Later, I'll post video footage of yours truly addressing this problem with the mayor and comment on his response (which yet again calls his honesty with the public into question).
Blind Brook Park, 02.28.08. Photo by ctblogger
Can you tell what's wrong with this photo (click to enlarge)?
This is a photograph of Blind Brook Park in the city's 6th ward. Now, I posted this photo to bring attention one of the several problems with the city's sex offender ordinance in it's current condition.
Blind Brook Park is one locations where, current sex offender ordinance, child predators are barred from entering. Under the established city ordinance, each child safety zone is required to have a sign in plain sight alerting parents and police that offenders are barred from entering the location. There's only one problem...there's no sign at Blind Brook Park alerting residents that the park is a child safety zone.
Now as I parent, I have a problem with this for obvious reasons as this type of nonsense can lead to uncertainty and confusion. Is this place off limits? If it is, after a year and two months of the passage of the ordinance, where is the sign?
I brought this problem to the attention of Mayor Boughton at last week's town hall meeting and to his credit, he stated that he would look into that particular issue (NOTE: I'll post the video from my encounter with the mayor at the town hall meeting at a later date). Unfortunately, that doesn't negate the underling concern regarding several problems regarding this ordinance, which were brought up by several council members who attempted to address flaws within the law back in December of 2006.
A year and two months after the ordinance was adopted and one of the popular small neighborhood parks (which is less than a 1/2 mile from City Hall) goes unnoticed is clearly unacceptable for the parents in that section of town.
Trust me, this is the least of the city's concerns when it comes to the flaws in this ordinance which has been in place for over a year. The longer these flaws exist, the longer this current administration will be criticized by those on the council and in the community who wonder why this ordinance was rushed to passage (flaws included) in the first place.
UPDATE: Since posting this piece, I was able to find other locations with the same problem in the city.
For the record, 1 YEAR, 6 MONTHS, AND 26 DAYS after the adoption of the ordinance, THREE months after posting this report and MONTHS after notifying Mayor Boughton and Sex Offender ordinance ad-hoc committee chairwoman Mary Teicholtz about the situation, and WEEKS after schools were closed for the summer, the problem at Blind Brook Park STILL exists.