LeboWatch2 -- Resolved!

This is LeboWatch2. LeboWatch1 appears here. Readers are invited to post comments -- and to act:

A concerned neighbor emailed me after her notes to Mt. Lebanon's Public Works Department drew no response.

I live next to Rockwood Park. They started construction in the middle of March and unearthed this old equipment and left it in the parking lot. Caution tape was used to warn us that it is dangerous. Kids don't respond to caution tape and have been playing on this equipment. Since I don't want to see kids hurt, I have been chasing them away. As I wrote to Tom Kelley, director of Public Works, I am tired of patrolling this area and Mt. Lebanon needs to be accountable for this situation. I have spoken with the inspector of the engineering firm, and emailed Tom on April 4, April 16, and April 23 about unsafe conditions at Rockwood Park and I cannot get any action. The man working for the construction company said that nothing had been mentioned to him.

The email note added that the Mt. Lebanon Police Department has been enforcing the township's "no skateboarding on public property" rule -- right next to this discarded equipment.

The following photo was attached to the message, taken Saturday, April 26:


















UPDATE (April 28, 10:30 pm):
This post prompted quick action. Commissioner Dan Miller (Ward 5) noticed the post and contacted Public Works Director Tom Kelley, who responded quickly. The contractor has promised to remove this equipment by the end of the week, and in the meantime an impressive and imposing display of caution tape and safety pylons has been installed. See the "after" photo below. Thanks to Dan and Tom for stepping up.

LeboWatch 1

For all of the access that Mt. Lebanon residents have to their elected officials and related bureaucracies, certain issues don't get addressed -- complaints get ignored, or the problem-solver can't be identified, or issues aren't articulated in sensible ways and therefore fall through the cracks. Maybe these aren't even problems at all.

Blog-Lebo (or at least my email In-Box) is becoming a destination of last resort for these things. People who don't know me send me their problems; can Blog-Lebo help?

Well, no, Blog-Lebo can't help; Joe and I aren't volunteer ombudsmen. But I can throw a note up here from time to time and see if it draws interest or a response from someone who can. I've titled the post "LeboWatch," because this reminds me of "ChronicleWatch," a feature at the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper posts items about little things in public life that need to be fixed, and then it measures the days until someone/something responds. How long will that huge pothole go unfilled? and so on. And I've given this LeboWatch a number -- 1 -- because there may be more in the future.

Here are two LeboWatch items to get us started:

One: "I live on Sleepy Hollow Road. About 5 years ago, the Post Office removed the blue drop boxes on my street at Country Club, and the one on Broadmoor at Crystal. The day after the box on my street was removed, 3 people were standing around the spot with letters to mail looking around very puzzled. These boxes were used everyday by residents. The boxes in other Mt. Lebanon neighborhoods closer to Postal facilities remain. I have written, called and complained in person about these missing boxes. I'd be happy to get a petition for them to be re-installed, but I don't know how to word it or who to send it to. Can you look into this and post something about it on Blog Lebo, to generate more interest?"

Two: Someone who pays closer attention to the School District's budget than I do noticed that one of the programs showcased on the District's website is being dropped from the budget. I don't want to get into the details of whether a given program should be kept or dropped, but it does seem fair to expect that the marketing of the Mt. Lebanon School District rely on programs, facilities, and staff that are actually part of the scholastic enterprise going forward. Mt. Lebanon is, in my opinion, a very good (though far from perfect) public school district. There is no need to oversell it. Those of you who know more details (including explanations) can post them in the comments, using your own names, as always. Or, perhaps, this is a nonissue, and in that case I'm sure that a plausible explanation will be provided.