September 2008 Archives

Here it is the first sentence of our post and we're already exhausted from wrestling with our inner punster. Must. Resist. Doggedly.

This is the chief's fault! Takoma Park Police Chief Ronald Ricucci wants dogs! He wants not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR dogs. These are working police dogs, of course, dogs trained to sniff out drugs and people. The city had two dogs and retired one, which the chief wants to replace. He's asked the council for a third dog, and wishes for a fourth.

Bless their big bureaucratic hearts, the city council conscientiously tapped on the brakes just before they drove a steamroller over lost-pet owners, yard- and bake-sale holders, local bands, and protest-groups.

They actually reconsidered supporting Sick of Signs Week. In the end they voted for it (split 3 to 4) but not before concluding that Takoma Park's sign ordinance needs to be reviewed.

As Your Gilbert -- toasted citywide as the "Paul Revere of Takoma Park" -- warned in our last post, the city government is holding a "Sick of Signs" week Sept. 20-27. Citizens are encouraged to tear down all illegal signs posted around the city and bring them in for prizes.

What's an illegal sign, you ask?

What did you do on YOUR summer vacation? Your Gilbert went off-planet for most of the summer, and did not once think about Takoma Park or how we might bring back some alien practice or idea to improve it. Not so the city council! At the first meeting of the fall, they vied to out brownie-point each other by suggesting city government wonkery they'd like to transplant here from their vacation spots such as Maine, Cape Cod, and Costa Rica.

Clearly our overly dedicated elected officials did not get enough rest this summer - as further evidenced by the turgid, sometimes tense discussion at the Sept. 2 council meeting.