October 2024: Mean dogs, vacancies

 If you subscribe to my online newspaper, the St. Louis Sentinel, you saw a Brian Buysse article about loud vehicles last month. Brian has been to three city council meetings with the same issue. Many motorcycles are too loud. Search for Brian’s name on the Sentinel site to find a 2023 article about him. I sympathize with Brian. He's a great guy. But there's only so much the city can do.


I have a similar situation with loose dogs. As an avid walker I have been barked at in a threatening manner by unchained and unfenced dogs at least twice a year for the last five years. It's scary and unsettling. I know one couple who stopped walking in my neighborhood because of the dogs. How many more like them are out there?


I now carry a golf club or a baseball bat on walks to protect myself. I haven't had to use it and hope I never will, as I'm sure the dog would get a few licks in, too.


My problem is not with dogs but with owners who are careless enough or thoughtless enough to let dogs run loose. Maybe they don't bite. But walkers don't know that. Like Brian Buysse who feels he has a right to peace and quiet, I have the crazy idea that I should be able to walk around any neighborhood in St. Louis and not be in danger of dog attack.


If you're a dog owner please keep your pooch on a leash or a chain, unless you have a fenced yard. Walkers will appreciate the courtesy.


Vacancies


As I wrote last month, we have an impending vacancy on city council with current council member Liz Upton announcing Aug. 20 that she and her family will move to Kentucky as soon as their house sells.


If you’re interested in that appointment, please contact Clerk Jamie Long at 989-261-1435, or email her at jlong@stlouismi.com. Council members are paid $700 per year and $35 per meeting.


However, we also have vacancies on Board of Review, Cemetery Committee, and Parks and Recreation Committee. 


Additionally, there will likely be five vacancies on the five-member Compensation Committee next year as we revive that moribund body and ask members to consider raising the compensation for council members. The last time council pay was raised was 2011, and it’s high time to look at it again.


Please contact Jamie Long at 989-261-1435, or email her at jlong@stlouismi.com, to express interest in any of those open positions.

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