Letter to city council members

[demelza]

There is some uproar over a small area where dogs are allowed in the summer on the Lake Michigan beach near where I live.  I love to bring my dog there since I live quite close by.  There is talk of banning dogs from the beach entirely and I am interested in emailing the city council members.  Is it appropriate to email them my opinion even though I am not a resident of their city?  I would specify that in the email.

[Deleted]

Do they get a lot of non-resident traffic on the beach? If so, they might be interested in your opinion. Might. are there other dog parks near by? I'm of the opinion that dogs on a beach gross me out so I'm probably of no help.

[luckyval]

A good option might be to attend the next council meeting and speak about it during the public comments period.

[livinitup]

Of course.

[valetgirl]

I would, absolutely.

[onomatopoeia]

Sure. I might mention how when you travel to the beach, you also stop and spend money in their fine city (if that's true). The fact that the ban might impact tourism dollars would get their attention. I would also mention your law-abiding dog owner ways, and that you've always seen the beach quite clean of dog bombs (because owners pick it up) and that it's been your experience while there that dogs and people co-exist happily on the beach.

FWIW I have mixed feelings on this. I used to love to bring our GR to the beach and he was always well behaved. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of dogs terrorize beach goers. Not that they are necessarily mean or vicious, but they get very excited and difficult to control. Plus yeah, dog poop.

[shell24]

Can they fence an area off? The dog beach here in Chicago is well contained. Of course dogs can get around the fence in the water but rarely do.

Most people are really great, but there always has to be one asshole who ruins it for everyone!

Definitely send a letter. It can never hurt!

[circa1978]

Yep. I wouldn't hesitate. It will help them make a more informed decision about how the space is used. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened though. My inlaws have a home on Lake Michigan and dogs have been banned on their beach forever. I mean, they still take them down there at night and in the morning, because they are impossible rule breakers, and it is really poorly enforced but that's still the law on the books.