Has anyone been wondering about the residence of Jenny and Bean, Woodstock's infamous ducks that left a heavy footprint in the City Council chambers recently? Are the ducks (farm animals, according to the City Code) being kept in the house in 10-15ยบ weather?
Remember when the City Council passed the ordinance to allow the ducks at the house in the Savanna Grove community, IF AND ONLY IF the homeowners association approved an amendment to its Covenants? And how, immediately after passing the ordinance, the mayor stated that the City would take no further legal action against the ducks?
Well, which way is it? The ducks, if they are still there and if the homeowners association hasn't yet approved the amendment to the Covenants, have caused the homeowner to be in violation of the City ordinance every day since it was passed.
I'm still confused how the City can pass a new law and then immediately tell its employees not to enforce it. Just how does that work?
Did the mayor speak for the entire City Council, with their consent? Did not one of them find anything wrong with the mayor's amnesty granted to the ducks? Was it an arbitrary decision, spontaneous on the mayor's part? Or did they hash it over - out of public hearing - and decide behind the scenes that they'd do that? Would that have constituted a violation of the Open Meetings Act?
I don't know the answers. Are these are questions that deserve answers?
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5 comments:
reruns. Everywhere you turn reruns.
They are pets and should be treated as such. Maybe you should get a pet Gus. Oh wait, you would treat it like garbage, not like a member of the family as it should be. Maybe we could all chip in and get you an inflatable dog, as it would not have its feelings hurt when you ignored it.
While Jenny and Bean may be pets to the family, the Woodstock City Code defines them as farm animals and, as such, they are prohibited in the City. The City Council generously enacted a special-use ordinance, and then the Mayor immediately pronounced that it would not be enforced. The homeowner stood in front of the City Council and promised to obey three conditions, one of which was that the ducks would not be at her home until and unless the homeowners' association changed its Covenants to permit the ducks. And while she stood there and so promised, she knew the ducks were already back at her home!
What should be happening is that the Code Enforcement Officer should be issuing Notices of Violation EVERY day. Otherwise, why should anyone around here obey any of the City Ordinances???
Obviously there are plenty of people who don't obey city ordinances or there wouldn't be a need for a code enforcement officer. Duh.
How many code enforcement officers does the city have? Wouldn't they have to verify that the ducks are there everyday to give the owner a citation? That's alot of time wasted for a non-issue. The ducks obviously aren't causing property values to decrease while they are kept inside during the winter. The council made a smart decision to allow the ducks. They know that there are bigger problems that the code enforcer should be dealing with.
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