is from the 7-11 meeting, the last two from the 8-8 meeting.

Both of these people are in the downtown area, within a block or two of several of these watering bowls, put out for dogs, and left out overnight.  No other person has commented on this problem anywhere else in the City.

 

Who is responsible for solving this problem?

 

This area is exclusively in the Third Ward of Ludington, which was served by Councilor Scott until he retired after 11.5 years of service in April 2011.  The new councilor, Les Johnson, took over and presumably took over Mr. Scott's position on the Public Safety Committee.  Him, along with Councilor Castonia and Peterson, initially agreed to ban the feeding of all animals by people other than their owners, even inside their own house.  When some sanity came back to them they agreed to the latest revision of this proposed law. 

Les Johnson is a member of the DDA and was back last year, and serves as the secretary to that organization.  He helped institute the dog bowl project, helped keep it obscure by not keeping minutes that actually comply with the Open Meetings Act, and helped put a dog station in front of the business he owns, AJ's Party Port on the deep south of James Street.  For my own anecdote, the only cat I have seen at night on James Street since I have been looking has been a cat within feet of his bowl (in the picture above) who ran away when he noticed me. 

 

What does the proposed ordinance say?

 

While City Clerk Luskin usually keeps exceptional minutes she did not put out the revision at the last meeting.  And, of course, I cannot view the ordinance because I am restricted from entering City Hall by city policy.  But here is the closest I can give you:

 

"Anyone intentionally making water available to any cat"? 

 

Let's summarize.  The DDA Board thought it would be a tourist-friendly act to provide watering stations for dogs in front of the downtown businesses.  They purchased bowls from Transit Ready Mix, filled them with water and have had them placed since summer of last year and they have remained there.  A problem with stray and feral cats developed over this winter in that same area, if we believe the testimony of those who sought this ordinance.  They say that people have been leaving food out for them. 

But cats can go a long time without food, and very little time without water as many pet websites will tell you  PetsHub: Cats and food.   Furthermore, stray and feral cats could find enough food by their innate hunting skills in the outdoors and even subsist on plants if their hunting skills were not sharp or the prey wasn't around.

Is it too far-fetched to say that the dog bowl initiative had an effect on the habits and the population of the downtown cats?  I don't think so; yet many-hatted City Councilor Les Johnson, who voted for the dog bowl project in the DDA, who has had a dog bowl outside his business, who has deemed it necessary to create an ordinance that restricts anyone from making water available to any cat as a member of the Public Safety Committee, and who is now scheduled to vote for an ordinance to make illegal what he has done for the last 15 months in helping to create a problem for our City, is still likely going to have that dog station/after-hours cat oasis outside his business after Monday's vote whether the proposal passes or not.  As are our other business owners in the downtown area.

We will see the amount of hypocrisy inside our government when they are cat-called on it.

[Wanda Marrison]

Even with Kaye's and Pete possible no vote it would have passed. 4-3

This should have NEVER come to council to begin with. Public Safety should have handled it differently. I'm not sure how but it was a waste of time.

Rather than sending it to committee in the first place I would have explained that the city does not have animals control dept. and that the county has this and that there was a FREE box trap program. That would have been a the 1st public comments on concern. But that's just me.

 

[XLFD]

A City that does the majority of its work in committee and subcommittee is not being a very open government.  Particularly when they claim the committees are advisory in nature, when they are actually 'working committees' and should be ran according to the OMA.  I think this is something we can agree on, Wanda.

I still would like to hear from Councilor Holman and Engblade on whether they would have voted for this or not, and why.  A 4-3 vote would have made it easier for me to repeal it next year, even if neither of them would be still there...

[Marty Redman]

XLFD, Looks like your opponent Kay Holman is a bit of a scaredy cat on this one.  Hurrah for you Wanda, I was chatting with a group at work about this whole feeding ordinance and the consensus here was that it made our local politics around here, near Chicago, look sensible.

[Edie Lindsey]

Great.  Look for this ordinance to migrate to Scottville next, riding like bacteria on Chief Inspector Barneau and West Heather.  Now that they have Heather Landis (East Heather) at the head of the Main Street Moneypit, we have to be careful to distinguish them.  The Heathers back in the movie of the same name were a lot nicer, IMHO. 

[Sweater Cows!]

Well, as far as Scottville I think they are in desperate need of such a program because the downtown was dieing off pretty bad over the last few years,  I remeber doing a lot of shopping in Scottville as a kid with my mom.

Grocery, Hardware, Pharmacy, Clothing, Furniture, Doctor, Dentist, Restaurant were all available right downtown or just outside of town.

 

I would seriously hesitate to say anything bad about the mainstreet program,yet anyway, as in my opinion I would think the people involved really do want to bring life back to the town. It seems they are getting some more businesses to open up down there, whether due to mainstreet program i couldn't say.

 

For those of us out east it is nice if we(well me anyway) can keep to one weekly trip to Ludington.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Yeah Scottville has certainly changed since I was a teen. There is nothing that is a draw there, the bar that looked kind of dumpy (but to be fair I did not go in, it might be really nice in there for all I know), SMT which I did go into - has been slightly remodeled since it was Steve's Tavern but honestly I could not tell what type patron they were trying to attract. The only thing else in town I noticed was gas station, bank and Dentist.  Kind of sad actually.

[AQUAMAN]

Getting back to facts, why in fact didn't Kaye and Pete come in to vote? Along with Mayor Hendy? Gotta wonder, Wanda? Or do WE? Your choice...............lol.  Could be suspicious and quite culpable. Or is it?  Don't want to have votes against itself if wrong to start with, or do we? This is the ESSENCE of the TORCH.......... to start with..............not laughing now either................!

[XLFD]

I grew up in Scottville, during the '70s, so yeah it has went south from what it once offered. 

The general idea of a DDA or a Main Street program is to put public money into the processes of revitalizing an area.  They spend money on over-priced and uniform signs, plants, banners, benches and trash cans, invent a non-organic event or two, and charge it to the public.  I see it more as a bailout situation, where you get private businesses depending on an occasional 'hit' of public funding to help them when they want to improve their appearance. 

Meanwhile, you are taking funds from other areas, and having to raise more money to replenish those funds by taking more money from the people that are most likely to 'shop' there.  The result, is a bunch of overtaxed people, and a downtown district that looks nice and uniform, with shops that don't serve the community that pays for it's 'improvements'.  

Mainstreet programs and DDAs have good intentions, but like most government programs with good intentions, they destroy a lot of free market principles in an area.  Just check out in any newspaper or shopper's guide how many downtown Ludington or Scottville businesses actually advertise their business. 

[Willy]

XLFD

Is the ordinance you cited about feeding cats the final draft because as I reread the ordinance it appears to permit folks to feed and water cats on their own residence. The ordinance prohibits a person from feeding and watering cats on property other their their residence. If Les does not live at the store then he would be in violation of the feeding/watering ban.

[snide]

here is how to end the cat "problem"......Catch a cat , take it to China Buffet, get two free meals...! You can choose from --- Kitty -on-a-stick, Kung pow kitty or my favorite , Filet Meow......

[Willy]

You got me laughing Snide. All seriousness I think this supposed cat problem is more a people problem.

[AQUAMAN]

Puss & Boots had more sense than this Top Cat Shay does for new ordinances. Last I knew, it included ANY stray or wandering animal, dog, cat, birds, and the like, if you don't have the owners permission to feed it. Let's see now, buffet, how bout some pussy paw pie alamode for desert to top off that hunger?