board votes 4-3 against me, dog war continues

Here is the article in the Register Star. The vote was 4-3, not 5-3. Steve Montie can't vote, alternate. Also, Amy was on the board in the past. Steve and Pat Casey were not. I think the quote might be a bit mixed up. Also, all the board members who actually came to my house for a sound test voted to uphold my appeal. None of the ones who votes against my appeal ever came to any of the three tests they were invited to. Complaints? Video of the neighborhood and some sound tests. Sound test. Another sound test. More sound tests. Open house. More letters, more open houses, more letters...

Really look at this and note the dates.

I would really liked to have been done with this. Sadly, the town of Stuyvesant voted to continue their vendetta tonight, leading to more litigation and more battles. I would like to thank the three board members who vote with the truth. The four board members who voted in favor of lies should be ashamed of themselves.

The board voted to sustain a two year old ticket for dog barking, after spending $200,000 in legal fees and losing in court, when they have 1) no complaint of dog barking from any one prior to ticket being issued; 2) the barking is 1000 feet away from who ever would have complained (no one); at that distance any noise is below 30DB, below ambient noise, and hard to hear, not at all loud. Who complained, leading to the ticket you guys are voting on? Name? No one.

Here is town lawyer (one of many) William J. Better (serial sexual harasser as county attorney, exposing his penis to three different women in the office, with the three lawsuits settled out of court at a cost to the taxpayer of $400,000) comparing the case to a traffic ticket:


The difference between Mr. Better's analogy and this case is that I did not get a ticket for driving 85 miles an hour; I got a ticket for driving 20,000,000 miles an second. If I walk into court and say, "This ticket can't be true because no vehicle can ever go this fast" that means that on Tuesday, when I got the ticket for exceeding the speed of light, it was not true because it can never be true.

I have been charged with an offense I not only did not commit, I cannot commit the offense even when I try. If you get a speeding ticket, you have to drive fast. If you get a noise citation, the noise has to be loud. We all agree the sound we are talking is not loud. Therefore, you cannot give me a ticket.

As to frequency of barking, if the problem is more frequent noise, even if barely audible, not volume in decibels, then how can you base your case on the report of the zoning officer who lives far away? He cannot know about frequency. Further, in his paperwork he said "loud" and he said "complaint." He cannot say who complained and we all agree the charge of loud is false.

So, dismiss the ticket, right?

You see, at 1000 feet a dog barking is never loud. A car will never drive 20,000,000 miles a second. It can't be true.

And here is an excellent point by board member Amy Abbatti. ZBA Chair Pat Casey says that a sound study in 2011 that proves that dogs barking at 1000 feet is not at all loud is invalid because it occurred after the ticket was issued. Pat Casey said they would not consider evidence from before the ticket was issued, except when it comes to complaints.

Hun? I should have done the sound study before the ticket was issued? Or the laws of physics change based on whether or not some officer issues a ticket?

Amy says it perfectly here:



They didn't let me talk. I can post video of that later. Here's me after they get done voting, as they file out of the room:



$200,000 and 21 hearings on dog barking with no complaint when the charge is impossible? This can't be about dog barking can it? No.  I'll let Gerry Ennis, zoning control officer for the town of Stuyvesant, tell you what this is all about.