kayb85

I'm so disgusted with my town. They are trying to pass an ordinance
which would ban skateboards and scooters on all sidewalks and roads,
even alleys. Not just trying to adopt it, they told me on the phone
that it WILL be adopted at the next meeting, November 12. This would
mean my kids can't ride their scooters on the sidewalk in front of
our house. My kids are upset, especially my daughter. I think we're
going to walk around getting petitions signed to stop it. I think
I'll put that in my homeschool portfolio for civics!

First offense is a fine and the police confiscate the skateboard or
scooter for 90 days. Second offense is a bigger fine and
confiscation. Third offense is a fine of $300 and they DESTROY the
skateboard or scooter. I'm so upset I'm shaking and almost crying.
What do I do, tell my son that if he forgets and rides his little
fisher price scooter on teh front sidewalk, the police might come and
take it from him and mommy will have to pay a whole lot of money?
And if he forgets three times, they'll destroy it?

Here's the article:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
newsid=5643537&BRD=2311&PAG=461&dept_id=482260&rfi=6

[email protected]

What exactly do they mean by "scooters"? Motorized or foot powered?

Kevin





"kayb85" <sheran@...>
10/10/2002 10:15 AM
Please respond to Unschooling-dotcom


To: [email protected]
cc:
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] skateboards and scooters


I'm so disgusted with my town. They are trying to pass an ordinance
which would ban skateboards and scooters on all sidewalks and roads,
even alleys. Not just trying to adopt it, they told me on the phone
that it WILL be adopted at the next meeting, November 12. This would
mean my kids can't ride their scooters on the sidewalk in front of
our house. My kids are upset, especially my daughter. I think we're
going to walk around getting petitions signed to stop it. I think
I'll put that in my homeschool portfolio for civics!

First offense is a fine and the police confiscate the skateboard or
scooter for 90 days. Second offense is a bigger fine and
confiscation. Third offense is a fine of $300 and they DESTROY the
skateboard or scooter. I'm so upset I'm shaking and almost crying.
What do I do, tell my son that if he forgets and rides his little
fisher price scooter on teh front sidewalk, the police might come and
take it from him and mommy will have to pay a whole lot of money?
And if he forgets three times, they'll destroy it?

Here's the article:
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
newsid=5643537&BRD=2311&PAG=461&dept_id=482260&rfi=6



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kayb85

Regular, foot powered scooters. :( Totally banned. Ripped out of
little kids' hands and destroyed.
Sheila

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., kevin.tucker@m... wrote:
> What exactly do they mean by "scooters"? Motorized or foot powered?
>
> Kevin
>
>
>
>
>
> "kayb85" <sheran@p...>
> 10/10/2002 10:15 AM
> Please respond to Unschooling-dotcom
>
>
> To: Unschooling-dotcom@y...
> cc:
> Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] skateboards and
scooters
>
>
> I'm so disgusted with my town. They are trying to pass an
ordinance
> which would ban skateboards and scooters on all sidewalks and
roads,
> even alleys. Not just trying to adopt it, they told me on the
phone
> that it WILL be adopted at the next meeting, November 12. This
would
> mean my kids can't ride their scooters on the sidewalk in front of
> our house. My kids are upset, especially my daughter. I think
we're
> going to walk around getting petitions signed to stop it. I think
> I'll put that in my homeschool portfolio for civics!
>
> First offense is a fine and the police confiscate the skateboard or
> scooter for 90 days. Second offense is a bigger fine and
> confiscation. Third offense is a fine of $300 and they DESTROY the
> skateboard or scooter. I'm so upset I'm shaking and almost crying.
> What do I do, tell my son that if he forgets and rides his little
> fisher price scooter on teh front sidewalk, the police might come
and
> take it from him and mommy will have to pay a whole lot of money?
> And if he forgets three times, they'll destroy it?
>
> Here's the article:
> http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
> newsid=5643537&BRD=2311&PAG=461&dept_id=482260&rfi=6
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line!
~~~~
>
> If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please
email
> the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@e...), or the list
> owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@h...).
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or
address an
> email to:
> Unschooling-dotcom-unsubscribe@y...
>
> Visit the Unschooling website: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

Tami Labig Duquette

WOW!

Your town must really have a problem with too many scooters/skateboards.
The town (to me) is being a bit extreme! I would fight it tooth and nail!
Write a petition up and CHANGE IT!! You are the power you tax payer you ;)

Peace,
Tami


'Namaste' is an East Indian greeting which means 'the light within me bows
to the light within you.' In other words, beyond our achy bones, our tired
feet and our multi-colored real life soap operas, lurks a dimension that is
more than the body, the persona, the ego and all the 'trappings and the
suits of woe' as Hamlet would say---a dimension where there isn't a 'you'
and 'me' but rather a synergy that is more than all that, a space for the
eternal to rest within the temporal.

----- Original Message -----
From: "kayb85" <sheran@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2002 12:15 PM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] skateboards and scooters


> I'm so disgusted with my town. They are trying to pass an ordinance
> which would ban skateboards and scooters on all sidewalks and roads,
> even alleys. Not just trying to adopt it, they told me on the phone
> that it WILL be adopted at the next meeting, November 12. This would
> mean my kids can't ride their scooters on the sidewalk in front of
> our house. My kids are upset, especially my daughter. I think we're
> going to walk around getting petitions signed to stop it. I think
> I'll put that in my homeschool portfolio for civics!
>
> First offense is a fine and the police confiscate the skateboard or
> scooter for 90 days. Second offense is a bigger fine and
> confiscation. Third offense is a fine of $300 and they DESTROY the
> skateboard or scooter. I'm so upset I'm shaking and almost crying.
> What do I do, tell my son that if he forgets and rides his little
> fisher price scooter on teh front sidewalk, the police might come and
> take it from him and mommy will have to pay a whole lot of money?
> And if he forgets three times, they'll destroy it?
>
> Here's the article:
> http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
> newsid=5643537&BRD=2311&PAG=461&dept_id=482260&rfi=6
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
>
> If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please email
the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@...), or the list owner,
Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or address an
email to:
> [email protected]
>
> Visit the Unschooling website: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

Tia Leschke

>
> Your town must really have a problem with too many scooters/skateboards.
> The town (to me) is being a bit extreme! I would fight it tooth and nail!
> Write a petition up and CHANGE IT!! You are the power you tax payer you ;)

You might need to be willing to compromise a bit. In Victoria and other
places, skateboards and roller blades are banned in the downtown area where
the most pedestrians are. (And they recently made that area smaller.) Is
there a skate park in your area? You might at least use the passage of the
law to lobby for one. Or argue that they aren't providing any other place
for them to be used, so why not uncongested sidewalks.
Tia

Deborah Lewis

Well that's rotten. I'm sorry I couldn't get to the story with the link
you posted. What town are you in?

Can you gather up a bunch of other outraged parents and kids and go to
their meeting on the 12th?

Deb L

kayb85

It's in Kulpmont, PA. It's a little residential town, no busy
downtown or anything. Just a bunch of old people who like to
complain. That might sound harsh, but it really is true. Once I was
taking a walk with my kids right after a snowstorm and was told by
two grumpy old people that if I wanted to be out in this that I
should do it at my own place. They were probably mad because the
schools had a snow day and a lot of kids were out and about.

I do plan to fight this. I've left a message on the machine at the
ACLU, I'm calling the mayor at his home tonight (He has a full time
job and is only available in his office twice a week). My daughter
wants to walk the streets of our town and get as many signatures on a
petition as possible. I will try to round up some others to help and
attend the meeting as well.

If you couldn't access the link I gave and want to read it, go to
www.newsitem.com, click on news in review, and then the story is from
October 9 called "Kulpmont looks to adopt skateboard, scooter
ordinance with some real teeth"

Sheila


--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., Deborah Lewis <ddzimlew@j...> wrote:
>
> Well that's rotten. I'm sorry I couldn't get to the story with the
link
> you posted. What town are you in?
>
> Can you gather up a bunch of other outraged parents and kids and go
to
> their meeting on the 12th?
>
> Deb L

[email protected]

In a message dated 10/10/2002 7:34:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
sheran@... writes:

> It's in Kulpmont, PA. It's a little residential town, no busy
> downtown or anything. Just a bunch of old people who like to
> complain. That might sound harsh, but it really is true.
> Sheila

Sheila,
The proposed law described in the news article seems like the typical
knee-jerk response -- one person or small group of people causes a problem,
so everyone gets punished. I remember the injustice of it as a grade school
child, sitting at my desk getting my knuckles struck with a ruler because one
or two students had been disruptive.
This is not fair to the children of Kulpmont who just want to ride
their scooters up and down the sidewalks in front of their houses. Yes, there
are the foul-mouthed,extreme sporters that can give this group a bad name.
That doesn't mean that most of the people act in such a manner.
In Charlottesville, VA we are lucky enough to have Dave Matthews as a
local celebrity (not originally from here, but made his name here). Dave was
instrumental in providing funding for a city skatepark. What a great place.
Many are hesitant at first (assumed behavior) but quickly find out what a
great place for all ages. There are rules, and they are enforced (the guys
who run the place are boarders). This seems to be done in such a way that
empowers the participants. It is their park; they need to keep things running
smoothly. It's impressive to watch their responses to new or younger riders
or if anyone falls. The group does not tolerate foul language or risky (not
meaning some of the stunts that they try) behavior.
I would personally push this solution (skatepark) plus try to soften
the knee-jerk law (people not engaging in activities that damage property).
Maybe enlist the help of the skating community. If they want a park bad
enough, they'll find a way. There has bound to be somebody out there who's
willing to front money for a skatepark. Find out information from other
cities with similar programs. Come armed to meet with the mayor. Let the
mayor know that you agree that the skaters should not be destroying property
and should respect the other citizens in the community, but what harm is a
small child riding her scooter do? Then present your proposal with any
research that you've done.
I'm climbing down from my soapbox now. Good luck with all this.
Ginny



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