I suggest contacting the Mayor AND signing the petition
I would suggest everyone talk about this to anyone that will listen! I am just considering this hobby, but am outraged by Louisville's decision to ban it in their parks. The idea of wasting my tax money for this... grrrrrrrrr...... let me quit ranting.
I decided to send a letter to the Mayor of Louisville, Mayor Jerry Abramson. I also intend on sending this letter to every other city and state official I can find and talking to everyone I know about the misuse of our tax dollars! If they have so much money to waste, I'll take a tax break!
Here is a copy of the email I sent to Mayor Abramson:
I have just learned that Louisville has passed an ordinance which prohibits the use of metal detectors in/on any public grounds. I am writing you today to express my concerns and voice my strong disagreement with such a decision. Further, I would like some clarification from your office as to the intent of this ordinance.
Mr. Abramson, I realize that there is a certain level of disruption that comes with a hobby such as this; however, there are far more prudent ways to deal with the destruction of public property if needed. If such an ordinance was enacted, I am certain that the overwhelming majority of enthusiasts would support your decision. This being the case, I am appauled at the City’s decision to outright ban this hobby in Louisville’s 122 city and county parks.
From what I have read, this ban is based on the premise that people are taking items that would be considered as protected under the Kentucky Antiquities Act. However, surely you, your cabinet, and your voters realize that this is not the case. The fact of the matter is that 99% of the items removed by hobbyists are regarded as trash – pull tabs from soda cans, old coke bottle caps, and pieces of scrap metal, etc… In addition to these items, they find some change (typically less than 20 years old), some jewelry, and occasionally (depending largely on the history of the location) some sort of odd civil war remnants (buttons, badge, belt buckle, etc…). If someone were to stretch, they could claim that the civil war items were antiquities; however, since these items are almost always deteriorated to the point where they are unrecognizable, I doubt that stretch could be made. Further, if the aim of this ordinance was to protect such items, it should have been written as such and policed as such. If the aim was to protect truly historical sites, it should be written and enforced as such.
What this ordinance does do Mr. Abramson, is prevent people from discovering the history of an area, of discovering how an area was used, whom might have populated it previously, etc… Further, it hurts the economy, both locally and nationally. People buy metal detectors from stores here in Louisville. Then they head to a local park, school ground, etc… and search for a while where if they are lucky, they pick up a dollar or two in loose change, with little to no numismatic value, and a bag full of trash. Either before they arrive, or after they leave, they then stop at a local convenience store and purchase a drink and a snack and depending on where they drove from, they purchase gasoline.
So, Mr. Abramson, this ordinance, which required countless hours to get passed (in multiple attempts counting the state and local levels), the parks and recreation’s personnel time to enforce it and perhaps police intervention (which takes away from their primary role (to serve and PROTECT))… for what? To prevent people from bettering the local economy or cleaning up our parks?
From my perspective Mr. Abramson, this type of ordinance perfectly illustrates the misuse of our tax dollars. There is no inkling of public service in this ordinance. Moreover, it creates an additional public burden by its institution. I for one do not want to bear this burden! These times are trying enough and we could all, including the City of Louisville, use this money for much better purposes!
Mr. Abramson, in addition to hearing your perspective on this matter and the reasoning behind the decision to enact this ordinance, I am imploring you to repeal this decision. I am sure your constituents would appreciate your use of sound judgment on how Louisville spends their hard earned tax dollars come reelection time.
. Is there a link to the actual bill, I didn't see one on that page. From the way it sounds though, that bill would make it illegal to even plant a tree (hint, hint). Always look for a way to put them on the defense.
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