Thursday, January 15, 2009

Knapp appointed City Attorney

Mayor Jack Kirksey appointed Councilman Don Knapp to become City Attorney, effective early February. He will have to resign his council seat. The City Council will appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of Knapp's term which expires at the end of this year. Knapp replaces Sean Kavanagh who was elected District Court Judge in November.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Knapp,
I am a south Livonia resident for many years and have a young family and am very upset about the increased population of RACCOONS and Rats in this Rosedale Gardens area of Livonia. I have called the Livonia animal control dept. all to find out that they only control dogs, cats and ferrets. What about the wildlife in this city that bring great problems and nasty diseases and harm to our young children? I also was informed by the lady at city hall that Livonia does NOT have a lid on your trash can law. What? This is the REAL reason for the raccoons dining on our trash each night. Let alone the rats that are also present in our yards. I saw a raccoon in my next door neighbors yard this afternoon at 5pm....during the daylight hours!!! Just after my 7 yr old son came in from playing basketball in our yard alone! I am very freaked out by this problem with raccoons that even come out before dark, bringing numerous infectious diseases like rabies, fleas, ticks and lice, as well as mange, encephalitis, histoplasmosis, tuberculosis, roundworms, and canine distemper. These can be readily transferred to children and family pets and should be controlled by ANIMAL CONTROL in LIVONIA! I don't ever have a problem with cats or ferrets....so I'm not sure what animal control does all day here in Livonia? Honestly, I called the police number and not 911 and didn't get any assistance to keep my family safe from the raccoon that was seen thru every back window of my house this afternoon/evening. Why is that? When I called the Livonia police dept. at 5pm today telling them that I am watching a roaming Raccoon in my next door neighbors yard and on my garage roof and so close at 5pm when the sun is UP....and my small child is out playing and in great danger of a WILD animal and the police dept. said they would NOT come shoot the raccoon unless it was injured. Ugh? Do I have to wait for my young child to get attacked by this raccoon to call 911 for your Livonia assistance? I am deeply disturbed by this problem. I am so unhappy with my pig neighbors who leave their trash out by the side door and without lids on the cans and then we wonder why we have these hungry wild animals in our suburban areas! Please make a law that Livonia residents have to lid their trash cans or you will ticket them $100 like when they turn right on a no turn on red sign for $100. I want a safe backyard for my children to play in and right now it is NOT a safe place since February when many coons have been sited.
If you have young children or grandchildren or neighborhood children out playing you could imagine a wild raccoon appearing while your child was playing outside after school at 5pm and waiting for dinner to be cooked then a RACCOON Appears and bites them? Oh my. I called the Livonia police right away after spotting the raccoon walking in my neighbors yard and was told that they could not shoot or kill a wild animal if it was not hurt. Was I to lie and say it was hurt? It was hurting my family and endangering my young children. I was and still am very angry. We need some rules changed in this city with lots of wildlife. Some policies changed and some more assistance with live trapps for free from the city of Livonia. We can not afford $300 trapping companies to come out in these hard economic times. Please. I can't believe that animal control would not come help take care of the problem...well of course I called alittle after 5pm on a Friday and the police officer said that animal control was gone for the day. Huh? You have 24 hour police officers, why not animal control for rabid wildlife?
It is not a humane issue....cause if Livonia really cared about the wildlife in Livonia, the animal control people would have havaheart live traps to set for us to rid us 'humanely' of these nasty, diseased wild animals who are invading our small outdoor spaces. So my suggestion is to start ticketing people for trashy front and side yards and not just for speeding in Livonia. I want a safe place for my kids to grow up and not to have to worry about nasty, wildlife in our backyard during the DAY cause they are hungry.
Please understand that I am a very concerned mother and will do anything I can to protect my children. These Raccoons do not pay my mortgage or taxes and do not belong here and with no help from the Livonia police dept. or animal control it is a lose/lose situation. Livonia has laws on how long our wood branches can be for recycle pick up and if they are not 3 or 4 ft. long and bundled than they are left for the owner to deal with....but NOTHING in the city of Livonia laws PROTECTS the people and children and pets from the dirty wildlife that are coming for the free trash food cause there is not a law about the lids and trash in Livonia.
I intend to inform Dave Varga at the Livonia Observer Newspaper of this issue too. I am not done speaking until I am heard and things are changed with this city.
Thank you, a very concerned mom who wants to protect her children in the city from nasty wildlife that could infect and hurt them. I hope to hear from you (katherinemarie40@aol.com) or the others that receive this note and hpe that you have a real solution to this problem at Plymouth Rd. and Farmington/Merriman area. Please email me back. Thank you. Katherine

stufried said...

You are presuming that a trash can lid works with raccoons who have hands that work almost as well as human beings. I wait every morning to one hour before pick up to put out my trash and put ammonia in my trash. I live off a wooded preserve in Livonia and haven't had a critter in my garbage in the last ten years (since I adopted this change in garbage philosophy)

Why is it that you presume that your solution is the only one and want to legislate it on me? Instead of calling the cops or passing a law, do something neighborly. Go talk to your neighbors. Most people are willing to work with you, but that is something we don't do anymore.

Stu Friedman
(Also a Livonia resident)

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