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<P>Emily</P>
<P>I don't agree. The vandals were teenagers. The extent of the vandalism was a broken light in the rear of the building and some broken squash or gourds on the driveway. The total damages at the outside may have been three hundred dollars. If you amortize this over 5 years it works out to a cost of $50/year which is insignificant. For all practical purposed, vandalizm isn't an issue. I spend much more timewise cleaning up broken beer bottles and trash discarded by motorists and pedestrians in front of my home.</P>
<P>I have spent countless hours running my dog on the mansion grounds over the last 6 years and I may have seen ~10 piles of poop during that time. So dog poop is not an issue either. In addition, there has been absolutely no damage to the gardens from dogs because I have personally inspected them routinely (1-2 times/week) while running my dog for as long as they've been there.</P>
<P>I don't agree with Ed's approach to solving the "problems" at the mansion. The mansion is a public place. People have been sledding, running their dogs, playing ball, etc. there for decades. If I were in Ed's shoes, my mission would be to preserve these privileges for the residents and visitors alike not lock the place down. Are there any fences around the monuments on the Mall in Washington? Is access to these monuments restricted in any way because of vandalism or the possibility of it? Are any of the monuments locked up because a dog or two pooped on the grass? Please explain to me what makes the mansion any different from the historic monuments of our nation.</P>
<P>This is freedom in the most basic sense. The mansion does not belong to Parks and Planning. It belongs to the citizens of Riverdale Park and Prince Georges County. We paid for its rehabilitation and we continue to pay for it's maintenance. Therefore, we should have the privileges that come with ownership.</P>
<P>Bruce</P>
<P> </P>
<P><BR><BR><BR> </P>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid">-----Original Message----- <BR>From: OurDollMom@aol.com <BR>Sent: Jun 30, 2008 4:28 PM <BR>To: towntalk@riverdale-park.org <BR>Subject: [RP TownTalk] Mansion Grounds <BR><BR><ZZZHTML><ZZZHEAD><ZZZMETA content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv="Content-Type"><ZZZMETA content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16674" name="GENERATOR"></ZZZHEAD><ZZZBODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" rightMargin="7" topMargin="7" leftMargin="7" bottomMargin="7"><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>Well caring eyes did not protect the mansion grounds</DIV>
<DIV>from vandals. & fixing the damage from vandals is</DIV>
<DIV>costly also. Leaving the gates unlocked, invites </DIV>
<DIV>trouble when there is no one about & it is harder</DIV>
<DIV>to catch the vandals if there are multiple exits.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And I know for a fact that not all dog owners </DIV>
<DIV>pick up their dog poop on the mansion grounds.</DIV>
<DIV>When families attend concerts etc on mansion</DIV>
<DIV>grounds - it will not be very nice to have the kids</DIV>
<DIV>falling in poop.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So there are 2 sides to this story. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>There always seem to be a few who spoil it</DIV>
<DIV>for the others.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Em</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR>
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