Yesterday's Trib published a letter submitted by Mt. Lebanon resident, Harvey Bower called, Mt. Lebanon residency embarrassing. Mr. Bower, a Republican turned Democrat, questioned the competency of his party by writing:
Our commissioners, after years of ignoring the problem, can't even get the deer culling right. Who hires a company that needs 11 shots to kill three deer at close range? Most hunters would only need three shots (even at 50 yards).
Did anybody think to do their due diligence?But then, Mr. Bower resorted to blaming protesters for the flubbed attempt to cull the deer population.*
And after this company started the process, our commissioners allowed protesters, one of whom compared the culling to the Holocaust, to break the law by disrupting the process.Mr. Bower, just as it is your right to submit a letter of opinion to the newspaper, it is also our right to protest. It is not that the commissioners were "allow[ing] protesters," The United States Constitution explicitly provides for "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" in the First Amendment. How is having three peaceful protests in front of the Municipal Building and one on Connor Road disrupting the process? If one protester compared the culling to the Holocaust, that is not breaking the law OR disrupting the process.
You said it yourself that Wildlife Specialists needed 11 shots to kill three deer at close range. This company blamed the ammunition, the number of shooters authorized by the PA Game Commission, the weather, the protesters, vandalism, and a police car scaring away deer. The only ones they didn't blame were themselves.
I participated in three of the protests. We never went beyond the No Trespassing signs. We helped clean up the mess that the contractor left behind. We followed the rules and for that we have people like Mrs. Logan, Dr. Narey, Mr. Bower, Ms. Linfante, Ms. Vipperman and others calling us liars and vandals, criticizing the way we are dressed, and blaming us for Benner's failures. We were the ones stopped by police for walking near parks or through church parking lots on sunny Sunday afternoons. We have been treated like criminals. We were silenced. We were treated rudely by the commissioners and staff. Will we ever get apologies? No. Will the commissioners admit that they screwed up? Never. Our commissioners have divided our town. The commissioner leading the charge, resigned as promised to her colleagues, once she got her cull. Mr. Bower, the commissioners should be the ones who are embarrassed. They are the ones governing Mt. Lebanon. They allowed this to happen. They are the ones to blame.
*'Deer-proofing' expert to offer lessons in Mt. Lebanon