"Stuff that is real"

Clark County commissioners thought they settled the issue of mitigation for kennels, but then is anything ever really settled, especially when it comes to people and dogs, and people who breed dogs in particular? (No, it is not.)

This email was sent today to Marlia Jenkins, the county’s project manager for the massive rewrite of county codes, from Aleta Beck, who lives in Battle Ground next to Redwood Crest K9 Center. Beck and her husband, Dave, have tried to impress upon the county the noise and smells they contend with, to no avail so far.

Dear Marlia,

In light of the recent developments involving the re-suspension of code enforcement on kennels by the County Commissioners, I found the need to revisit the history of the Rural Lands Task Force in search of who to request the code language for kennels that was in existence in 2003. My search led me back to the website that gave all the executive personnel that were in place to support the Task Force.

It was very interesting to read the brief bio of each member. Yours struck a chord (no pun intended) with me. When asked about favorite songs you said your favorite was Stuff That Is Real, by Guy Clark. You liked it because “the lyrics talk about real stuff that holds up, the kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall.” You said “Those are the kind of investments we need to make in our community.”

So let’s talk about “real stuff”.

With the help of a friend who raises Rottweilers, I did some research about how much solid waste an adult rottweiler eliminates in a day. It was the consensus among several breeders that an adult Rottie produces 4 to 6 pounds of feces a day. Take the example of a commercial kennel that keeps 37 adult Rottweilers for breeding purposes. Lets do the math. If you take 5lbs x 37 dogs x 30 days = 5,550lbs which is 2.775 tons a month or approximately 33 tons of solid dog waste a year. Even if you took the lowest amount of 4lbs a day it comes to approximately 27 tons a year. This is “stuff that is real”, it is definitely “stuff you don’t hang on the wall”, it is “stuff” that is in our community.

Something to think about while asking the question, why did we go through the exerciser of writing new codes just to have the Commissioners irresponsibly, recklessly and incompetently toss these new codes aside after being in effect for only four months? In my opinion this is a case of waste, fraud and abuse perpetrated on the citizens of Clark County by their Commissioners.

Sincerely,

Aleta Beck

Here’s Jenkins’ response:

What a nice letter, thanks for the reference to the song and to the facts. This sounds like something you might want to enter into the record for the next hearing on the code. Shall I forward it to Jan with that request?

The BOCC (Board of County Commissioners) received comments on the code, as adopted, and asked staff to revisit certain sections. I’m glad you are aware and have the opportunity to comment in the hearings at both the PC (Planning Commission) and the BOCC.

Marlia