World Class City Only for Residents?

World Class City Only for Residents?

The "Cambridge Water Department [...] wants to ban nonresident pooches from
roaming off leash." (Janice O'Leary, "Unleashed frustration," Boston Globe, May
30, 2007) Pete "Wilkins, of Belmont, wondered whether a park that receives
federal and state funding has the right to restrict access for people and
canines from out of town."
"If we make a decision, we need to have it be a reasonable one,"
[Councilor] Kelley said. Concurrrently the Council says it wants to make
Cambridge a World Class City. Taxes and reason aside, here is another example of
the Cambridge City Council promoting contradictory goals at one time. It
indicates how irrational City government is. How can a city be a World Class
City and prohibit dogs from nearby cities from using their parks? Will this
encourage visitors to Cambridge? Well, duh!

--
Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

The proposed rules would require dog owners like Jeff Ginsberg of Somerville to
keep their pooches leashed at Fresh Pond Reservation. (Evan Richman/ Globe
Staff) The Boston Globe Unleashed frustration Out-of-town dog owners howl over Cambridge plan By Janice O'Leary, Globe Correspondent May 30, 2007

CAMBRIDGE -- If some Cambridge officials have their way, dogs like Babe, a
frisky yellow lab mix, will be sidelined at Fresh Pond Reservation.
What's wrong with Babe? She's from Belmont.
Fresh Pond is one of the few parks in the area where dogs are allowed to run
free. But the Cambridge Water Department, which oversees the park, wants to ban
nonresident pooches from roaming off leash and plans to outfit Cambridge canines
with bright red medallions, so the rangers who patrol the park can see which
dogs belong and which do not.
The Water Department says all those roaming out-of-town dogs are leading to the
degradation of the soil and water quality in the park.
[...]