Judy Gatelli can run, but can't hide (Scranton: costs, dog park)

[Judys Friend]

Hi Mr. Hubbard,

I feel for you're situation, as does Judy. It takes more than one person to make things work. You ask Judy, She is doing her best, to help you. Trust me. Mr. Hubbard, May I give you an example? Say I called you, for your help with a building being torn down, and you had to call someone. You would call five times, and get no response. Imagine the ire you would feel if I attacked you for not trying, when you called five times. It's up to someone else now. You did you're part. If you're met with a stone wall, what do you do. Please understand Judy does not want anyone to suffer. She's only one person. She's my friend, I know how hard she works. She cares about people. It's hard when I see her abused. Nobody on this Earth deserves that. Mr. Hubbard I Pray your situation will be helped soon. Judy doesn't give up. So, I hope very soon it will be.

[NYRangers 2008]

Are you a member of the Judy Gatelli fan club? You can't be serious. Your post sounds like one of a mental patient. Is that you Judy? I don't think Judy really cares about Dan's situation, nor do I think she is doing her best either. She'll have to do a lot better than she's doing now. So you and your friend go walk around South side trying to find ways to make that part of the city better, while the rest of Scranton gets ignored.

[to570717]

I have to say, I have spoken to Judy and I have spoken to others who deal with Judy on a consistant basis. They all say the same thing. She works for people that ask for or need the help. Some of these people do not like her as well. She tries to get things done for people and a lot of time is met with very limited support from the top. Doherty does not like her very much. She is was an ardent supporter of Gary Dibelio and made it a point to take shots at the mayor. He does not do a lot to help her out. She really does respond to questions either by phone or email, and does actully try and get help when help is needed.

I don't think she conducts meetings very well, but by this point If i where in her shoes i would be serving time for Assult on probly ten people. Like her or not she tries and what else can you ask for,

By the way, look at ht erest of the council name one person that does much more or any better than Judy. Bill, no Sherry, no Bob, No Janet----nothing.

It is popular to hate judy amonst certain circles. MOst of it is very superficial. I can see how you can dislike policy that raises taxes. I agree, thats not cool. However, she is voting on things that will happen either way. They are things that connect puzzel peices together and if not voted for then the people who really run the town will be upset. Then their money stops flowing then you have real poblems., She is just being a realist. Hurting some yes, benefitting others yes. DEpends on whos side your one. Janet does nothign for anybody. YEt some people think she is a saint because she disagrees with the mayor. She is the worthless one.

[mrholland]

If you build it they will come. Only a dogless person would be against a dog park in this area! This city is so dog unfriendly it reeks of canine prejudice!
You can't take your furry best friend anywhere unless on a leash or he/she will end up at Rob's Roadkill Diner.
I don't like the idea of spending a fortune on this project either, but it would be nice to see our tax dollars well spent. Or, how about a community fund raiser, or a community volunteer project? I for one would be thrilled to build up a sweat digging post holes if my little 7 lb chichi could run 90 MPH like his little legs think they can!
Come on people....let's make it happen!

[bloominscranton]

I question Ms. Gatellie's link with personal info as stated in yesterday’s paper. If she received anything that was of a protected nature I feel she should have contacted the DA instead of waiting for it to come to a head and then answering The DAs questions.mad:

Her actions were not in the best interest of the City nor the people whose information she received. SSN's are/should be protected with the utmost care...especially in this day and age! Any improper access should be reported!

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by mrholland

If you build it they will come. Only a dogless person would be against a dog park in this area! This city is so dog unfriendly it reeks of canine prejudice!

Why should I, as a non-dog-owning taxpayer, pay taxes to build something that caters to only dog owners, especially in light of the city's financial situation?

[weluvpa]

Mr. Holland I have 3 dogs and I'm for the dog park but not a $300,000 dog park for a city of 70,000. This dog park is one of the most expensive in the country and yet we are a distressed city.

Places like Newport News VA built a dog park that makes ours look like a junker and they did it for under a $100,000 and the park is self maintaining. We paid $300,000 for a fence and gravel with some boulders in the middle. Half-ass at best and a huge waste of our money, which should be no surprise. The park has been started but it has yet to be finished with is typical for the city of Scranton.

Newport News also requires you to register to use the park and the small membership fees cover the park up keep. This process also requires the dogs to be registered and to have licenses to use the park. Currently we have no way of knowing if the dogs in the park are registered or have licenses, so what does a resident do if they are attacked or better yet their dog is attacked by another dog?

I have gone over this before and if you read the thread before posting you would have seen it. FIDO PARK.



Tucson now has three dog parks. The city estimates the construction cost at around $85,000, and maintenance costs about the same as for a soccer field. The city saw a decrease in off-leash dogs complaints in neighborhoods and on athletic fields.

The Marin Humane Society lists these dog park essentials of dog park design:

Concern for the environment
1 acre or more surrounded by a 4' to 6' secure fence
Entry - double gated
Shade & water
Adequate drainage
Parking close to site
Grass area - routine mowing
Covered garbage cans with regular trash removal
Waste scooper stations
Benches
Wheelchair access
Safe location - not isolated
Regular maintenance


Groundbreaking Planned for Hawai'i Kai Dog Park

The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) announced today it will break ground on the Hawai'i Kai Dog Park on October 25, 2006. Mayor Mufi Hannemann will join Parks department officials, private sponsors, and park supporters and their dogs, for the ceremonies at the makai end of the Hawai'i Kai Park and Ride at 9:00am. The dog park will be built on vacant, city-owned land adjacent to the Park and Ride. A few days after the ceremonial groundbreaking, the community will get down to work by participating in Make a Difference Day on October 28th, to help prepare the land for planting and construction.

The Hawai'i Kai Dog Park is a joint project of the East Honolulu community and the Department of Parks and Recreation. Due to insufficient funding in the Parks capital budget, DPR Director Lester Chang met with the Hawai'i Kai community last summer and invited them to join in a public-private partnership to help raise funds and find other resources to build the dog park. Hui 'Ilio Hawai'i, a local non-profit group, has spearheaded the community effort. Once the park is opened, it will be maintained by DPR and monitored by volunteers.

The park project was initiated two years ago when a group of East Honolulu dog owners approached the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board with a proposed location for an off-leash, public dog park. The dog owners’ group subsequently founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Hui 'Ilio Hawai'i, to promote public dogs parks and to promote responsible dog ownership.

Following the Neighborhood Board’s unanimous endorsement of the dog park proposal, the City Council approved a resolution, introduced by Councilmember Charles Djou last year, to designate the land parcel makai of the Park and Ride for use as a dog park. Hui 'Ilio members then testified on behalf of a Capital Budget amendment to include dog park construction funding in the 2006 budget. A small budget of $12,000 for planning, design and construction was approved by the City Council. The actual cost of construction was estimated to exceed $90,000. Hui 'Ilio’s first challenge was to get design plans approved for the dog park. Jim Lyon of Lyon Associates, a civil engineering firm, offered his firm’s pro-bono services to develop the park plans. Dennis Hashimoto of DJNS Surveying & Mapping, Inc. provided a topographical survey and perimeter staking, and Ben Lee of Brownlie and Lee, landscape architects, donated the irrigation plans. Because of these generous contributors to the planning and design phase, DPR has determined it has sufficient funding in its capital budget to purchase irrigation materials for the dog park. Hui 'Ilio Hawai'i is leading the community effort to raise funds for park fencing and landscaping. Construction plans have been approved by DPR and are now being submitted to the Department of Planning and Permitting for final approval.

Hui 'Ilio Hawai'i is soliciting business sponsors as well as individual donors to help fund the construction costs. The group is asking contractors to include either donated services or discounts in their construction bids, as a donation to the community. The group is also calling for volunteers to participate in Make a Difference Day on October 28, 2006, from 8am to noon. Hui 'Ilio can be contacted via its website, Hui 'Ilio Hawaii - The Dog Park People or by emailing hui-ilio@hawaii.rr.com.


Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism
For Immediate Release: April 11, 2006



NEWPORT NEWS' FIRST DOG PARK "FIDO FIELD"
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Tuesday, April 18, 11:00 a.m.
Riverview Farm Park

Newport News, Va. - Newport News Parks, Recreation, and Tourism will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for "Fido Field," the City's first dog park, on Tuesday, April 18, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. at Riverview Farm Park adjacent to the Gymnastics Center. The ceremony will include remarks by Mayor Joe Frank and City officials.

"Fido Field" is a 1.5 acre facility surrounded by a 5ft fence with a double gate entry. There is a 1/8 of an acre fenced area within the park reserved for small dogs (20 pounds or less). The park includes a water fountain (accessible to owners and their dogs) and benches. Shelters to provide shade will be installed later this spring. Owners must register their dogs and buy an annual pass ($10 per year for the first dog, $5 for each additional dog residing in the same residence) to use the dog park. Dog owners must show proof of a City Dog License and an up-to-date immunization record in order to register their dog. Registration is accepted year-round at the Riverview Gymnastic Center and Newport News Campground, and at the Riverview Farm Park Concession Stand from April through September.

"Fido Field" will be a self-supporting facility paid for by the annual membership fees and dog obedience class fees. It is estimated the 25,000 of the 70,000 households in Newport News own at least one dog and that 1,000 will be registered annually for membership at "Fido Field." In the past five years, a dog park was the most requested facility by the City's park users to be added to the wide range of facilities offered at the City's thirty-two parks. Construction cost for "Fido Field" was $55,000.
For more information, citizens should call (757) 886-7912.

No one is questioning the idea or the park, I think we could something like this but not at the cost that they are proposing, why is it that the cost of "our dog park" is 3x as much as most others that I have researched. Tucson and Newport News are bigger than Scranton, yet they seem to be able to build these without killing their residents with a huge price tag. Also read on about these parks because most of them were built with GRANTS and received funding for the construction yet we just have to bid ours out and pay for it out of city money, I wonder who is line for this contract.

ITS TOO MUCH MONEY AND THE RESEARCH PROVES IT, look yourselves use google its awesome its all there for you to read. This project is over the top and its going to cost us way too much. And that cannot be blamed on Fay, the cost is the responsibility of the admin and if they would for once practice some fiduciary responsibility maybe we could have somethings in this city without going broke building them.

[johnqpublic]

just about evert thing this Admin. has built is way overpriced for the value we recieve, from the bath house{oversized restroom} at Nay Aug to the dog park..lots of politically connected getting rich on it though....I hope the FBI sticks around for a while.
It would be refreshing to have a new broom sweep clean !

[to570717]

There is a lot of people who are going to be getting into a mess of trouble shortly. It is about time. The area as a whole is getting far to divided due to political favoritism.

I hope the FBI or whoever will beconducting an investigation (third party, no affiliations) will crack down on any one connected or otherwise, and penelize them.

I think it would do a lot for the area in terms of mending wounds and alleviateing frustrations between opposing sides. Many if not all of the elected officials in NEPA have been overtaken by greed. It needs to stop.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by to570717

There is a lot of people who are going to be getting into a mess of trouble shortly. It is about time. The area as a whole is getting far to divided due to political favoritism.

I hope the FBI or whoever will beconducting an investigation (third party, no affiliations) will crack down on any one connected or otherwise, and penelize them.

I think it would do a lot for the area in terms of mending wounds and alleviateing frustrations between opposing sides. Many if not all of the elected officials in NEPA have been overtaken by greed. It needs to stop.

I agree 100%.