Why is it that everything that comes before any board in this town is fought with a variety of excuses. The boro council can't get a dog park built without haggling over a silly issue like advertising signs. They should be less worried about doggie park signage, and more concerned with dilapedated buildings, poor roads, and a bad reputuation. Why are they so afraid of change?
from the BCCT:
A doggone good idea
By: GUY PETROZIELLO
Bucks County Courier Times
Commercial signs could help pay for a dog park.
Folks organizing a dog park in Morrisville came up with a pretty good way to pay for it: sell advertising signs to hang on the yet-to-be-erected fence. This isn't a novel idea; baseball leagues have been doing it for decades. In fact, baseball fields without commercial signs look kind of naked and unappealing.
But listening to the reaction of some Morrisville officials, you'd think the sign people were trying to ruin the town.
One councilman said the idea goes against "the spirit of open space," and that signs will start popping up willy-nilly all over the borough. An Environmental Advisory Board member said advertising doesn't belong in a public park. A county official offered that signs can "interfere with the scenic value you're trying to protect."
We think the critics are getting a little carried away. First of all, "fenced-in" land is hardly open space. And the "scenic value" of a dog park is quickly lost once the dogs are let in. Grass doesn't last long; neither do the shrubs.
Besides, advertising isn't evil - at least not honest advertising. What's more, this is a capitalist country and the dog park supporters are demonstrating the kind of free-market ingenuity and resourcefulness that we need now more than ever.
