City council to revisit dog ban

[TribalRats]

Published: February 12, 2007


By JAYSON JACOBY
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com

The eight-month exile of dogs from Baker City's biggest and most popular park might end soon.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider revising the controversial ordinance that has, since June 13, 2006, prohibited dogs from setting paw in Geiser Pollman Park.

The proposal which councilors will ponder Tuesday would reinstitute the rule in place prior to June: Dogs can enter the city-owned park, but they must either be:

o attached to a leash no longer than 10 feet, or;

o as the city's current animal-control ordinance reads, under "other means of physical restraint" — a term the ordinance does not define.

A bear-hug, presumably, would suffice.

Tuesday's meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 1655 First St.

Several of the five city councilors who were sworn in on Jan. 9 have said publicly that they want to overturn the ban on dogs in the park.

During the City Council's Jan. 23 meeting, for instance, one of those newly elected councilors, Andrew Bryan, asked City Attorney David Fine to draft an ordinance that would allow dogs to return to Geiser Pollman Park.

Fine's proposed solution is elegant in its simplicity: delete from the current ordinance the words "and the grounds of Geiser Pollman Park."

Sam Bass, one of the two councilors who was in office last June when the City Council excluded dogs from the park, was the only councilor who voted against that ordinance.

Bass said last month that he still opposes the ordinance, and that he thinks the city should allow leashed dogs in Geiser Pollman Park.

Of the seven current councilors, only Mayor Jeff Petry has said he wants to continue prohibiting dogs from the park. Petry voted for the ordinance last June.

During the Council's June 27, 2006, meeting, the first after councilors banned dogs from Geiser Pollman Park, three city residents urged councilors to reconsider their decision.

One of those three, Beverly Calder, was elected as a city councilor in November.

Councilors listened to citizens' comments during the June 27 meeting but did not change the ordinance.

The ordinance which councilors will review Tuesday would allow dogs to return to the park, but would maintain the canine ban at Mount Hope Cemetery. The ordinance the City Council approved June 13, 2006, prohibited dogs in both the park and the city-owned cemetery.

Shannon Regan, who as the city police department's community service officer handles most complaints regarding dogs, said the city has since last June verbally warned several people who brought dogs to Geiser Pollman Park.

City officers have not cited any dog owners, however, Regan said.

The city ordinance states that a person who violates the ban on dogs in the park could be fined not less than $50, but not more than $100.

Regan said the main reason officers have warned, but not cited, people who violated the dog ordinance is that signs the city posted at the park could mislead visitors.

At least five metal signs reading "No Dogs Allowed" are erected at entrances to the park — including the main entryways on the park's south side along Madison Street, and on the north side along Campbell Street.

But at each of those two entrances there is a wooden sign listing park rules, one of which reads: "No Dogs At Large."

Although some people might conclude that the phrases "No Dogs Allowed" and "No Dogs At Large" mean the same thing, Regan contends that others might assume that "No Dogs At Large" means dogs can enter the park, so long as they're leashed.

In fact, the city's current ordinance defines a dog as "running at large" if it is not either on a leash 10 feet or shorter, or under other means of physical restraint.

In other words, a dog that is leashed would not, according to that ordinance, be "at large."

The bottom line, Regan said, is that the signs "are really confusing to the public."

Regan, who said she brought her dog to the park often before the City Council banned dogs, said she believes the city could handle the vast majority of dog-related problems at Geiser Pollman Park by enforcing two rules that have been in effect since 1968 — first, that dogs in the park be leashed or otherwise physically restrained; and second, that dog owners pick up the unpleasant debris dogs tend to deposit.

Regan said she researched police records dating to 1999 and found only one report of a dog biting a person in the park.

It's possible other bites were not reported, she said.

If the City Council approves the first two readings of the revised ordinance Tuesday, then councilors could vote on the third and final reading during their Feb. 27 meeting, at which time leashed dogs could once again frolic, in a legal way, inside the park.

Also on the agenda for Tuesday's Council meeting:

o Discussion about adjusting a variety of fees for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which starts July 1.

o Reviewing the city's pavement management plan, wastewater capital plan and five-year water capital plan.