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| George Leventhal is co-sponsor of a ban on circuses in Montgomery County |
A Facebook friend forwarded what appeared to be a press release announcing Councilmembers Craig Rice and George Leventhal are sponsoring a bill to ban any circus with animals from performing in Montgomery County. Initially, I thought it was either a hoax, or that The Onion had started covering Montgomery County. Imagine my horror, and amusement, when I discovered video of the Council discussing this bill.
No wonder there wasn't a single bidder to construct a new arena in downtown Silver Spring recently - the Council is busy banning half of the acts that could rent it! And no wonder pedestrians were still squeezing between barricades and speeding metal fenders along Wisconsin Avenue yesterday, as the Council's minds were on the three ring circus that doesn't operate out of 100 Maryland Avenue.
54 comments:
Sidewalks being the only issue in the county.
But I did read somewhere that council members and Korman are working to limit the Carr street closures - isn't that attempt being made?
Was there any threat of a circus actually coming to Montgomery County?
5:10: A letter was sent over a week ago, but appears to have been dropped in the trash by SHA, as no action was taken in response.
5:12: You'd have to ask George Leventhal and Craig Rice that question. I had no idea we were facing a circus crisis.
What sort of circus doesn't use animals??? I will tell you, the county council!
The closing of the circus has been in major news media all year, as it reflects a paradigm shift in cultural historical America and what was once a special event for family entertainment has fizzled from concern for animal welfare.
In light of all this, why did Mr. Rice and Mr. Leventhal make circus-banning a priority on their agenda at all?
Were Mr. Leventhal and Mr. Rice oblivious? (If so, how? I don't even care about the circus, but the coverage by CNN and others has been so prevalent I could not help but see headlines since January, as the Big Top made its final national tour. How could they not know about it?
For if they had known, why then would they consider circus bans precious enough to make an agenda item?
Was someone in Bethesda applying for a permit to start a circus?
Were they trying to train chimpanzees to operate their paper shredders?
The Felds, who own and operated the Ringling Bros. circus, are longtime residents of this county. I don't know that they still are, but they were anyway. Maybe they have something to do with it?
These are all good questions, @6:16 that should have been part of the article.
Oh No! Mr Robert Dyer objects to issues scheduled before the council. There's a reason for this, it's a GREAT reason, I suggest you find out before hurling insults to all involved. Act like an adult instead of a whiny child. Man Up!
@6:21 In fact, the Felds lived in Bethesda, near Whitman High School. Their house was recently sold. It's the big brown brick house on Whittier on a corner (forgot the cross-street... on the hill going towards River).
I'm not surprised at this nonsense from clueless Leventhal. Are people that concerned about circuses coming to town? They've all gone out of business!
"No wonder there wasn't a single bidder to construct a new arena in downtown Silver Spring recently - the Council is busy banning half of the acts that could rent it!"
No misleading claims or falsehoods here...
Fun fact:
How many circuses have visited Xfinity Center since it was constructed?
.
.
.
.
.
ZERO
6:51: There's a great reason to put banning circuses with animals ahead of jobs, economic development, MS-13 gang invasion/murders and impending turf war with new rival gang, completing our master plan highway system, MCPS achievement gap, 911 service, trash pickup, and pedestrians walking into oncoming traffic on a state highway in downtown Bethesda????????????
Tell me more!
That's your job, buddy. I know the answer, now it's your turn.
Find out why that was on the schedule.
When was it done?
What's the story behind it?
Who brought it up?
What LARGER implications would such a bill have and why might that be a good thing?
There. That's half you job. Let's see you do the rest.
Put your "money" where your mouth is.
SERIOUSLY! You expect a trivial items such as as sidewalk closure to be on the agenda for the council. Get Real, this is something that falls far down the chain of authority to the lap of the DEP staff. Take you petty whining were it should be. What next cleaning the dog urine off your fire hydrant should be on the agenda.
No mention of the other bill introduced yesterday -- which strengthens protections at the Westbard site. I assume the author feels the the Council drop the Westbard bill, too, given the urgency of the sidewalk scandal?
Everyday in our jobs, we all have to do minor things among the bigger things.
To infer that the council did ONLY that in their session is LYING. Plain out fabrication to further your agenda. Not good. Journalism 101.
It appears to be one of many (some might even pass your opinion of what's important) things on their schedule for that day.
7:58: The new bill doesn't strengthen protections at the Westbard site, but may be of some minimal use in future situations. It's not as strong of a bill as the Council wants you to believe, and I didn't fall for it.
7:51: Hundreds of people walking into oncoming traffic is not trivial, but good to know Hans Riemer's operatives think it is - voters will remember that in 2018.
7:29: Believe me, I know the story behind it. It's another patronage bill tailored to a few well-placed political supporters, kind of like when the County illegally seized the trolley trestle at Glen Echo to give it as a gift to their cycling shock troops ahead of the next campaign. No full public process, MCDOT repeatedly and always declined to respond to any of my communications about it - it just went forward, despite that being illegal due to historic status and right-of-way issues.
But none of that explains why it was justified as a top priority.
Cash me outside, how bou dat?
"As circus animals face cruelty, local blogger wrings his hands over sidewalk"
"kind of like when the County illegally seized the trolley trestle at Glen Echo to give it as a gift to their cycling shock troops ahead of the next campaign"
Woah... that one came out of nowhere. Dyer's mind is a very strange place.
8:18: Circus animals are more important than people?
8:23: Nope, trestle giveaway another example of patronage politics just like the pandering circus bill.
Why do you hate cyclists Robert? Would you rather everyone polluted and drove around so you can keep whining about some secondary bridge over the Potomac?
Glad to see you're back quoting 13 year old girls there at 8:09am...creeper
"What sort of circus doesn't use animals???"
Cirque du Soleil, for one.
Uh, circus animal issue HAS been dealt with, and that was never a "hyperlocal" Bethesda news issue in the first place.
Unless County Council actually conducts some of their activities under a Big Top I don't know about.
And no, I am not Robert Dyer. There is more than one person in the county that is not thrilled with the activities of the current County Council.
Cirque du Soleil brings up a good point, Robert has been lobbying for "Vegas style night clubs" in Bethesda for some time now. Perhaps if we can get an arena built in Bethesda to attract Cirque du Soleil then we can get those night clubs Robert want so badly..problem solved! So in some ways this could help the nightlife of Bethesda.
I'm sure that there are plenty of county residents who are more concerned for the welfare of circus animals, then for a couple of pedestrians who are too lazy to cross Wisconsin Avenue.
On the subject of the welfare of both animals and people, I am greatly relieved to learn that no people or lizards were harmed in that fire in Park Potomac.
Fairfax had Cirque du Soleil in Tysons last year.
Will MoCo get them?
I fucking hate cyclists. Traffic laws are not that hard to follow as a pedestrian, yet when you fuckers get on a bike, suddenly you can do whatever the fuck you want. I hope you all get hit by a car the next time you run a red light.
8:57 is a unic
Robert Dyer is the only one in Montgomery County who is upset that the previously derelict trestle at Glen Echo was restored and retrofitted for bike use.
Do a story on what isn't banned. It would be a short one that's for sure. It's all banned.
"Half the acts that would rent it."
Now, let's see. Ringling Brothers is dead. Big Apple Circus is dead. Those were the two big boys. How many little, animal-act circuses are left? Animal rights groups counted eight in 2015, so six now, assuming no others have gone under.
So we were going to have 12 potential renters of this arena? My tax bill and I are kind of glad it didn't fly...
Read the fricking bill, Dyer.
And stop calling it "circus."
That word NEVER appears in the bill.
YOU are the one making a mockery of something you have NO idea what it is about.
You may not want to be making enemies on this issue.
read an info packet: Bill 23-17
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/Resources/Files/bill/2017/Packets/20170627_5B.pdf
12:20pm The headline of the press release says:
"Montgomery Councilmembers
Rice and Leventhal propose ban
on circuses that have
performing wild animals"
So, they are referring to the circus.
It's always easier to ban things rather than building & growing.
Looks like 9:40 AM really misses styrofoam food containers.
And 12:29, too.
"All non-human primates and prosimians"
There goes Dyer's career. LOL
8:27: Where did I say I "hate cyclists?" What I hate is public officials abusing and blocking a public right-of-way that belongs to us, The People, for their personal gain. I also hate illegal actions by our public officials, and the trestle seizure and mutilation was most definitely illegal. Cyclists have a bike lane all the way through there on MacArthur already.
8:43: You are quite the intellectual debater. No wonder Helpless Hans Riemer fails, surrounded by "talent" like you.
8:57: Some cyclists want to have it both ways - put a lot of rules on drivers, but blow through every red light themselves. I'd like to see license plates for bikes that could be tagged by red light cameras.
Lol Dyer thinks everyone on this site is Hans Riemer!
Dyer at 1:51 that'd just be more layers of government and costs (as well as a terrible idea), I thought you were a Republican?
People who work on councils and school boards are not only the most worthless people in society, but they are generally awful too.
What about that cyclist who rode against traffic in your GIF in the article about the sidewalk closure? Should he receive a ticket?
Looks like it's still legal to have a circus with dogs, cats, cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys and domesticated birds.
Saith Dyer @ 7:19 AM:
"There's a great reason to put banning circuses with animals ahead of jobs..."
Unemployment is currently 3.3%. That's far beyond full employment, Birdbrain.
"What I hate is public officials abusing and blocking a public right-of-way that belongs to us, The People, for their personal gain. I also hate illegal actions by our public officials, and the trestle seizure and mutilation was most definitely illegal."
My God, Dyer. You just keep getting stupider with each new comment.
There was no "seizure". This was a public right-of-way previously, and it remains auch. That has not changed in the slightest. The right-of-way is not only not "blocked", it's far more accessible now that the decrepit trestle has been replaced and a bike path added. Calling this a "mutilation" only confirms how silly you have become.
7:35: No, it just shows your lack of knowledge of law. And state law in Maryland forbids removal of a bicycle facility without replacement. Meaning that any future use of that right-of-way for a streetcar, roadway, or future uses we may not even contemplate today, will now require a bike path as well to be run through there. This despite already having a bike path available a few yards away on MacArthur.
You also don't understand historic preservation, apparently, either. The existing trestle was historic, but was given no due process or preservation consideration. The process was closed to the public (and my unanswered emails to MCDOT would be preserved in any MPIA request for verification), and was an illegal action by the County.
Your lack of knowledge does indeed make you "silly," but probably qualifies you to serve on the County Council, since they regularly lose in court after passing unconstitutional laws.
5:51: Unemployment rate has no relation to the number of jobs created within Montgomery County, where we have suffered a net LOSS in jobs since 2000. The jobs that give us the low unemployment rate are mostly located in D.C. and NoVa.
Dyer @ 8:24 -
Once again, you're full of baloney.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/politics/bs-md-ci-potomac-cycletrack-20170608-story.html
8:43: State law on bike facilities is exactly what I said it is. Embarrassingly for you, during the Chevy Chase debate in 2014, the crowd learned that I knew the state law, but the existing Councilmembers didn't! So much for "qualified!"
Baltimore would be in violation of that law removing a bike lane. That's probably one reason they have reversed course and aren't going to remove it.
"There are nationwide bans on using some if not all animals in circuses in Sweden, Costa Rica, India, Finland, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Israel, Taiwan, Malta, Netherlands, and Denmark. Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom, Argentina, Austria, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States have locally restricted or banned the use of animals in entertainment."
New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco all ban wild animals in circuses. New York City enacted its ban just a week ago.
Cyclists, I hope you all choke on a massive dong.
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